Utah Statewide Archaeological Society Newsletter, Volume 7, Number 4, December 1961

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UT/\H ST/\TE !·-lISTORICAL SOCIETY .60J...EAST SOUTH T~MPLE . i ,

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UTAH ARCHAEOLOGY is published quarter.ly by the . UTAH · STATEWIDE ,AROHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Subscrition is included in membe11ship; Membership -in' ·the society is , available from the secretary-treasurer a;t $,2.00 per year. Corresponden~e concerning the ' activities of the :society should he directed to' the president. All manuscripts and news items 'Should be sent to the editor: Lloyd Pierson, Arches Na.tional Monument, Moab, Utah.

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tlI'lut , STATEFIDE ARCHAEOLOO ICAL SOCIEl'X

PRESIDENTt H•• M@:r:' dl Peterson, 651 Canyon Rred" Logan" Utah VICE PRESIDENT: John L. Cross~ 860 South lOth East~ Orem, Utah 3ECRETiiRY.. TREASURER: Veone Gale ,. 1432 Sunview Dr. ,. Cf.den., 'Utah ADVISOR: Dr., Jesae D. Jennings, Univ. Of Utah" Salt Lake Ci ty 12. Utah

EDI TOR'S NOTES The several pleas which have appeared in the editor's notes section of the Newsletter regarding assumptien of the editorial duties by a member of the society have borne fruit " although not of a permanent nature I ' John L. Cross ,. Vice President of the Soc.iety" has gl!iner~us ly offered his time and printing facilities as an aid to the editor, thereby taking the 'majo~ burden of editorship upon himself, and leaving to the nominal editor only the tasks of reading and selecting manuscripts and mailing the printed copy. '!his is a reajor step toward renewed Society interest" in and c~n­ trol of, the Newsletter at the level of editorship. The step cannot, however, lire considered a final solution to the problem, since Mr., Cross cannot undertake permanent, full .. time responsi bili ty for production of the Newsletter.- rle still face the necessi ty of locating a willing v~lunteer who will shoulder the full task of editorship. As yet, no one has stepped forward., Until a permanent edi tt')r can be found, Mr. Cross will continue to serve "as Associate Edi tor" a title which masks effectively the ressponsibility which he has assumed.

Pleas for news from chapters have brought a few responses-, but some groups remain unheard from" The Oeden Ohapter is planning a series of meetings around discuss ions presented by U of U staff members.

The meetings, the first of which will feature the editor of the Newsletter'i. will be held during January" February" and March. This sort of use of the faeili ties ~f the University is one of several ways in which the SOCiety and professional anthropologis ts in the area can cooperate. Few o·f the Society Chapters have made use of department staff members as lecturers in the past, and never, to my knowledge, in an organized program ~f lectures such as that scheduled for the ' e den group., r Ileeommend that eaeh chapter consider the possibility of making use of staff lectures as part of their meeting programs in the future~ Several groups in the areas in which Society chapters do not now exist have indicated interest in formation t')f chapters. As the moment, at least three such groups are in the process of developing interest in affiliation with the SOCiety. The Society president" the editor" and other members of various chapters have enct')uraged development of interest in the Society in the several areas of the state in which chapters do not now exist ,. It appears that the Society may~ in the next few years, increase markedly in size, an increase which 'should bring with it an even stronger interest :i,n Utah archaeo-logy than the enthusiasm which characteri zes the approach crf the present membership.

Hith the onset of Winter, one of the sorts of cooperation between the University and the Society which has taken place in the past is ~ longer possible., Cooperative digs" such as those held at Bear River and Moabl> have been profitable experiences for all concerned in the past, and we hope that similar ventures will be arrange. during the coming year. One possibility for such an arrangement now exists, and others are likely to

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be forthcoming as the cold weather subsides. This sort of activi ty, like the lectures mentioned above, is one of the primary ways in which the Society can gain experience in archaeoloGY. In addition, co-operative excavation provides a basis for real contributions to archaeological knowledge by Society members, as past digs have amply demonstrated.

No meetings are scheduled for the near future in the Intermountain area, but Society members should begin planning attendance at two meetines later this year, the annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, to be held May 3~4~ and 5th~ at Tucson, Qnd the annual meeting of the Society, which will probably be held shortly after the SAA session. Since the SAh meeting is being held close to our area, Society members should try to attend Coverage of problems related to the Utah area will probably be fairly heavy, and attendance will give you the chance to listen to discussions of the archaeology of areas outside the western United States as well. Plans for the Society meeting are not yet completed, but members can expect that the character of the program" fea turing reports by Society members of work carried out during the past yeaI'r will approximate that of last year's session., You will be notified W,'3ll in advance of the meeting place and date.

Recent publications in the QDi ':T~::~!i ty of Utah Anthropological Papers series:: ~~

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The Archeological Excavl3.'t:i. ons at Willow Beach~. Arizona!> 1950,. by Albert H~ Schroeder (::1 report of excavations at a site located on the eas t bank of the Lower Colorado River, S) ut h of Boulder City,.

