Foragers and Farmers of the Northern Kayenta Region John Blake Sr. excavating a Pueblo III pit house on the Rainbow Plateau, August 1997. Foragers and Farmers of the Northern Kayenta Region Excavations along the Navajo Mountain Road Phil R. Geib with a contribution by Jim Collette The University of Utah Press Salt Lake City The interpretations presented in this report are those of the author and in no way reflect those of the Navajo Nation or Navajo people. Copyright © 2011 by The University of Utah Press. All rights reserved. The Defiance House Man colophon is a registered trademark of the University of Utah Press. It is based upon a four-foot-tall, Ancient Puebloan pictograph (late PIII) near Glen Canyon, Utah. 15 14 13 12 11 1 2 3 4 5 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Geib, Phil R. Foragers and farmers of the northern Kayenta region : excavations along the Navajo Mountain road / Phil R. Geib ; with contribution by Jim Collette. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. isbn 978-1-60781-003-2 (alk. paper) isbn 978-1-60781-999-8 (ebook) 1. Navajo Indians — Navajo Mountain Region (Utah and Ariz.) — Antiquities. 2. Navajo Indians — Arizona — Kayenta Region — Antiquities. 3. Navajo Mountain Road Archaeological Project. 4. Excavations (Archaeology) — Navajo Mountain Region (Utah and Ariz.) 5. Paleo- Indians — Navajo Mountain Region (Utah and Ariz.) 6. Hunting and gathering societies — Navajo Mountain Region (Utah and Ariz.) 7. Agriculture, Prehistoric — Navajo Mountain Region (Utah and Ariz.) 8. Social archaelogy — Navajo Mountain Region (Utah and Ariz.) 9. Navajo Mountain Region (Utah and Ariz.) — Antiquities. 10. Kayenta Region (Ariz.) — Antiquities. I. Collette, Jim. II. Title. E99.N3G355 2010 979.2'59 — dc22 2010004265 Printed and bound by Sheridan Books, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan. To Dorothy Richards Geib for always being there and J. Richard Ambler for getting me started in archaeology Contents List of Figures ix Mouse House (AZ-J-3-7) 107 List of Tables xv Sin Sombra (AZ-J-3-6) 109 Acknowledgments xix Hillside Hermitage (AZ-J-3-14) 110 Kin Kahuna (AZ-J-3-8) 112 1. Introduction 1 Dune Hollow (AZ-J-2-2) 114 Project Location 1 Hymn House (AZ-J-2-3) 116 The Project 4 Modesty House (AZ-J-2-5) 118 Project Methods 12 Water Jar Pueblo (AZ-J-2-58) 118 Sapo Seco (AZ-J-2-6) 121 2. Background for the Navajo Mountain Bonsai Bivouac (AZ-J-2-55) 122 Road Archaeological Project 21 Three Dog Site (UT-B-63-39) 124 The Kayenta Region 21 Hanging Ash (UT-B-63-14) 128 Previous Research 24 UT-B-63-19 128 Synopsis of Regional Prehistory 25 UT-B-63-38 131 Environment 48 Tsé Haal’á (UT-B-63-30) 132 Atlatl Rock Cave (AZ-J-14-41) 135 3. Synopsis of the Navajo Mountain Road Archaeological Project Sites 64 4. Summary and Interpretation of The Pits (AZ-J-14-17) 64 Archaic Period Forager Remains 140 Ditch House (AZ-J-14-21) 72 The NMRAP Archaic Site Sample 141 Wolachii Bighan (AZ-J-14-20) 74 NMRAP Archaic Chronology 145 Hólahéi Scatter (AZ-J-14-23) 75 Archaic Settlement 160 Pee Wee Grande (AZ-J-14-26) 77 Subsistence Range and Territory 183 Windy Mesa (AZ-J-14-28) 79 Paleoindian Remains and The Slots (AZ-J-14-30) 82 Archaic Beginnings 193 Polly’s Place (AZ-J-14-31) 83 Settlement Continuity and Naaki Hooghan (AZ-J-14-11) 85 the Middle Archaic 193 Tres Campos (AZ-J-14-12) 87 Conclusions 204 Panorama House (AZ-J-14-34) 90 Big Bend (AZ-J-14-13) 92 5. Summary and Interpretation of Ko’ Lanhi (AZ-J-14-35) 95 Basketmaker II Remains 206 Blake’s Abode (AZ-J-14-36) 97 The NMRAP Basketmaker Site Sample 207 Scorpion Heights (AZ-J-14-37) 97 Northern Kayenta Region Basketmaker Camp Dead Pine (AZ-J-14-52) 101 Chronology 210 Mountainview (AZ-J-14-38) 102 Farming and Foraging 222 Hammer House (AZ-J-14-16) 103 Basketmaker Settlement 234 vii viii Contents Architecture 255 7. Conclusion 374 Basketmaker Origins 263 Research Issues 375 Basketmaker II–III Transition 279 A Middle Holocene Bottleneck? 