Culture and Ecology of Chaco Canyon and the San Juan Basin

70 Chaco Project Synthesisshallow circular depressions (ringed by discardedwaste stone that formed raised borders) was determinedto be a sandstone quarry of unknown age(Figure 3.5). Site 29SJ116 (Figures 3.6 and 3.7),located approximately 15.24 m (50 ft) away from29SJ1118, had evidence for three periods of use:Archaic, possibly Pueblo III, and Navajo. Therelationship of at least two hearth areas (around whichwere scattered flaked stone tools, one-hand manos,and other items) to the Pueblo and Navajo use werenot well determined, and this site was eliminated fromthe analysis of Archaic adaptations. Thus, only threesites that were extensively tested provide evidence forunderstanding the Archaic culture (Lister and Lister1981 :xi).29SJ126 (Stanford's J site). During survey,one impure green chert Jay point, one chalcedony Jaybase, one petrified wood or chalcedony broken tip,one fine-grained red quartzite bifacial knife fragment,one dark-brown petrified wood bifacial implement,and one fire-shattered chalcedony biface fragmentwere recorded in a saltbush-grass environment on theeast side of Cly's Canyon (Figure 3.3). The Jay pointindicated an Early Archaic use of this ca. 61 x 61 m(200 x 200 ft) site (Figure 3.8). Corrugated andblack-an-white pottery sherds suggested an Anasazipresence (probably Pueblo II).Most artifacts recovered during excavations intwo trenches (Figure 3.9) came from the surface; onlya few were from the O-lO-cm level. A number ofrocks, flakes, pottery sherds, scrapers, manos, hammerstones,and metate fragments were plotted bysquares and used to make a distribution map (Figure3.10). The nine black-on-white sherds recovered fromthe surface of N 0-1 m, E 1-18 m were part of arestorable pot identified as the remains of a smallMcElmo Black-on-white bowl that would date toapproximately A.D. 1100 to 1200 (Peter J. McKenna,personal communication, 1980) and were consideredintrusive. A roasting hearth was exposed in testtrench 1 (S 0-2 m; E 12-13 m was identified as ahearth area); N 0-1 m, E 14-16 m, was also listed ashaving bone beneath a hearth.Flakes of chert, chalcedony, and petrified woodwere most frequently recorded, but concretions,jasper, argillite, obsidian, and basalt were recoveredfrom both the surface and the occupational level of thesite. The last two materials were the least commonand the only materials that would have been importedfrom outside of the area. Other catalogued itemsinclude one piece of red ochre, one petrified woodscraper, one complete chalcedony Jay point from thesurface, one possible point fragment of chert, and onemidsection of a chalcedony point. One broken chalcedonyprojectile point (base to midsection, with basalthinning) was recorded as coming from below thehearth. Also present were one broken obsidian basethat was reworked into a drill, one chalcedony brokentip, a sandstone mano, and a fine-grained quartzitehammerstone. In addition, one chalcedony scraperand one fist axe, or hammerstone, were identified.Some burned bone was recovered. A broken shellpendant was considered to be from a freshwater clam,possibly Anadonta (Mathien 1985), which lives inwater that runs year round. Today the San Juan Riveris the nearest such stream, but the source of the shellis undetermined.No analyses for this site have been carried out.One unpUblished indicator-only date of 5680 + 1290-1540 was obtained (from Dicarb Radioisotope Laboratory,DIC633) in November 11,1976. A very smallcharcoal specimen (fragments) came from a hearthnear the surface in the north-south trench in the 13-to-14 m grid. This uncalibrated date suggests possibleuse ca. 3730 B.C, which falls slightly later than therange for Jay material provided by Judge (1982:Table1.2). Because of the presence of a hearth, Lister andLister (1981:Appendix) considered 29SJ126 to be ahabitation site. The lithic materials are predominantlylocal; only the obsidian and basalt would have beencarried in from some distance. These, plus thefreshwater shell, suggest a wide range for procurementby the people who camped along the east rim of Cly'sCanyon over 5,000 years ago.29SJ1156 (Atlatl Cave) and 29SJ1157(Sleeping Dune and Ant Hill Dune). The 94 sitesassigned to the Archaic-Basketmaker II period did notinclude those with petroglyphs, a feature that Neller(1976b) thought might have been related to huntingmagic. The Late Archaic-Basketmaker II sites selectedfor excavation are located in a small rincon downstreamand west of Cly's Canyon; here, two rocksheltersand several dune sites had been recorded(Figure 3.4). The rockshelter, known as Atiati Cave,or 29SJl156, contains pictographs and is located on