News From The Field

December 31, 2010

Editor's Note: Crow Canyon's Goodman Point Archaeological Project, conducted in partnership with the Southeast Utah Group of the National Park Service, was a multiyear investigation of selected ancestral Pueblo sites located within the Goodman Point Unit of Hovenweep National Monument. Phase I (2005–2008) involved test excavations at the large village of Goodman Point Pueblo; see Kristin Kuckelman's preliminary online report. Phase II excavations (2008–2010) included the testing of numerous surrounding sites, including smaller habitations, a great kiva, and an ancient road, with the goal of better understanding the larger community that developed at the head of Goodman Canyon during the Pueblo II (A.D. 900–1150) and Pueblo III (A.D. 1150–1300) time periods. This community likely included not only sites located within the Goodman Point Unit proper but also a number of components at nearby Shields Pueblo, which was test-excavated by Crow Canyon from 1997 through 2000.

Participants in our Archaeology Research Program excavating at Windy Knob.

In this field update—my final "monthly" correspondence for Phase II of the Goodman Point Archaeological Project—I'm pleased to report that Crow Canyon staff and volunteers completed the majority of our field operations, including backfilling, just two days before Thanksgiving. The only work that remains is a small amount of excavation and documentation in the Harlan great kiva, which we will wrap up as weather allows.

The final tally for Phase II shows that we excavated a grand total of 264 test units scattered across 16 sites and several possible agricultural fields. We were assisted in this monumental effort by more than 1,500 students and adults enrolled in Crow Canyon's research and education programs from 2008 through 2010. Thank you, one and all—we could not have done it without your help!

Educator April Baisan and Collections Manager Jamie Merewether backfilling an excavation unit at the Harlan Great Kiva site.

So what have we learned from three years of excavation? Obviously, we still have a lot of work to do—comparative studies, artifact and tree-ring-dating analyses, examination of faunal and botanical remains, etc.—before presenting our final interpretations and conclusions. But some patterns emerged even during the fieldwork stage, and it is on the basis of those patterns that I offer a few preliminary interpretations.

In the text that follows, I group sites into broad chronological categories that relate to different stages of community development. Throughout, please keep in mind that, although I often refer to the Pueblo occupation of the Goodman Point Unit, the Unit itself is a modern subdivision whose arbitrary boundary defined the limits of our fieldwork. What we are really interested in, of course, is the Goodman Point community, which was largely, but not wholly, contained within the modern land tract.

Initial Pueblo Occupation

Although there likely was some use of the Goodman Point area by Pueblo people during the Pueblo I period or earlier, evidence uncovered during Phase II excavations points to the first substantial occupation of the Unit occurring during the Pueblo II period (A.D. 900–1150), primarily in the southern end of the Unit. Bluebird House, Pinyon Place, and Monsoon House all appear to have been initially constructed sometime during this span. Detailed analyses of the materials recovered from these sites should help us understand this early occupation of the Unit and shed light on how that occupation structured subsequent cultural developments.

Bluebird House

This small habitation site was selected for stratified random sampling, a strategy that involves the subdivision of a site into discrete architectural and nonarchitectural areas, or "sampling strata," and then the excavation of randomly selected units within each area. In all, 25 units were excavated across seven sampling strata that included a midden, a roomblock, and a kiva. On the basis of architectural evidence and pottery found at the site, it appears that Bluebird House was occupied at least twice—first during the Pueblo II period and again during the Pueblo III period. (Alternatively, the site may have been occupied continuously throughout that entire span.) The construction style of the roomblock walls suggests that the Pueblo II use of Bluebird House and other nearby sites may represent the earliest post–A.D. 900 Pueblo occupation of the Goodman Point Unit.

Pinyon Place

Located near Bluebird House, this habitation site has at least three individual roomblocks and five kiva depressions. The use of single-course masonry in all three roomblocks and the presence of Cortez Black-on-white pottery suggest initial construction during the early Pueblo II period. But in the southernmost part of the site we also found pottery (McElmo and Mesa Verde black-on-white) and kiva architecture ("McElmo-style" masonry) characteristic of the Pueblo III period, evidence that at least part of Pinyon Place continued to be used after A.D. 1150.