Nevada .. )

No .. '11

Survey of Vegetation in the Navajo Reservoir BaSin, by Angus H. rtoodbury t Stephen Do Durrant, and Seville Flowers .. (Upper Colorad,:" Series NoD 40)

No, 52

1960 Excavations" Glen Canyon Area, by Floyd We Sharrock, Keith M. Anderson" Bon D. FOWler, and David S. Dibble. ~ Glen Canyon Series

No,. 140) The firs t paper in the present issue is a description of materials collected

by Warren Hageman" a member of' the Ogd.en chapter of the Society, during examination of areas in the northern part of the state. This paper is the first fruit of the request for papers from Society reembers~, and I look upon it hopef'ully as the beginning of a flow of manuscripts into the editor's office$ Once agin, an article by a Society member has contributed to our Knowledge of an area of Utah fOI' whi ch co'nwarti ve ly few data have been available. I hope that appearance of Mr. aageman"s article will stimulate other Society members to report their discoverie~.

Of the remaining three articlea~, Two, the larger by Mr .. Sharrock and that . by Mr â&#x20AC;˘. Day" report on the activi ties of the Glen Canyon project field crews in one of the areas of concentl'ation during the summer of 1961.. Mr .

Sharrock e Associate Director of the Project~ and Mr" Day, undergraduate student at the University and Preject staff member, both partiCipated in survey and excavation in Moqni Canyon, and are at present engaged in preparation of the final report of the season's work. The third articles, again by Mro Sharrock, presents a brief discussion of proposed field work to be undertaken by the Project staff during the comine summer field season ..

A report of 1961 survey and excavation in Harris Wash and on the KaiparoV'its Plateau,. the other areas of concentration during the past field season~ v,'ill appear in the March issure of the Newsletter~

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Artifacts From a Site I n lior Elde r County. Utah Warren C. Hageman The artifacts: described in this paper were collected inJ.i961 from the $urface of a site in Bor Elder O!"lunty" Utah.. The aite is:: located along the base of a small hill 1i!.it an elevation of approximately 1lts,6o") feet.. The lana, a.round the. hill" including the site area" is· farmed" and the light" s.andy teJ[tured s.o il has. been eroded by wind as · a result of cuI ti vation. The artifacts were exposed due to erosion caUS.ed, by the dry and windy weather during 1961. From several inches to as much as a foot of soil have been eroded.

Th@ general siite area ia compos'a d of what appears to be three l!8parate aubsi.tes.. The three subai tes: may bm part of a single large camps;i te nr aspara te campai tes located close together.. Many obs-id.ian and some chal~edony chipa were found s:ca ttered on the surface of each campsite.. Possible hearth areas evidenced by broken rocks are also located in each campsite.

Sagebrush is: the prednminant ground cover. There are no trees a t the s:fte" and the neareait trees" which are, Junipers., are. Illppr'O.'Jl:il1lfltely four miles j;:'rom. the s::ite" No' natural" year ar('lund water supply exists within :trrom s:ii.x Th~ ten mile~ of the s:ite.

The artifac ts· fo und a t the site have been roughly grouped as knives', large points I: drills" scrapers,: core blanks" cmd projecti le pain ta.

The sketches s:how most; of the complete or nearly complete artifacts: collected.

Many other fragments were found~ lhlt:\weveIr, only those considered identifiable are di s cussed .. ~ iv es

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Grey rock" posai.bly chalcedony.. the edgeao

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pre~sure fla~~ng a~ong

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~nfil fCZlJund., Gpa <],ue (!j;bs:idian~ 4 W<IDl?lImu:1 nship.. Pr-ess ure flaked ..

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One found. Translucent o;bs id.ian. Mall1e from a large i"lake with pressure flaking along two edges.

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Large "Reints: - r:ngure 1 Ftl!.ur Q'f these were found" and they were all broken similar to the one shown in the s-ke tch. l'fo baaes; or 'Crase fragments were dis.covered. Thesa pointa n'(frX'e made by both percussion and presaure flaking.

Dni ll - Figure 1 0ne ~s found.. I\fJade of grey and whi te stone ..

Preas:ure f1aked o S (C.'.r~ape r s:

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- Figure 1 One 1ra.undl . A flake sCU-8per !W.de of grey slate.. on ell edges. 8 tmI: tlhick.

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One found" A flake E5!craper made of multicolored 9 llIIl! th i d.

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One found.

P~rcuaaion

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One found.

A discojjdal s:craper made OJf b.eige agate. and pressure flaked o 10 mID thick.

A discoidal s:c::raper made of obaidian.

7 mn thick.

R~ughly wcrked~

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were fQund. They are made ~r npaque obsidian and e.re pnecIominetely per~U'$s;:tc.~'l flaked.

PrC:"ie ctil€! Poi!} ts - FiGure :2 1,.

Five found".

The :?oin G s:hown is made of red-brown ~halC9donY ~1 two 8:, '0 m:'.de of opaque obsidian" and ioln((J ::1eS: IIhll~.~~ of· ti ;\ucJ."l:eent 0 bs idian '"' TWar, are smaller \1 one is "[.)).8 SLmre E5!ize: '1 and one is larger than the point E!;J; :.;wn ..

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Three found, . 'Two:. translucent obsidian~: one opa'lue obsidian l , 18 Jrm to 21 mm long"

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One found.,

Oreen chalcedonyo

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Gne found ..

Opaque obsidian.

