Culture and Ecology of Chaco Canyon and the San Juan Basin

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------112 Chaco Project SynthesisTruell (1986:219-220, 249-250) fmmd very littleevidence for an early A.D. 700s occupation, whichshe considered a transitional period when storage ciststhat had been separate entities were joined together.The predominant ceramic types (White Mound Blackon-white,La Plata Black-on-white, and Lino Gray)are present in Chaco but not closely associated with pitstructures. Possibly Pithouse A at 29SJ724, PithouseE at 29SJ299, and Feature 5 at Bc 50 belong to thisperiod. Truell observed both ceramics and architecturesimilar to Gladwin's White Mound phasedescriptions for the southern San Juan Basin. Duringthe ceramic analysis, however, very few sherds wereclassified as Kiatuthlanna Black-on-white.Middle to Late A.D. 700s to Early to MiddleA.D. 9OOs. Windes and McKenna (1989:7) recordedvery few painted sherds present on or in ChacoCanyon sites dating between A.D. 800 and 900. Asa result, most of the Chaco Project analyses combinedinformation from the A.D. 700s through A.D. 900into one period. Early Red Mesa Black-on-whitepottery was identified as the major ceramic type forthe period extending from the early to middle A.D.800s into the early or middle A.D. 900s (Truell1986:219-220, 250) (see also H. Toll and McKenna1997:278). Excavated sites with well-documentedstructures included 29SJ299, 29SJ625, 29SJ627,29SJ629,29SJ721,29SJ724,29SJ1360,and29SJ1659(Shabik'eshchee Village); others with less informationfor this period include Bc 50, Bc 51, Bc 236, HalfHouse, and Judd's Pithouse No.1. The typical sitearrangement consists of adjoined storage bins forminga crescentic arc located to the west or north of aramada or roofed area in front and a pithouse to thesouth.There is some variability among architecturalfeatures during this period. Dirt-walled pit structurescontinue to exhibit a variety of forms (circular,rectangular, or D-shaped, the last being most common).They predominantly faced south, but somefaced east or southeast. Benches were more common,and pit structure size decreased, with postholes towardthe sides of the structures or incorporated into thebench. In the late A.D. 700s, the antechambers weretransformed into ventilators. Although the pitstructures were deeper, as a possible explanationTruell (1986:221) attributed this to their location onslopes or floodplains rather than bedrock.The joined storage rooms (initially dug asseparate units) that appear during this period alsoshowed variability in construction (Truell 1986:251).Not only did their size increase, but also roofsprobably were full-height. Instead of the generallycircular shape of earlier storage facilities, these roomswere usually somewhat oval in shape at the floorlevel. Other than two rooms at 29SJ724, these unitswere lined with upright sandstone slabs set into thefloor and covered with an adobe or gray-clay plaster.Unlike earlier pithouses, none had flagstone floors.Because these rooms were still located somewhatbelow the ground level, some had lateral benches (in52 percent of the excavated rooms) or shelves thatheld either roof support posts or adobe turtlebackwalls to support the roof. Adobe turtleback wallsoften contained some small sandstone chinkingembedded in the mortar and covered with plaster.Ingress and egress through doors that only connectedto the plaza/work areas and not to other storage roomswas often facilitated by a sandstone slab door step.Unlike Basketmaker III cists, these later interiorstorage rooms contained floor features that varied bystructure. Subfloor cists were found most often at29SJ627 and 29SJ724. A few firepits were alsoidentified at 29SJ627, as were several heating pits thatmay have served to dry out rooms or warm peopleusing the rooms as workrooms (Truell 1986:260).Many of these structures were remodeledthrough time; Truell (1986:Table 2.30) estimated anaverage floor area of 2.93 m 2 vs. 2.56 m 2 for earlierBasketmaker III sites. At most Pueblo I sites, therewere two storage structures for each ramada area; butat three sites (29SJ299, 29SJ724, and 29SJ625) one ofthe storage features was over 1 m 2 larger than theothers. There were only a few wall niches in theserooms during the A.D. 700s; Truell (1986:259)proposed that the increased space in the storage roomscompensated for the decreasing space in the pitstructures.Ramadas or work areas frequently fronted twostorage structures and tended to be wider than theassociated storage rooms. There is variability in thenumber of storage rooms fronted (from one to three),the presence or absence oflow-walled enclosures, andthe number of associated features (Truell 1986:261-266). Some areas were identified only by the presence