Monsoon House

A broken Mesa Verde Black-on-white "stirrup mug," also called a "marriage mug." The handle would have originally been attached to a second mug. A rare find, this particular vessel was discovered in a subfloor vent in a kiva at Monsoon House. Although we did not find the missing twin mug in the vent, we will be looking for pieces of it when we analyze the pottery sherds from the rest of the site. The mug has not been cleaned, because we plan to submit it for residue analysis.

Monsoon House yielded some interesting information important to our understanding of the development of the Goodman Point community. Both artifact and architectural evidence suggest that the site was used repeatedly during at least the Pueblo II and Pueblo III periods. The tested middens yielded predominantly Pueblo III pottery types (McElmo and Mesa Verde black-on-white), but Pueblo II pottery (Cortez and Mancos black-on-white) was found as well. In addition, some structures at the site were built on top of earlier cultural deposits, and what appeared to be single-course masonry wall foundations (indicative of Pueblo II construction) were found below double-course masonry walls (characteristic of the Pueblo III period). And, two of the kivas we tested had subfloor ventilation systems—architectural features often attributed to influence from the Chaco regional system during the Pueblo II period. In other respects, however, these kivas had characteristics typical of the Pueblo III period, such as masonry upper-lining walls and deep southern recesses. Thus, it appears that some Chacoan architectural features were retained into the Pueblo III period in the Goodman Point Unit.

Considered in its entirety, the evidence suggests that Monsoon House was one of the first sites in the Unit to be occupied after A.D. 900 and that the site was an important and long-lived part of the Goodman Point community.

Community Growth and Change

Following the construction of some of the earliest habitations in the southern part of the Goodman Point Unit, the community appears to have expanded to the north, with several sites being built near Shields Pueblo (read about Crow Canyon's excavations at Shields Pueblo). The construction and occupation of Lupine Ridge, Sage Summit, Trail Terrace, Midway House, Windy Knob, Rain Ridge, Thunder Knoll, and Lightning Terrace appear to be part of this expansion.

Lupine Ridge and Sage Summit

Lupine Ridge, located near Goodman Point Pueblo, was one of the most heavily tested sites during Phase II. It is also one of the most chronologically complex sites we investigated. Test excavations revealed the presence of at least two kivas that were buried under later construction debris and midden deposits. These multiple episodes of construction and occupation are evidence of repeated use spanning the Pueblo II and Pueblo III periods. Most of the roomblocks, however, appear to date from the middle-to-late Pueblo III period, immediately prior to the construction of Goodman Point Pueblo starting in about A.D. 1260.

Sage Summit, too, was probably occupied during the middle-to-late Pueblo III period, as evidenced by the architectural styles and pottery types observed during testing. Unlike Lupine Ridge, however, this site does not appear to have been occupied during the preceding Pueblo II period.

Trail Terrace, Midway House, and Windy Knob

A dismantled room at Trail Terrace. All that remains of this wall is the basal course. The rest of the wall stones are believed to have been reused in the construction of other sites.

Trail Terrace, Midway House, and Windy Knob are located near an ancient trail that leads from Goodman Point Pueblo to Shields Pueblo (this trail is not part of the Goodman Point Belt Loop road, discussed below). At all three sites, the presence of double-course masonry in the roomblocks and the recovery of Pueblo III pottery (McElmo and Mesa Verde black-on-white) indicate construction after A.D. 1150. Intriguingly, our test excavations also revealed the widespread dismantling of roomblock walls, in what was probably a case of ancient "recycling." We think wall stones salvaged from these sites were used to construct other nearby pueblos, including, perhaps, Goodman Point Pueblo itself. The presence of scant midden deposits in some areas of Trail Terrace suggests that parts of this site were used for only a very short time, whereas the presence of much deeper middens at Windy Knob indicates extended use.

Rain Ridge, Thunder Knoll, and Lightning Terrace

These sites are located near Shields Pueblo, and evidence gathered through test excavations suggests they were part of the larger Shields complex. A post–A.D. 1150 construction date is inferred for all three sites on the basis of double-course masonry walls in the roomblocks and the recovery of numerous McElmo and Mesa Verde black-on-white sherds. As at Trail Terrace and other nearby sites, it appears that building material was salvaged from these sites and reused in other, later constructions.