70

One found.

Opaq."\e crbsidianj, crude I y made ""

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Three found. One o.P9.que and two. translucent obsidian.

The two not shown arc smaller than the one shown o•

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o.vaq\,e obsidian.

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The puin:' shown is made of traLslu('.ent (l)bs:::.uian:, ar.d th,:, ,,-·ther base f:ragment fOl<:1d is made of (!,Tey- bx'own cL~l : i_cedony co Bo · ~h are very thin and do ll')t exceed J Dllil at their thickes·c pointe. The poin t 311O:'i)1 has a slightly c.::mcave bese I whereas the otheT poinii has a straight Cc.sc c. }'h8 wc rkmanship on these points is excellent. They are u:1Qoubtedly too large to be arrow points ~ and may have been knives.

GpliillU9

Crudely lL9.de ..

and one translucent obsidian ..

Jtl .. Cne found.

Opaqu.e obaidian..

12", One found..

Ovaqi.le a:baidian ..

Crudely made ,.

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Nc]'l)1~JttE::ry VI8.S found at this site.

This IDJ.kes identification (\.f thQ Indians who made the artifacts difficulto

The artifacts were undnubtedly nnt made by th.:~ Sh...,shoni as. n~ typical" triangular o side notched ~r aide and base n~tched v -> ints WE::re fl')und ...

Ivbny ~f the pnints fit Rudy's ( AlL"cheAIAgical Survey ¢' ':Iestern Utah" 1953 ) description of Puebloid points as they are $temmed p("lints.

Wlith expanding stems smaller than their blades:. o No% evidence a:f Puebl("lid dwellings or pottery was found at the site ,. and the site is not located near the Great Salt Lake as the luebloid si tes at ;Yillard were. TPlff1Se fa(C:ts: indicate that identification of the artifacts as Puebloid is: Cluestionable.

The most logical <c:o nclusion based upon the of pottery, and the location of the site is inhahi ted by members of the Desert c.ulture. The i.ndicate that the time of occupation of the site JLa~.k

artifacts found " the that the site was lack of L>ottery may was pre-ceramic.

Rib.i1..ii.m:glZaphy Aikens,. kelvin

1961

The Prehistory of Central and Northern Utah.

Uta h Arche o l ogy" Vol .. 7. No.3. pp 3-15

Ea.S ae 1 ,. F â&#x20AC;˘. Ko

1960

Archeologi. cal Notes On The Northeastern l\~argin of Great S alt Lake.

Utah l;. rche()l~ Vol~ 6" NAo )1' liP 10-15.

Rudy I' Jack H.

1953

An Arche o.logical Survey of ':'estern Utah University of Utah Anthrono.l.ogi cal PaDers NO'.. 12

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A PRELINllNARY REFORT OF 1961 ARCHEOLOGICAL EXCi-,VATIONS IN MOOUI CANYON AND CbSTLE ¡''[ASH

Floyd W. Sharrock UnIversity of Utah

In the summer months of 1961., June IS. through SelJtemb er 1,. the University of Utah, in coo,r:eration vlith the National Park Service I. entered its fifth season of intensive archeological investi ga tion of the GUem:.Canyon of the Colorado River and clowely related areas. Through information gained by survey and excavations of previous years, two areas wer e determined to be of primary important in understanding the aboriginal occupations of southeaatern Utah. These were selected for examination in 1961~ One is the Kaiparowits Plateau. This high table land (7100 feet in elevation), which stands at ri~~t angles to the right bank of the river, forms a wedge between the Fremont culture area on the north and the postulated Vir~in branch of the Anasazi culture on the southj relationships between the Fremont and the Vir~in,. a s well as their relationship to occupations by the Mesa Verde and Kayenta branch peo f,les of the Anasazi are but vaguely understood.. The second area, MO'lui Canyon and Castle Hash" left bank tributary to the Colorado River and right bank tributary of the San Juan res~ectivelyg was selected on several baseSt including indications that Basketmaker remains might be recovered there. The MOClui Canyon-Castle ;OJash area is discussed here j the Kaiparowi ts excavations will be reported seprurtely in the April issue of the Newsletter.

Excavations of rast years have revealed a notable lack of time depth of aboriginal occu:r;ations in the Glen CanJTon and the surrounding region. Non-ceramic levels and non-ceramic sites have been located and excavated but never has there been positive identification of these l evels and sites as Pre-ceramic. In both I',IoQui Canyon and Castle Hash, strong evidence s for preceramic occupations Vlere knovlD. In Moqui. Wetherill in 1897 ~ found 1i ttle in the way of :Basketmaker remains. In 1923 Neil 11.10 ~udd of the Smithsonian Institution recorded several sites in MoClui.. In 1929, the 7th Eernheimer expedition, which Earl Morris accompanied, recorded tim sites suspected to be Basketmaker II in ~ate. at least one of which had been previously visited by Judd. Be re t . then, \las the mo&.t obvious area for finding and recording pre-pueblo materials (:-;nd r re-ceramice if indeed the sites were Baske tmaker II) ..

