Culture and Ecology of Chaco Canyon and the San Juan Basin

236 Chaco Project SynthesisMcElmo expression, noted especially by theappearance of Wetherill Black-on-white and an earlyform of McElmo Black-on-white, as well as Chacomadecopies, to date sometime after A.D. 1075.Hayes (1981:29-30) was not sure there was sufficientevidence to indicate that people, and not copied traits,moved from north to south. In Hayes's Late PuebloIII period, McElmo and Mesa Verde black-on-whitewere the predominant pottery types. This periodincluded reductions in population, with only a fewpeople remaining into the early A.D. 1300s. Asimilar long late period of occupation was discernedduring the additional lands survey: A.D. 1130 to1230 (date group 500, when there is very littleevidence of use of the area) (Mills 1986). Millsincluded the late occupation at Kin Klizhin, as well asa Chacoan structure (CM-IOO) and great kiva onChacra Mesa, among the sites falling within thisperiod. She thought the system still operated andencompassed sites within the Chaco Halo (a 10-kmarea around the canyon) in some type of exchange.Hayes (1981 : Figure 20) illustrated the distributionof Late Pueblo III sites in the canyon bottom.Although there were fewer sites, they tended to bedistributed fairly evenly throughout the canyon. Theearlier high number and tight cluster of sites in andaround Pueblo Bonito at South Gap were no longervisible; only the hint of clustering remained. In laterresurvey to update his population estimates, Windes(1987[1]:404) commented on the difficulty of identifyingsites with Mesa Verde occupation along thesouth side of the canyon because houses from theearlier period were often reused. Because trash depositswere no longer placed on middens, but could befound during excavation (e.g., at 29SJ633) (Truell1979), Windes thought that we may be underestimatingthe number of people living in the canyonduring the A.D. 1200s. He also thought that sites onthe canyon floor were fairly evenly distributed.Windes's examination of the Chaco East community,located east of the park boundaries and about3.2 km (2 rni) west of Pueblo Pintado, revealed thepresence of a small popUlation in the early A.D. 1100sand widespread use of the area in the late A.D. 1100sand 1200s (Windes 1993; Windes et al. 2000).Thirty-nine houses were assigned to the period fromA.D. 1175 to 1300; some were located on the northside of the canyon on south-facing cliff ledges. Anumber of storage areas were also constructed in cliffshelters. Based on ceramic types and the constructionof new houses over older ones, Windes et al.(2000:50) thought there was a break between the earlyA.D. 1100s occupation and the late use of the ChacoEast community area.ExcavationsAlthough there is very limited evidence of lateuse at Pueblo Alto (Windes 1987[1]:172-175), oneexcavation that included evidence for the Mesa Verdephase was carried out by Marcia Truell and LouAnnJacobson at 29SJ633, a small house in Marcia'sRincon (Figure 7.9) that had been constructed duringthe late A.D. 1000s to early A.D. 1100s (Mathien1991a). Data from one and one-half rooms indicatedthat the central room block had been modified duringthe late A.D. 1100s to early A.D. 1200s. Sometimeafter remodeling, four burials (one adult male andthree infants) were placed in these rooms before theroofs were removed, the walls collapsed, and someburning of layers above the floors took place. Therooms were subsequently filled with trash, which musthave been discarded by people living in the area.Differences among the early and late occupationsinclude floor features. Truell (in Mathien 1991a: 116)found that the initial builders constructed heating pits,while the later occupants were satisfied with fires thatleft only floor bums. This suggests that repeatedcooking was not carried out during the last occupation.It is not possible to determine whether livingin these rooms during the later period was unplannedor the rooms were used only for a short occupation.Based on her examination of small site architecture,Truell (1986:302, 308) asked if reuse ofearlier sites, or especially sites in overhangs, indicatesa Mesa Verde migration into the canyon or acontinuum of earlier populations that had a San Juanaffiliation at this late date. Sherds from the A.D. 900swere present on some talus locations that had latePueblo III evidence.Analysis of fauna from 29SJ633 also documentedchange. Gillespie (1991) indicated a strong relianceon small mammals and turkeys at 29SJ633 during theMesa Verde phase. Lagomorphs predominated; theabundance of small, immature cottontails was unusual.Although there was definitive evidence for summer