Anthropological Papers No. 32, Center for Desert Archaeology, Tucson, 2007
The U.S. 89 Archaeological Project investigated
41 prehistoric sites, approximately 30 km (19 mi... more The U.S. 89 Archaeological Project investigated
41 prehistoric sites, approximately 30 km (19 miles)
north of Flagstaff, Arizona. All sites were on Coconino
National Forest land, specifically the Peaks
Ranger District. The project was conducted by Desert
Archaeology, Inc., personnel for the Arizona Department
of Transportation prior to the widening and
improvement of 26.7 km (16.6 miles) of U.S. 89, between
the southern boundary of Wupatki National
Monument in the north, to the town of Fernwood in
the south. Archaeological fieldwork occurred over
two primary field seasons in 1997 and 1998, with a
very brief field season in 1999. In all, close to 12 person-
years of labor were expended on the fieldwork.
The U.S. 89 project area crosses diverse environmental
zones, ranging from juniper-sage grasslands
in the north at approximately 5,700 ft (1,737 m) asl,
to ponderosa pine forests at over 7,200 ft (2,195 m)
asl in the south. Mixed pinyon pine and juniper
woodlands comprise the middle elevations. Five elevation
zones were defined, using increments of 500
ft as a proxy for changes in precipitation, temperature,
and vegetation. Additionally, all project area
sites are within 25 km (16 miles) of Sunset Crater,
with the closest sites only 5-6 km (3-4 miles) west of
the volcano. Sunset Crater erupted for a very short
period (months to a few years) sometime between
A.D. 1050 and 1125. Basalt lava from the eruption
covered an area of approximately 8 km2, while another
2,300 km2 was covered by cinder and ash deposits.
Sunset Crater cinders were found on all project
area sites. An isopach map of cinder depth
constructed for this project indicates that, at a minimum,
the U.S. 89 sites were covered with 5-50 cm of
volcanic material, which had a significant impact on
prehistoric settlement, subsistence, and economic
systems. Prehistoric adaptations to environmental
variability, as well as to the Sunset Crater eruption,
were primary research themes.
A wide range of site types are present in the project
area. These include large, permanent habitations
containing 10-30 masonry rooms and pithouses,
smaller homesteads or seasonal farmsteads with two
to eight structures, single-room fieldhouses, limitedactivity
areas, special-use sites, and agricultural field
systems. A total of 73 structures was excavated, including
41 pithouses, 26 masonry rooms, and 6
ramadas. Close to 100,000 artifacts were recovered,
with ceramics by far the dominant artifact type, comprising
more than 80 percent of the assemblage. The
earliest sites were occupied around A.D. 400, with
the occupation of the project area continuing into
the early to mid-A.D. 1100s. The most intensive
occupation was between A.D. 1050 and 1125, the approximate
time of the Sunset Crater eruption.
The project area crosses what has long been considered
to be a boundary between two distinct archaeological
culture areas: the Sinagua to the south
and the Cohonina to the north and northwest. Dr.
Harold S. Colton, founder of the Museum of Northern
Arizona, first recognized this boundary in the
1930s, and placed it at Deadman Wash, which
crosses the approximate center of the U.S. 89 project
area. Although later researchers moved the boundary
to the Coconino Divide, approximately 8 km (5
miles) south of Deadman Wash, it is still well within
the current project area: about half the intensively
investigated U.S. 89 sites lie south of this point, and
about half lie to the north. This provides an excellent
opportunity to address the question of the cultural
affiliation of project area inhabitants, as well
as the legitimacy of archaeological culture areas in
general. All project analysts were asked to examine
this issue in the context of their particular data sets.
The results of the U.S. 89 investigations are presented
in several Anthropological Papers of the Center
for Desert Archaeology: Anthropological Papers
No. 30, Part 1 and Part 2, contains background information
about the project and descriptions of the
41 investigated sites: Anthropological Papers No. 31
presents the results of the flaked stone, ground stone,
shell, animal bone, and mortuary analyses; and
Anthropological Papers No. 33 contains the environmental
analyses, with chapters on the botanical assemblage
(pollen and flotation studies), prehistoric
agriculture, the eruption of Sunset Crater Volcano,
and a detailed paleoenvironmental reconstruction.
Finally, the overall project synthesis and conclusions
are presented in Anthropological Papers No. 37. In
that volume, the data presented in the preceding volumes
are used to reconstruct the settlement, subsistence,
and economic systems of the prehistoric populations
that inhabited the U.S. 89 project area and
the Flagstaff area in general.
Results of the U.S. 89 project area ceramic analysis
are presented in this volume. The assemblage
contains 81,153 sherds, a raw laboratory count that
does not consider ceramic conjoins and refits. Thus,
it differs slightly from numbers used in most of the
analyses in this volume, which are based on minimum
number of vessels.
An overview of the U.S. 89 ceramic assemblage
is provided in Chapter 1, and the ceramic wares and
types found in the project area and the designations
used by the U.S. 89 project analysts are discussed in
Chapter 2. Chapter 3 presents the analysis of ceramic
form and function, specifically examining possible
differences in cultural affiliation. The results of the
petrographic research of ceramic temper, which suggests
ceramics are only being manufactured in the
southern half of the U.S. 89 project area, are discussed
in Chapter 4, while the significance of the
petrographic data to the U.S. 89 settlement is discussed
in Chapter 5.
Finally, all of the U.S. 89 ceramic data are synthesized
in Chapter 6, with a discussion of the project
research themes and general Flagstaff area ceramic
use; the implications of the ceramic assemblage in
reconstructing project area settlement patterns is also
discussed. Appendix A contains recorded ceramic
type data, by context, from all U.S. 89 sites that contained
ceramics, while Appendix B contains a specialized
study of the recovered worked sherds. The
remaining appendices (C-G) contain databases used
in the analyses of the assemblages discussed in the
volume chapters.