In Castle ':lash, possible non-ceramic sites had been noted by the 1958 Universi ty of Utah Surveyo' Numerous of these were tested by Robert Lister in 1960 and on the basis of his recommendations several were selected for excavation t if time allowed after M~ ~ui Canyon Was completed

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The: excavation crew consisted of Ernest I. Schurer and ': lillian D. Li pe. Yale University; David Ja;nnings" Salt lake City; Lyle C. Palmer z Johnny Ganway,: IV"Jark Lyman and Timothy Bradford, Blanding; Vance Fowler,. OGden; Edward G.- Ke ane, Kent Co rayc> Alan Q.o Howard, Dave Read, David So Dibble and Floyd ~7. S11arroclk" from the Univell'aity of Utah; Jesse D. Jennings, Project Director!> was in the field periodically to coordinate the operations on either side of the river and to supervise project field operations. Pack animals were provided by Clarence Rogers of Blanding" I,'Jrangling duties were performed by Brigham Stevens of Blanding.

Cne of the mcnre difficult asr:ects of excavations in Mo<:!.ui Canyon involved log istics. The 85 mile trip from E-landing to the rim of Moqui was simple enough" al though it to ok about three hours with four-wheel drive vehicles. From that point, however. travel was by foot; supplies and equipment were carried by five pack animals. To reach the camp" which was 4 miles downstream from the parked wehicles t i t Was necessary to des cend an extreme ly steep" 600 feet high,. sands lide, the n follow a me andering cours e ove r dunelO: p terraces and in the streambed.. Camp vias e stablished on a high terrace protected against flash floods by an upstream project ion of a sandstone cliff into the sdtreambed. Every two weeks a trip to Hlanding was made to purchase supplies, to mai 1 specimens and contact the Anthropology Department at Salt Lake City.

The Moqui Oanyon camp was maintained until mid-August, when unusually heavy and sustained rain caused flash floods almost daily.

The uncertain footing created for pack animals and the danger of becoming trapped prompted migration to Castle \7ah for the last two weeks of the excavation season. Fortunately, an adequate s-ampling of the canyon had been obtained by thliilt time o lfuere are 96 known archeological sites in LIoCJ.ui Canyon. Of this number, 66 were located in 1961 by a survey party of two people operating from the base campo Nine were extensively excavated; eight were extensively tested~ f"hysi cal des¡c d pt ion

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MogUl Canyon

MOQui Canyon is a deeply entrenched left bank tributary to the Colorado River. To the east, if forms much of the drainage of Mancos Mesa, extending 40 meandering or 22 straight, miles to the river. In an ancient downcutting pe riod in this country, geologic beds were d:ii.s:sected to a depth of approximately 600 feet,. exposing f ive forma t ions. (From the bottom, these are t he Ohinley clay and shale l a ye r, rl inga te , Kayenta, Nava jo and Carme l sandstone layers. ( S ubseQue n tly t he canyon pa rtially f illed wit h a llUVi um in a period of aggradation. In the mos t recent downcutting period,. which probably began about A .. Dâ&#x20AC;˘. 1880,. the alluvial deposi ts were cut through to bedrock by the canyon stream. All beds slope upward toward the east so that apprOXimately 14 miles above the canyon mouth upstream,> the Chinle first appears and forms the floor of the canyon eastward from that point. The appearance of the Ghinle marl(s the end of extensive alluvial terrace remnants in the canyon which are deep near the mouth, and become progressively thinner until they vanish

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aa the chinle bed is reached. Where the Chinle floor occurs there are only scattered sites and these are of a transient or camping nature. All sites of any magnitude are located in the terraced area of the canyon. The site pattern probably indicates almost total concern with farming by the aboriginals since the Chinle is unsuitable for any kind of vegetal growth~ but the alluvium downstream must have provided adequate, if not excellent, farming soils , During aboriginal occupation the stream, then at terrace level, would have provided adequate water for the simple irrigation systems suspected to have been commonplace in the Glen Canyon.

The Sites :

Mo('ui Canyon

In 1959. the University of Utah, working from the river, had examined the lower 4 miles of the canyon. Thus, the area to be investigated in 1961 was restricted to the canyon upstream form that point to the appearance of the Chinle formations~ a distance of approximately 10 miles. This was reduced even more when it was found that no sites of importance occurred in the lower reaches of this expanse. Six of the more important of the excavated sites are described below in upstream order. Since detailed analyses of the notes and materials has only just begun, the following descriptions are subject to change.

IvY She lte r {l1.ffie.738 2 This site occupies a shallow alcove 300 feet above the canyon floor at the base of the Navajo sandstone formation. Seep water, which forms a pool of spring water in the alcove, breaks out along the bedding plane of the Navajo and the underlying Kayenta aandstone formations and probably accounts for both the formation of the a leo -e and its use by people. The use area is a narrow platform of soil that follows the curvature of the rear alcove wall. Evidences of use are a few crude pictographs and petroglyphs, a single slablined firepit and five burials. The burials were spaced along the wall at a depth below the surface of about 2 feet. Four burials were adult, one was an infant on a cradleboard. The head defor~ation characteristic of the Pueblo period occurs on all individuals.

