Foragers and farmers of the northern Kayenta region
Subtitle: excavations along the Navajo Mountain road
By: Phil R. Geib ; with contribution by Jim Collette.
Contributors: Collette, Jim.
Publisher: University of Utah Press
Published: 2010
Place of publication: Salt Lake City
Language: eng
Number of pages: 430
ISBN-13: 9781607810032
Subjects: Navajo Mountain Road Archaeological Project; Navajo Indians -- Navajo Mountain Region (Utah and Ariz.) -- Antiquities; Navajo Indians -- Arizona -- Kayenta Region -- Antiquities; Excavations (Archaeology) -- Navajo Mountain Region (Utah and Ariz.); Paleo-Indians -- Navajo Mountain Region (Utah and Ariz.); Hunting and gathering societies -- Navajo Mountain Region (Utah and Ariz.); Agriculture, Prehistoric -- Navajo Mountain Region (Utah and Ariz.); Social archaelogy -- Navajo Mountain Region (Utah and Ariz.); Navajo Mountain Region (Utah and Ariz.) -- Antiquities; Kayenta Region (Ariz.) -- Antiquities
Description: Foragers and Farmers of the Northern Kayenta Region presents the results of a major archaeological excavation project on Navajo tribal land in the Four Corners area and integrates this new information with existing knowledge of the archaeology of the region. The excavation of 33 sites provides a cross section of prehistory from which Navajo Nation archaeologists retrieved a wealth of information about subsistence, settlement, architecture, and other aspects of past lifeways.

The 58 separate temporal components that were excavated are grouped into three major intervals: (1) 16 components from Archaic foragers who occupied the area during two extended periods from about 8000 to 5000 BC and then again from 2500 to 800 BC, (2) 17 components, mostly residential in nature from the initial farmers of the area known as Basketmakers, that are well dated to a period from about 400 BC to AD 600, and (3) 25 Puebloan components, mostly small habitations, that date between AD 1050 and 1260. The project also included a limited study of Atlatl Rock Cave, which contains dry deposits dating back to the early Archaic (ca. 7000 BC). The project's most important contributions involve the Basketmaker and Archaic periods, and include a large number of radiocarbon dates on high-quality samples. The excavated Basketmaker sites complement and augment both geographically and temporally the findings from northern Black Mesa.

The project revealed long-duration use of a few favored locales--something not seen on Black Mesa--and several sites provided evidence for the Basketmaker II-III transition, which is not widely known throughout the Four Corners. The project found compelling evidence in favor of discontinuity from Archaic to Basketmaker for the northern Kayenta region and is backed by the findings from caves of the area, which likewise exhibit a lack of continuity in occupation and material culture. This volume is a summary of the four digital volumes that are available on The University of Utah Press website. They are a powerful record of ancient peoples and their cultures.--Book jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: Project location; title: The project; title: Project methods; title: Background for the Navajo Mountain Road Archaeological Project; title: The Kayenta region; title: Previous research; title: Synopsis of regional prehistory; title: Environment; title: Synopsis of the Navajo Mountain Road Archaeological Project sites; title: The Pits (AZ-J-14-17); title: Ditch House (AZ-J-14-21); title: Wolachii Bighan (AZ-J-14-20); title: Holah'i Scatter (AZ-J-14-23); title: Pee Wee Grande (AZ-J-14-26); title: Windy Mesa (AZ-J-14-28); title: The Slots (AZ-J-14-30); title: Polly's Place (AZ-J-14-31); title: Naaki Hooghan (AZ-J-14-11); title: Tres Campos (AZ-J-14-12); title: Panorama House (AZ-J-14-34); title: Big Bend (AZ-J-14-13); title: Ko' Lanhi (AZ-J-14-35); title: Blake's Abode (AZ-J-14-36); title: Scorpion Heights (AZ-J-14-37); title: Camp Dead Pine (AZ-J-14-52); title: Mountainview (AZ-J-14-38); title: Hammer House (AZ-J-14-16); title: Mouse House (AZ-J-3-7); title: Sin Sombra (AZ-J-3-6); title: Hillside Hermitage (AZ-J-3-14); title: Kin Kahuna (AZ-J-3-8); title: Dune Hollow (AZ-J-2-2); title: Hymn House (AZ-J-2-3); title: Modesty House (AZ-J-2-5); title: Water Jar Pueblo (AZ-J-2-58); title: Sapo Seco (AZ-J-2-6); title: Bonsai Bivouac (AZ-J-2-55); title: Three Dog Site (UT-B-63-39); title: Hanging Ash (UT-B-63-14); title: UT-B-63-19; title: UT-B-63-38; title: Ts' Haal' (UT-B-63-30); title: Atlatl Rock Cave (AZ-J-14-41); title: Summary and interpretation of Archaic period forager remains; title: The NMRAP Archaic site sample; title: NMRAP Archaic chronology; title: Archaic settlement; title: Paleoindian remains and Archaic beginnings; title: Settlement continuity and the Middle Archaic; title: Conclusions; title: Summary and interpretation of Basketmaker II remains; title: The NMRAP Basketmaker Site sample; title: Northern Kayenta region Basketmaker chronology; title: Farming and foraging; title: Basketmaker settlement; title: Architecture; title: Basketmaker "origins"; title: Basketmaker II-III transition; title: Conclusions; title: Summary and interpretation of Puebloan remains, with Jim Collette; title: The NMRAP Puebloan Site sample; title: Chronology; title: Puebloan architecture; title: Puebloan settlement types and patterning; title: Puebloan mobility; title: Regional settlement history and population trends; title: Conclusion; title: Research issues; title: A Middle Holocene bottleneck?; title: Forager territories; title: Agricultural transition; title: Puebloan craft production and exchange; title: Social issues; title: Final thoughts; title: Appendix.