The Final Years: Premigration Sites

Meadow View, Cactus Draw, and South Place appear to have been built and occupied late in the history of the Goodman Point community, shortly before the Pueblo people migrated from the Mesa Verde region in about A.D. 1280. If this preliminary interpretation is supported by the results of tree-ring and pottery analyses, then all three sites were probably contemporaneous with Goodman Point Pueblo, which initial indicators suggest was built and occupied from about A.D. 1260 to 1280. Thus, information about all these sites, including Goodman Point Pueblo, should provide us with a more accurate picture of premigration settlements and social structure within the Unit.

Meadow View

Of the three sites that I've assigned to this group, Meadow View is the one that is most obviously contemporaneous with Goodman Point Pueblo. Abundant wall fall was recovered from all architectural excavation units, a sign that building materials from the site were never salvaged, and an exposed portion of the north wall of the roomblock revealed what appears to be a "bi-wall structure" framing a central kiva courtyard—a building style that was recorded in several places at Goodman Point Pueblo itself. The recovery of Mesa Verde Black-on-white pottery further supports the inference of a late Pueblo III use of the site.

Cactus Draw

Located near Goodman Point Pueblo, this small habitation site is notable for having incomplete architecture and late Pueblo III pottery (predominantly Mesa Verde Black-on-white in the decorated assemblage). It was very difficult to define any type of midden at the site, and the one midden unit that was excavated yielded very shallow deposits. The combined evidence can be interpreted in one of two ways: Either the site was occupied very briefly and then partly dismantled, or the construction of the site was never completed. Given the apparent late date of the pottery assemblage, the latter explanation might be the most plausible—in which case, the site might represent a planned, but never completed, expansion of Goodman Point Pueblo.

South Place

South Place is also located near Goodman Point Pueblo and is very similar in many respects to Cactus Draw. Once again, at least one incomplete roomblock and a very difficult to define midden could represent a never-finished expansion to Goodman Point Pueblo or be all that remains of a site that was built, used very briefly, and then dismantled.

A Community Center that Persisted Through Time

Work at the Harlan Great Kiva site yielded evidence important to our understanding of the duration and structure of the Goodman Point community. Great kivas are a form of public architecture that served as the focal points of ancient Pueblo communities. As "community centers," great kivas were places where community members could gather on important occasions, which in turn would have promoted social cohesion.

In addition to conducting test excavations at the Harlan Great Kiva site, we also investigated a segment of ancient road, called the "Goodman Point Belt Loop Road," that passes close to the Harlan great kiva.

Harlan Great Kiva and the Goodman Point Belt Loop Road

South wall of the Harlan great kiva, with surface rooms in background.

Excavations at the Harlan Great Kiva site revealed an extensive and complex use history. Tree-ring dates obtained from samples collected from the interior of the great kiva and adjacent structures indicate that the great kiva was in use from at least A.D. 1149 to about A.D. 1250. A stepped entryway in the southern end of the great kiva had been covered over by the floor of a later surface room located immediately south of the great kiva. The construction of the room has been tree-ring dated to A.D. 1149, which suggests that the great kiva was probably constructed even earlier. Excavation below the floor of the great kiva itself also revealed the presence of a buried, post-supported structure—likely a pit structure associated with an earlier Pueblo II use of the site. Thus, the site as a whole appears to have been in use from about A.D. 1000 to A.D. 1250—functioning as a community center for at least 100 years late in that span.

Test excavations at the nearby Goodman Point Belt Loop Road revealed that at least part of the road was cut and filled, a construction technique that would have required a well-organized communal effort. In addition, the road's trajectory may be a clue to community structure and social identity, if, as I suspect, the road "anchored" the various sites in the community to the Harlan great kiva.

Future Work

This very brief summary highlights just a few observations and broad patterns noted during Crow Canyon's Phase II excavations at the Goodman Point Unit of Hovenweep National Monument. Although we unearthed numerous tantalizing clues about life in the ancient Goodman Point community, in many ways our work is just beginning. The results of artifact and ecofact analyses and a more thorough examination of the field data undoubtedly will cause us to change some of our current thinking about these sites, as well as suggest new avenues of study.

Grant Coffey, Supervisory Archaeologist, Director of Goodman Point Archaeological Project Phase II