Burials include an adult male v/ith tHO McElmo Black-on-white bowls" associated,,, an adul t female \'1i th an associated McElmo B.lack-on-whi te bowl and a Mesa Verde Black-on-whi te mug set insi&e a Moenkopi Corrugated utility jar" an adult female with a twill plaited ring basket and a Tsegi Black-on-orange bowl over the legs ~d a Taegi Orange type bowl and coiled basket covering the head o The site is of primary interest because of the almost complete absence of any features except burials. Pottery from the site consisted of more complete vessels than sherds.

IlIiboy House" a second type of site in MOCj,ui Canyon, is a large Page 8

masonry structure :f:erched on a Kayenta formation promontory overlooking the caynon.. '!he foundations of the six contiguous rooms of the structure rest on bedrock. Indications of usage as dwellings include a firepit carved out of bedrock and a mealing bin in one of the rooms. Four small granaries fill crevices in the cliffs below the large structure. There are no indicatioll.'3 that this was a fortification althou[Sh the commanding position in the canyon might suggest such. This is the only site of this type in Moqui Canyon although several similar ones have been excavated in lake Canyon, which parallels Moqui on the irm.'1.e diate south. mean t Kiva

(142.8816752

Fireant Kiva is a deeply buried stratified site locat e d in a A kiva ventilator shaft exposed in the cutbank led to the discovery of the site. The lowest occupational evidence begins 25 feet below the terra(t€ surface ..

The terrace remnant is quite small cnd much of the site had obviously been flushed out, probahly during the 2.0th century general erosion cycle in the Southvrest. 'Two trenches were dug dissecting the terrace remnant. In the first, . ~h :(ee occupational levels 'nere distinguished.

The lowest, level 1., is a 12 inch thick layer separated from upper levels by a 12 inch ste :dlG water··laminated layer. Associations of the second lev(t;·l.:, level 2 i. included a slab-lined cist. Both levels: land 2: extended beneat::l t;1f; floor of' a large wetlaid masonry structure" the most promin(, nt feature of the upper or third layer.

After abandonment of the 81 l:e" 8 feet of sterile dune sand accumulated over this structlt::'(;;l 9.nd the associated occupational layer •.

S-herds from a Pueblo III 8i te in the cliffs above the terrace were s ca ttered over the terrace surface ~ Excavation of the second trene]l revealed the partially 0~r.posed kiva~ the floor of "hich is 25 feet below the present terrace surface~ This structure was correlated \7ith the earliest occupation a"t the site o represented by level 1.

Because of the great d.epth, only about one fourth of the structure was excavated. The wall of the kiva contains a recessed area 3 feet above the floor~ The floor area is 10 feet in diameter. The diameter at the level of the recess is apprOXimately 16 feet. Floor features include a deflector slab and firepit in alignment behind the interior opening of the ventilator shaft. Artifacts associated with the structure include early-dated sherds indicating a date no later than Pueblo II~ In the fill above the structure, most of the pottery is Fueblo III ty[.'es o Twenty feet of windblown and alluvial soils over the lowest structure (thekiva) acc u~ul ated before the si te in the cliffs above (42Sm,?29) was occuvied. Oonsequently, there are, in a sense, four occupations in stratigraphic relationship.,. All are distinctly separate, although the medial Pueblo III occuIlations (levels 2. 8 nti 3) may actually represent a continuum ..

In all probabili ty, the occupants of 423a729, were completely unaware of the s tructur o') 3 buried 30 feet below them in the terrace ..

75 feet hiGh alluvial terra ce remant..

An alcove si te, the i;,3hab Center is located well above terrace level at the bedding plsne. vf the Kayenta and Navajo formations.

Pm.ge

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liJ1i:'1J Yv:y .shelter'~ it contained a flowing spring. A shaded spring pool and the generally pleasant digging conditions. sugested the $ite name.. Available water and sui table arable lands on the broad ~rrace below were the apparent enticements for at least two occupations of this site. The latest is represented by an excellent ~Bsonry wall that extends across much of the mouth of the alcove--about 40 feet--and a veneer of Pueblo rrr artifacts associated with this wall and with some ruder structures in tl1~ rear. For all its excellence, however" it was built on a loose foundation of Baslketn:aker debriS' and collapSled during excavatioLl.. A cluster of three Basketmaker burial8'~ Ian elderly male and female and an infant" pO'ssibly foetal" were found in the lower levels of Baske tmuker midden. A ssocia ted wi th them were yucca fi ber shrouds and coiled basketry •.

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mernhe1me~ Alcove C42Sa736)

This alcove site is one of two visited by Judd in 1923 and by Etrnheimer and Morris in 1929. The talus bench alcove floor is 6~ feet above the streambed and 20 feet above an alluvial terrace remnant" At: this site there are both horizontal and vertical differentia tiona: af ((tccupations... Crude but substantial Pueblo structures are scattererl throughout but are concentrated at the north end. Basketmaker occupation is concentrated at the south endj possibi,he tr8.ces Cif this occupatioa may have been obli teratod at the north end by the Pueblo constructions I which include wetlaid dwellinGs! a possible aboveground kiva and &torage structures with jacal partitions although mes t of the recovered Basketmaker n:a teria 1 is from a de ep crevi ce behiud a massive talus fall. However" there is much more rna terial thH '-1 c')~lld be salvaged s since the rockfall Ijes on Basketmaker material (and ma:cks the division between Pueblo and Bcsketrnaker occupations) ..