375 Conclusions 286 Forager Territories 377 Agricultural Transition 378 6. Summary and Interpretation of Puebloan Craft Production and Exchange 382 Puebloan Remains, with Jim Collette 290 Social Issues 385 The NMRAP Puebloan Site Sample 291 Final Thoughts 389 Chronology 294 Puebloan Architecture 313 Appendix: Contents of Supplemental Puebloan Settlement Types Documents 391 and Patterning 333 References Cited 393 Puebloan Mobility 368 Index 419 Regional Settlement History and Population Trends 370 Figures 1.1. The Four Corners region showing prehistoric 2.11. View from the high divide between Puebloan “cultural” areas and the general Navajo and Piute canyons. 51 location of the Navajo Mountain road. 2 2.12. View into a part of Upper Piute Canyon 1.2. The Navajo Mountain Road Archaeological from its western rim. 51 Project study area in the northern Kayenta 2.13. View to the southwest of Navajo Mountain region. 3 from the northern part of the Rainbow 1.3. Excavation under way at Modesty House on Plateau near Hawkeye Natural Bridge. 52 the central portion of the Rainbow Plateau. 13 2.14. Examples of the silicified sandstone that 2.1. Map of the core Kayenta region of northeast outcrops on Navajo Mountain. 59 Arizona and southeast Utah. 22 2.15. Two rim sherds of unfired Tsegi Orange 2.2. Map of the northern Kayenta region and Ware bowls found nested together in the adjoining terrain. 23 trash midden at Long House. 61 2.3. General cultural-temporal framework used 2.16. Mineralized log within the Petrified Forest for this report. 26 Member of the Chinle Formation exposed 2.4. Examples of Oshara tradition points from in Lower Piute Canyon. 62 the southern Kaibito Plateau around 3.1. Location of the N16 right-of-way showing Tuba City, Arizona. 31 the 33 sites excavated by the Navajo Mountain 2.5. Cowboy Cave depositional units and Road Archaeological Project. 69 radiocarbon dates in relation to chronological 3.2. The Pits site plan showing topography, divisions for the northern Colorado Plateau. 34 work effort, and excavated features. 70 2.6. Actual intervals of Archaic period forager 3.3. Ditch House site plan showing topography, occupation for the N16 project area relative work effort, and excavated features. 73 to the general chronological framework and 3.4. Wolachii Bighan site plan showing topography, chief cultural-temporal diagnostics for the work effort, and excavated features. 75 northern Colorado Plateau. 35 3.5. Hólahéi Scatter site plan showing topography, 2.7. Western Basketmaker II cultural-temporal work effort, and excavated features. 76 phases relevant to the northern Kayenta 3.6. Pee Wee Grande site plan showing topography, region. 42 work effort, and excavated features. 78 2.8. Demographic profiles for six localities of 3.7. Windy Mesa site plan showing topography, the northern Kayenta region. 46 work effort, and excavated features. 80 2.9. Demographic profile for the entire northern 3.8. The Slots site plan showing topography, Kayenta region and for the northern mesas work effort, and excavated features. 82 excluding Upper Piute Canyon and 3.9. Polly’s Place site plan showing topography, Dzil Nez Mesa. 47 work effort, and excavated features. 84 2.10. Schematic cross section along the N16 right 3.10. Naaki Hooghan site plan showing topography, -of-way plus three orthogonal sections. 50 work effort, and excavated features. 86 ix