Culture and Ecology of Chaco Canyon and the San Juan Basin

238 Chaco Project Synthesisand fall use of the site, winter use could not be ruledout. Dogs were notably absent, and artiodactyls werescarce. To Gillespie, these data suggested stressfulliving during this late occupation. The large numberof turkey bones, and the appearance of charring on 3.3percent of them, suggested that this bird became acontributor to the diet.Use of turkey, probably for feathers, startedearlier, and increased progressively, possibly supportingGillespie's conclusion. At Pueblo Alto, Akins(1985:Table 7.25) lists three NISP during the EarlyBonito phase; 68 NISP during the Classic Bonitophase; and 878 NISP during the Late Bonito phase.At 29SJ633 there was an increase from three NISPduring the earliest site use to 681 NISP during the lateperiod. At the Gallo Cliff Dwelling (Bc 288), over2,000 turkey feathers and 50 to 86 percent of the bonerecovered were assigned to turkey. That so fewpeople would need so many turkey feathers wouldsuggest either a major change in how feathers wereused (ceremonially or for blankets) or use of turkeysas food. It seems likely that the change in reliance onturkey for food may have started during the LateBonito phase but increased considerably during theMesa Verde phase, especially because there were fewlarge game animals among the faunal remains at29SJ633.The human remains recovered from excavatedsites suggest a small population that buried their deadat home. Akins (1986) classified human remains from29SJ633 with those from Be 236 (one burial), LeyitKin (one burial), and Roberts's small house site (fiveburials). At 29SJ633, all three children were placedin burial pits excavated into the upper room floors.Two of three were placed in lined pits; two of three(but not the same two) had ashes placed over theirabdomens, as did one child found in the upper levelsof Room 290 at Pueblo Bonito. Two had cranialdeformation. In the pit with Burial 2 was one piece ofturquoise; this was the only ornament found withburials at 29SJ633. None of the adult burials assignedto this period had ornaments clearly associated withthem, but there was a piece of worked selenite and afaceted barite crystal near the adult male at 29SJ633.Adults from this period were oriented north-south,while earlier ones were oriented east-west. The adultmale from 29SJ633 was taller than the other maleskeletons from small sites; his height was in the rangethat Akins recorded for males from Room 33 atPueblo Bonito. He suffered from hypoplasia (oncanines) and trauma (on vertebrae). With so fewburials in this sample population, Akins (1986) foundit difficult to reach strong conclusions, but thesimilarity in height to burials from Pueblo Bonitooffers food for thought and might support continuityin late use of 29SJ633 by descendants of the earlierpopulation. The recovery of only skulls at Roberts'ssmall site and Mesa Tierra is unusual, but not unprecedented.Akins (1986:Table B.l) lists a fewothers from earlier sites; whether or not this mayindicate a rare continuity of practice needs furtherinvestigation.An important contribution from this excavationwas the ability to use the ceramic data to refine thedefinitions of pottery types with Mesa Verdecharacteristics. As noted above, the crux of theproblem is understanding the shift from mineral- tocarbon-painted ceramics. Careful study of sherdsexcavated by Judd (1959) at Pueblo del Arroyo led toa detailed description of Chaco McElmo Black-onwhite(Windes 1985). This first carbon-painted typediffers from McElmo Black-on-white, a distinction notclear to earlier investigators. Chaco McElmo Blackon-whiteincorporates traits found in other Chaco,Cibolan, Mesa Verdean, and Tusayan traditions;whether or not this represents a blending of people orideas needs further investigaton.When H. Toll et al. (1980) examined clay, temper,refiring colors, and types for the late periods inChaco, they found that Chaco McElmo Black-onwhitewas not solely locally produced. It was considereda regional or Chaco system type, some ofwhich was imported from the Chuska area to the west.By comparing its characteristics with McElmo andMesa Verde black-an-white types, shifts in thediversity of tempers and paste colors indicated that thetransition from Chaco McElmo to Mesa Verde ceramictypes was gradual. The following summarizes the approximatetime frame and some of the differencesbetween the mineral-painted and carbon-paintedpottery types as they are now defined for ChacoCanyon (H. Toll et al. 1980).Chaco Black-on-white is a member of themineral-paint Cibola white ware series and is datedbetween A.D. 1075 and 1150. Although associated