C O N S E R VA N C Y
Scott Van keuren
Field Notes
Student researcher Grace Cameron exposes a room floor during a University of Vermont field school at Fourmile Ruin. The excavations were the first at the site in a century.
New Research at Fourmile Ruin SOUTHWEST—Recent excavations at Fourmile Ruin revealed evidence of migrants and long-distance exchange. Located in eastern uplands of Arizona, the 14th-century Anasazi village was, in its heyday, the largest site in the area and a possible production center for the iconographic-style pottery that shares its name. Last summer, a field school directed by archaeologist Scott Van Keuren of the University of Vermont conducted the first professional test excavations at this Conservancy preserve in more than a century. Van Keuren’s excavations—the first since Jesse Walter Fewkes’ work
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in 1896— have begun to clarify the construction sequence and layout of domestic and ritual structures. The extent of adobe brick construction is especially surprising. This technology, which wasn’t used in this area, indicates that a large group of migrants arrived in the early 14th century and occupied a pre-planned set of room blocks. The excavations also recovered an unexpected amount of obsidian, a volcanic glass used in the manufacture of projectile points in the Southwest. The Fourmile obsidian was obtained from sources located some 120 miles to the northwest. This evidence reveals that the village was tied into a far-reaching exchange network, one that may have also circulated painted pottery, cotton
textiles, and other goods. Excavations planned for 2009 will further investigate the nature of trash deposits in ritual structures and adjacent plaza areas. The research is supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation.
Tsama Pueblo Expanded SOUTHWEST—The Conservancy’s Tsama Pueblo site was recently expanded as the result of the generous donation of a 12-acre tract of land that includes well-preserved examples of pre-Columbian agricultural features. Tsama, located near the Rio Chama in north-central New Mexico, is a large
spring • 2009