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Papers by Sarah Herr
41 prehistoric sites, approximately 30 km (19 miles)
north of Flagstaff, Arizona. All sites were on Coconino
National Forest land, specifically the Peaks
Ranger District. The project was conducted by Desert
Archaeology, Inc., personnel for the Arizona Department
of Transportation prior to the widening and
improvement of 26.7 km (16.6 miles) of U.S. 89, between
the southern boundary of Wupatki National
Monument in the north, to the town of Fernwood in
the south. Archaeological fieldwork occurred over
two primary field seasons in 1997 and 1998, with a
very brief field season in 1999. In all, close to 12 person-
years of labor were expended on the fieldwork.
The U.S. 89 project area crosses diverse environmental
zones, ranging from juniper-sage grasslands
in the north at approximately 5,700 ft (1,737 m) asl,
to ponderosa pine forests at over 7,200 ft (2,195 m)
asl in the south. Mixed pinyon pine and juniper
woodlands comprise the middle elevations. Five elevation
zones were defined, using increments of 500
ft as a proxy for changes in precipitation, temperature,
and vegetation. Additionally, all project area
sites are within 25 km (16 miles) of Sunset Crater,
with the closest sites only 5-6 km (3-4 miles) west of
the volcano. Sunset Crater erupted for a very short
period (months to a few years) sometime between
A.D. 1050 and 1125. Basalt lava from the eruption
covered an area of approximately 8 km2, while another
2,300 km2 was covered by cinder and ash deposits.
Sunset Crater cinders were found on all project
area sites. An isopach map of cinder depth
constructed for this project indicates that, at a minimum,
the U.S. 89 sites were covered with 5-50 cm of
volcanic material, which had a significant impact on
prehistoric settlement, subsistence, and economic
systems. Prehistoric adaptations to environmental
variability, as well as to the Sunset Crater eruption,
were primary research themes.
A wide range of site types are present in the project
area. These include large, permanent habitations
containing 10-30 masonry rooms and pithouses,
smaller homesteads or seasonal farmsteads with two
to eight structures, single-room fieldhouses, limitedactivity
areas, special-use sites, and agricultural field
systems. A total of 73 structures was excavated, including
41 pithouses, 26 masonry rooms, and 6
ramadas. Close to 100,000 artifacts were recovered,
with ceramics by far the dominant artifact type, comprising
more than 80 percent of the assemblage. The
earliest sites were occupied around A.D. 400, with
the occupation of the project area continuing into
the early to mid-A.D. 1100s. The most intensive
occupation was between A.D. 1050 and 1125, the approximate
time of the Sunset Crater eruption.
The project area crosses what has long been considered
to be a boundary between two distinct archaeological
culture areas: the Sinagua to the south
and the Cohonina to the north and northwest. Dr.
Harold S. Colton, founder of the Museum of Northern
Arizona, first recognized this boundary in the
1930s, and placed it at Deadman Wash, which
crosses the approximate center of the U.S. 89 project
area. Although later researchers moved the boundary
to the Coconino Divide, approximately 8 km (5
miles) south of Deadman Wash, it is still well within
the current project area: about half the intensively
investigated U.S. 89 sites lie south of this point, and
about half lie to the north. This provides an excellent
opportunity to address the question of the cultural
affiliation of project area inhabitants, as well
as the legitimacy of archaeological culture areas in
general. All project analysts were asked to examine
this issue in the context of their particular data sets.
The results of the U.S. 89 investigations are presented
in several Anthropological Papers of the Center
for Desert Archaeology: Anthropological Papers
No. 30, Part 1 and Part 2, contains background information
about the project and descriptions of the
41 investigated sites: Anthropological Papers No. 31
presents the results of the flaked stone, ground stone,
shell, animal bone, and mortuary analyses; and
Anthropological Papers No. 33 contains the environmental
analyses, with chapters on the botanical assemblage
(pollen and flotation studies), prehistoric
agriculture, the eruption of Sunset Crater Volcano,
and a detailed paleoenvironmental reconstruction.
Finally, the overall project synthesis and conclusions
are presented in Anthropological Papers No. 37. In
that volume, the data presented in the preceding volumes
are used to reconstruct the settlement, subsistence,
and economic systems of the prehistoric populations
that inhabited the U.S. 89 project area and
the Flagstaff area in general.
Results of the U.S. 89 project area ceramic analysis
are presented in this volume. The assemblage
contains 81,153 sherds, a raw laboratory count that
does not consider ceramic conjoins and refits. Thus,
it differs slightly from numbers used in most of the
analyses in this volume, which are based on minimum
number of vessels.
An overview of the U.S. 89 ceramic assemblage
is provided in Chapter 1, and the ceramic wares and
types found in the project area and the designations
used by the U.S. 89 project analysts are discussed in
Chapter 2. Chapter 3 presents the analysis of ceramic
form and function, specifically examining possible
differences in cultural affiliation. The results of the
petrographic research of ceramic temper, which suggests
ceramics are only being manufactured in the
southern half of the U.S. 89 project area, are discussed
in Chapter 4, while the significance of the
petrographic data to the U.S. 89 settlement is discussed
in Chapter 5.
Finally, all of the U.S. 89 ceramic data are synthesized
in Chapter 6, with a discussion of the project
research themes and general Flagstaff area ceramic
use; the implications of the ceramic assemblage in
reconstructing project area settlement patterns is also
discussed. Appendix A contains recorded ceramic
type data, by context, from all U.S. 89 sites that contained
ceramics, while Appendix B contains a specialized
study of the recovered worked sherds. The
remaining appendices (C-G) contain databases used
in the analyses of the assemblages discussed in the
volume chapters.