Field Notes

CONSER V ANC Y

FieldNotes

Archaeologist Kristin Kuckelman of Crow Canyon Archaeological Center and Sandy and Larry Tradlener prepare detailed drawings of a stabilization area located in one of the six linear masonry wall features at Bement Archaeological Preserve. The area was backfilled after the documentation phase was completed.

Bement Stabilization Complete

SOUTHWEST—The Conservancy has recently completed the stabilization of the Bement Archaeological Preserve near Cortez in southwestern Colorado. The preserve is in excellent condition and stabilization was needed at only a few places where masonry walls were exposed and subject to erosion. Staff from Crow Canyon Archaeological Center and Conservancy site stewards provided valuable assistance documenting and backfilling the stabilization areas.

Bement is a very unusual archaeological site. The site was first occupied between A.D. 750 and 900 during the Pueblo I period. It was apparently abandoned and then reoccupied between A.D. 1000 and 1150 during the Pueblo II period. Seven architectural units have been identified. Six of them consist of the typical multi-room architectural features frequently found in the region. One may even have a small circular tower. However, the seventh architectural unit is quite different and archaeologists are puzzled by its organization. It consists of six masonry walls that were constructed parallel to one another. They are oriented

north to south and are approximately 50 feet long. There do not appear to be any cross walls connecting the six parallel walls, whose purpose is unknown. Some have suggested that this may be some type of community center for the region. Regardless, this preserve will clearly provide an interesting research opportunity in the future.

Research Continues at La Gila Encantada

SOUTHWEST—La Gila Encantada, a pithouse village near Silver City, New Mexico, is revealing its long-kept secrets to researchers from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Archaeologist Barbara Roth and her crew of students are continuing fieldwork started in the summer of 2003. They mapped all surface features and artifacts that year in preparation for the 2004 field school.

Twenty-eight surface depressions were identified and it is possible that additional, buried pithouses are present. A small cobble pile, possibly representing two small Classic period pueblo rooms, was located at the southern end of the site. This year’s excavations are focused on three pithouses and their associated extramural areas.

This four-acre preserve contains a village from the Late Pithouse period (A.D. 550–1000). The goal is to collect data on Late Pithouse groups in an upland setting away from the Mimbres River for comparison with settlements along the water to see if there are measurable differences in social organization, mobility, and dependence on agriculture. Household organization, mobility strategies, and subsistence patterns are all areas Roth is investigating.

Chris Turnbow, assistant director of the Laboratory of Anthropology at the Museum of New Mexico, states, “Dr. Roth’s research questions are directed at the most pressing current issues before us for the Late Pithouse period in southwestern New Mexico. She and her team will no doubt contribute much needed data and add significantly to our understanding of the site.”

San José de las Huertas Preserve Expands

SOUTHWEST—A 14-acre easement has been donated to the Conservancy by Susan Blumenthal. Included within this easement are features and structures associated with San José de las Huertas, a Spanish Colonial village and adjacent Cottonwood Pueblo, an Anasazi Pueblo II settlement, in central New Mexico. Blumenthal’s easement expands the Conservancy’s Las Huertas preserve to roughly 40 acres.

Today the village walls of Las Huertas are visible as low mounds. Remnants of agricultural fields as well as portions of an irrigation system lead off towards Las Huertas Creek. Areas of stone-lined terraces that may be associated with the agricultural activities of the San Jose de las Huertas settlement line the Blumenthal property along the creek banks. Additional investigations into these features have the potential to add to our understanding of the inhabitants’ agricultural practices.

Cottonwood Pueblo is a 15- to 20-unit roomblock centered around a small plaza. Excavations done by the property owner prior to the 1970s revealed a small portion of the roomblock interiors. Finds from these investigations show the formation of the pueblo to be a series of construction phases with rooms rebuilt and reused directly on top of previous occupations. It is likely that 50 percent or more of this roomblock is still intact and will provide future researchers with intriguing clues into the daily lives of the pueblo’s inhabitants.

Several smaller structures are adjacent to the pueblo roomblock. A small three-room structure in excellent condition is nearby. A large circular depression that may be the trace of a large, shallow pit structure is found in association with four isolated rooms at yet another location on the property.