Numero'JE1 re-painted Basketmaker pictographs of some excellence occur on. tho cli.ff :ace below a cleavage liae indicating the origin of rockfa.l~.i :;,X~f) Hhite-painted Pueblo figures extend a~J'O,3fJ thE: line •.

Pueblc ,..3::8.1 a.r,ti dry laid masonry walls bui It from the aJ.'~0ve Ni'lll across '!O th ~~ ·~aJ.t:.3 f2. ~1 overlies Basketmaker material. An isoJated Baske'~"':....ker bm"ial occurred at the extreme south end of the al':)ove.

J.12<t'tiF.ll.:".y mummified, this ,~hild burial lay on a basketry tray and was ··.e' 3.Pl;(:!r! in a polychrome yw::ca fiber shroud.

A cluster of five infant huric:.ls "occurred at the extreme north end of the deep crev-i'ce beneath one L:')t of Basketmaker and fon!' feet of Pueblo fill. A pueblo structure d:'.J'ectly above the budals consists of jacal parti tions and existing s:b.~JS ,. Two of the burials \7ere on caradleboards and are partially mummifled. A third) covered by a rabbit fur robe, lay beneath their feet. The remaining tV10 were poorly preserved.

Honeycomb Alcove (423a75) Honeycomb Alcove is located in the '.'!ingate sandstone cliffs.

The site is about I mile upstream from Bernheimer Cave in a short right bank tributary to Moqui Canyon. It is located 500 feet above the tributary streambed on a bench at the top of a steep talus of Hingate boulders. The site is important because it is unique. The entire occupation or use area (a.bout 600 square feet) is boneycombed with cists dug in to the conso lida ted sand of the al cove floor. The cists ranGe in size and depth from very shallow, 6 inches in diame ter" depressions to bell-shaped cists 4 feet in depth. Fifty-eight were found ,. accounting for nearly 8~ .of the floor area. Probably t some of Page 10

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the cists had been capped by the flot, shaped slabs found in the loose fill. A bottomless conical basketry fragment nas found in one of the cists and other basketry fragments, possibly from this same coiled basket, were used as liners in another., Eleven cists contained artifacts. The yield included one corncob and pinyon nuts. HiZh and dry, the site seems to have been for storage and ViaS used only by transients" possibly as they moved into and out of the main canyon to the adjacent mesa top.

Several si tes upstrealCl fr c)m Honeycomb Alcove Vlere tested, but nothing mOl"e than brief oc c upa~~ions by transients nere indicated.

Sumrr.ar.'!:

MOCl,ui Canyon

MOCJ.ui Canyon occupations extended from Basketmaker II through Pueblo III wi th considerable d:~minution after Basketmaker II until the Pueblo III period. There :,u'e indications that the earlier occupants may have emigrated mainly from the Mesa Verde area and that a late Pueblo thrust into the area may be more Kayenta, or northern Arizona, in orlgln. At any rate, MOCJ.ui Vlas occupied longer and more intensi vel ," than any other tributary of the Glen Canyon above the San Juan, becaus c of a plentiful supply of both arable land and vlater. In MOQui, water is perhaps less plentiful than in adjacent canyons, but it is more dispersed--hence, more available. Relatively large springs break out in numerous places, particularly in the high alcoves. In addition, because of local topography considerable rain collects in the head waters, particularly in the late summer.

Si tes:

Castle ";"rash

The last two weeks of AU(ust ':lere spent in excavating two si tes in Castle nash, the Green Hater SIlring site and lone Tree Dune. The Green \"later SIlring si te is located on a terrace remnant and consists of four occupation levels, the two lower ones containing no ceramics.

Structures, associated wi th the ceramic occupations, are beneath overhanging rim rock and contcin superposed occupation layers, firepits and floors. The si te extend s one-quarter of a mi 1e. At the south end of the site area the pottery bea~ing strata extend to a depth of 6 inche ~ below the surface. Benea t:"1 tha se strata are the two non-ceramic levels.

The up,ermost is indicated by .ioil discoloration, stone and bone artifacts. The lower contains two slab-lined pits, lithic and bone material associations.

The second site, Lone Tree Dune. is a lithic occupation site located two miles upstream from the Green r,ater SprinG site. The principal feature at the si te is a circular pit house tYIO feet deep â&#x20AC;˘ The lithic artifact collection was very meager and, unfortunately, not diagnostic. The over-all lack of debris is interpreted as indicating an ~~phemeral occupation of this structure. A lesser feature at the si t,e is a bell-shaped cist 6 feet deep and 5 feet VIide at its maximum diameter. This pit apparently is connected in time wtth the pit house occupation although no stratigraphic proof was possible.

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ARCHE@LO'GICAL SURVEY AND TEST:rnG IN r.10Q,UI CANYCN AND CASTLE 11ASH\,! 1961

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Unlivenslity crff Utah The ~rchaological survey of Moqu:ii. Cany\)n was an integral part of the 196~ field sea~on of the Glen Canyon Project of the University crf Utah.. During aeven weeks of the field season\> the en tire main $tem of the canyon and all tributaries were inves.tiga teal hy the s.urve:Y..:!Jaril;y, but the area upa;tream from the largest tributary, North Gulch (Fig ..l.J. r(ff.ceived special attention.. 'Fhe aurvey team" consisting of one permanent member and an assistant chosen each week from the excavation crew,: a;pera.ted from the centrally located base camp in the canyon,. traveling on foot or horseback.. Occasional overnight pack trips were necessary when distant araas of the canyon were investieated.,.

The first problem of the s 11rvey was relocation of sites previous<n.y recommended for excavation (Fowlf.l~: 196@r, ,5). Once excavations by the rrra:i::n crew were underway at these sj';JOs" the emphasiS' was: shifted to fntensive reconnaissance of the en::~irn 'Janyon ..

Previous formal surveys by t!.lt" Museum of Northern Arizona and the University of Utah recorded a toJ.~al of 31 si tes concentrated in the lower 12 miles of the main canyon •. Three of these sites were excavated by the University of Utah in 19590 B.ecaus:e of the work of earlier expedi tions I MO'1ui Ganyon was known to c:ontain other important archeological sites. 'lh8se expeditions began in JJ.897 when the upper reaches of the canyon. Were ex:plored by Ole yton \'I(~therill in his search for Basketmaker remains.

Even at that early date he foun<iL s'ites; that had already been dist1JllJ!b.cd by pothuntema (MclJ:ii.tt a. ].9.51" Jl.60). In 1923 the lower IJart of the canyon was inves tiga ted hy' Neil M. ]udd of the Smithsonian In5titution~ mis brief reports mention aeveraL s:iteS' (1924,111 r• 19 21).,1:~,) o A third recorded expedi tion into Moqui Canyon ~8 that of tho Bernheimer party in 1929. After visiting several ~ther c:anyons: in the vicinity,. the Dernheimer party descended into M0<l1l.ui O:onyon and spent three days examining three sites •. Two of the s:ites: yielded bur~1a and artifacts indicating Basketmaker occupation (Bernheimer" J1.929)~ Previous surveys and excavp-tiona by the University of Utah in the Glen Canyon area had found little evidence of occupations earlier than the E!gIl'icul tural Pue b~o peoples.. Therefore ,. relocation of these si tes:, lt~.putedly Rasketmaker" was the main factor in choosing Motaui Canyon for 'If'.lQlrough investigation.

Sixty-s:i~ si tes were recor!~ed during the 1961. survey,. bringing the itotal number knoVln in !vIoQ.ui Canyu~'; find its tributaries to 97. '!wentythree sites; were located in the t:r'i'outary canyons. North Gulch contains six sf tes in alcoves in the NavE. ic sands tone formation.. All have nasonry archi tectural featureS'.. The sev(m s:i. tes in Camp Canyon were unu$Ual hecrause of the very limited amoUl."t of pottery found with a relatively

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hea vy ~oncen tra tion of l i thi c artifn ~ ts. Three of the Camp Canyon site s were tes ted j none revealed enough rna terial to permit defini te cultural indentification. Rowever, becat'0.8 e of the unll1~ fo>rmed skull of a male r -.lrial found at 4.2381.735 e Bas:ketmaker occupation may be infeIITed.. (ine (,. t the sites located by the Berrheim'lr expedition" 4238772, is si t ua t e d i n an alcove near the head of a ,qhl) r '~ tributary about :t/2 mile ups t zealt1 from Oamp Canyon.. PecJl:;ed and abr8.U8 d into the talus boulders that form part af the floor inside the alcove i:::; a ll extensive group of anthropanrorphic~ geometric and zoomorphic petrogJyphs, Three-color pictographs of bird-like figures ,: as well a B monochrome ;l~':; d. human figures:, were painted upon the hack- wa lls of the alcove. No a tterap-c vias made to test the badly disturbed fji.11. a1 though this is one of the sites from which the Bernheimer party took Basketmaker burials and artifacts. Three alcove sites are in Blocked Draw.. One of these" :H oneycomb Alcove (4,23a 7554) D was excavated during the l$umme r j the other two were tested.

'Iho 1at·I.;er two contained little evidence nf extensive aboriginal us a ge; probab~y the:,.r occupation was of a transient na ture o. The primnry i mportan c.e of otbe r si -Ges peri.pheral to t he main stem c f the canyon is that they indicate the general borders of heaviest occupa;"ion in Mog,ui (Janyon •.

The greatest concentration of sites,. in the main stem in the lower of the canyon:. begirl$ cr:;onc.url'ently wi th the appearance of deep alluvial deposi ts in the lower third of the canyon. Upa tream" at the point Where the alluvial fill disappears, the crumbly Chinle cl ay and shale forIl'ation is exposed. The chinle underlies the ';Hngate s a ndstone formation" whi ch" because of the poor foundation,: is block fractured into huge boulders.

The lack of alluvium, the complete absenc,e of alcoves in the Chinle formation and the very infrequent alcoves in the fractured cliff face of the rringate formation all may have been con ;;ril) t~ ting factors to the lack of siGnificant archeological sites in the uppel.' t vc -thirds of the canyon. One opem s::ii.te (!,l2.SIIl782) and one alcove site U \2&81'(62) were tested in the upstre am periphery t f occupation. Nei ther of these, s i. 't'3S had any stnati'graphic depth or any s:ignificant archi tectural featm'es t :1at would merit further excavation" The open site, which was farthest u]:'gtre o.m, was probably an infrequently used campsite; and the alcove site S8 8 UU to have been used only for limited storage and transient shelter. 'rhe mos 'L i r4portant feature of the alcove site is the profuse representa tion of anthr up0nJ.(;rphic, zoomorphic a nd geome tric designs pecked into the faces of bould8 j~'S a t one end of the si te ..

314. mliiJiIiHE

The alcove site with the lRrgest number of masonry structures, Bernheimer Alcove (42Sa736 '1 Cave 1 of the Bernheimer expedition), was s'elected for extensive excavation and proved to contain both frasketmaker and Pueblo occupa tionso •.

A complete tabulation and descrj_ption of the sites located or relocated .~ n 1961 and a detailed account of the tested si tes must await completion of

studies now in progress. fA. total of 1791 sherds were collected from 29 si tes Because of the lack of other datable material, pottery is the best criterion of the time of occupation and cultural affiliation of the occupants of the canyon. In affiliation" both Kaye nta and Mesa Ve rde cer~ic tradi tions are represented,: wi th Mesa Verde t ype s b:eing more numerous ~ he Kayenta types ,. however " repre s~ nt a longe r time range~ The s urvey collection indicates the presence of both traditions during Pueblo II through Pueblo III times (ca.

AoD. 900-1300). Wares of the K3yen+'a tradition predominate toward the later end of the time range •.

0

CASTLE WASH Adverse weather forced the field crew to move out of IvIoqui Canyon to Castle Wash for the last two weeks of the season. During this period ane si te" 42S1llllt54:. WElSO tes ted.. This si 'be had been originally recorded by they University of Utah in 1959 and it was examined as part of a site testing program in 196o~ The site is characterized by several collapsed masonry structures., Apparently" two occupations occurred at the si te, evidenced by superimposition of some of the structure walls. The types comprise a mixture of Kayenta- and Mesa Verde - affiliated wares" with the Mesa Verde typea predominating 86% to l4Z~

!iJยง.LIOGRAPHY liternhe ime r

1.929

I,

Char Ie s E., Diary of the 19? 9 "7e rnheimer Expedi tion. Unpublished MS ~ Department cf Archaeology" American Museum of Natural History " No1;'i' York.,

- Fowler I, Don D.

1.960

A Preliminary Ar:sEaeological Survey of l\'Ioguj CAnyon.

tInpuhlished NIB " !Jni versi ty of Utah., Dellartment of ' An thropology" Sal t Lake Gi ty o' Judd I , Neil M..

19248 Explorations in San Juan County" Utah. Smithson:iillllm Miscellaneous Gollections 2\ Vol. 76,. No., 12, pp โ ข. 77-82 Washington.

Beyond the Clay Bills., Nationa l Geographi c Magazine t Vol. 42,. No o' 3" Pp. 2:75-Jn2" Washington ..

M<il'Ni tt" Frank 1957 R:iichard Wetherill: Arrasazi.

PrtlfS5:1> AlhuguerQLue.

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Uni versi ty of Ftah 1962 Field Season

Floyd W. 3harrock University of Utah The 1962 field season ~_s presently scheduled to extend from June 15 through 3eptember I, as in .t;:ust years. r~e anticipate being able to bring to a close the field oper a tions phase of the project during this period and are sche duling our work accordingly. Non that excavations in fJIoC].ui Canyon and on the Kaiparowits are complete, there are no more known Iluni tIl areas of aboriginal occupation to be investigated; consequently ~ maneuverabi Ii ty wi 11 be the keynote for the future field crews.

Operations in the illll1ediate Glen Ganyon will include re-inve.3tigatiOl~ of a few si tes partially excavated in past years and examination of located sites suspe cted to be early-dated l i thi c occupations. \h th the aid of information amassed since we YJere last on the river, more knowledgeable examination of. previously worked sites is possible and, we believe, may answer some present questions about aboriginal occupations in the canyon. ;'/e hope the lithic occupation sites will prove to be prer reather than non-, ceramic, which will give more time depth to occu1!ationf! on the river. In areas adjacent to the Glen Canyon we expect to continue excavations begun in Castle Wash, whEre there are evidences of sequential occupations (including some pre-or non-ceramic leveiยง) in direct stratigraphic relationship. Thera ace also sites at which pottery is known to be absent.

One crew of eiLJht to 10 pe ople ni 11 enter the river near Hi te, Utah I' worki ng si tes along the ri v,~ r CtllWns tream to Kan Landing wi thin a four to six week period, then move to Ce stle ':Iash for the remainder of the season.

Inves ti[:B tions of the ."i.~.ht bank. whi ch beGan las t season wi t h specially Granted funds, will continue. HOI'Iever, the original plan to spend two years on the Kair"nowi ts Plateau has been cha nged, since further work there is not deemed worthwhile. Instead, a small surv eyexcavation crew of about five people will devote the summer to examination of the Escalante Desert and the Paria River area.

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Utah Statewide Archaeo!ogka,1 Society DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY BLDG. 411, mmmslTY OF UfAH LAKE CITY 1, UTAH

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Utah St a te Histor1cal .Sooiety: 60, Eas t South Temple , Salt Lake C:l ty, Utah

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