Foragers and Farmers of the Northern Kayenta Region

Excavations along the Navajo Mountain Road

By Phil Geib

Winner of the Don D. and Catherine S. Fowler Prize

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 northern Kayenta region. The excavation of thirty-three 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 project’s most important contributions involve the Basketmaker and Archaic periods, and include a large number of radiocarbon dates on high-quality samples. Dating back to the early Archaic period (ca. 7000 BC) and ranging forward through the Basketmaker components to the Puebloan period, this volume is a powerful record of ancient peoples and their cultures. Detailed supplementary data will be available on the University of Utah Press Web site upon publication of this summary volume.

Volume 2: Archaic Site Descriptions
Volume 3: Basketmaker Site Descriptions
Volume 4: Puebloan Site Descriptions
Volume 5: Analyses and Interpretation
Appendix Volume

Phil Geib has worked as an archaeologist for 30 years, focusing on the Colorado Plateau in southern Utah and northern Arizona. He is currently completing his PhD at the University of New Mexico. He is author of Glen Canyon Revisited.

Table of Contents:

List of Figures
List of Tables
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction
Project Location
The Project
Project Methods

2. Background for the Navajo Mountain Road Archaeological Project
The Kayenta Region
Previous Research
Synopsis of Regional Prehistory
Environment

3. Synopsis of the Navajo Mountain Road Archaeological Project Sites
The Pits (AZ-J-14-17)
Ditch House (AZ-J-14-21)
Wolachii Bighan (AZ-J-14-20)
Hólahéi Scatter (AZ-J-14-23)
Pee Wee Grande (AZ-J-14-26)
Windy Mesa (AZ-J-14-28)
The Slots (AZ-J-14-30)
Polly’s Place (AZ-J-14-31)
Naaki Hooghan (AZ-J-14-11)
Tres Campos (AZ-J-14-12)
Panorama House (AZ-J-14-34)
Big Bend (AZ-J-14-13)
Ko’ Lanhi (AZ-J-14-35)
Blake’s Abode (AZ-J-14-36)
Scorpion Heights (AZ-J-14-37)
Camp Dead Pine (AZ-J-14-52)
Mountainview (AZ-J-14-38)
Hammer House (AZ-J-14-16)
Mouse House (AZ-J-3-7)
Sin Sombra (AZ-J-3-6)
Hillside Hermitage (AZ-J-3-14)
Kin Kahuna (AZ-J-3-8)
Dune Hollow (AZ-J-2-2)
Hymn House (AZ-J-2-3)
Modesty House (AZ-J-2-5)
Water Jar Pueblo (AZ-J-2-58)
Sapo Seco (AZ-J-2-6)
Bonsai Bivouac (AZ-J-2-55)
Three Dog Site (UT-B-63-39)
Hanging Ash (UT-B-63-14)
UT-B-63-19
UT-B-63-38
Tsé Haal’á (UT-B-63-30)
Atlatl Rock Cave (AZ-J-14-41)

4. Summary and Interpretation of Archaic Period Forager Remains
The NMRAP Archaic Site Sample
NMRAP Archaic Chronology
Archaic Settlement
Subsistence Range and Territory
Paleoindian Remains and Archaic Beginnings
Settlement Continuity and the Middle Archaic
Conclusions

5. Summary and Interpretation of Basketmaker II Remains
The NMRAP Basketmaker Site Sample
Northern Kayenta Region Basketmaker Chronology
Farming and Foraging
Basketmaker Settlement
Architecture
Basketmaker Origins
Basketmaker II–III Transition
Conclusions

6. Summary and Interpretation of Puebloan Remains, with Jim Collette
The NMRAP Puebloan Site Sample
Chronology
Puebloan Architecture
Puebloan Settlement Types and Patterning
Puebloan Mobility
Regional Settlement History and Population Trends

7. Conclusion
Research Issues
A Middle Holocene Bottleneck?
Forager Territories
Agricultural Transition
Puebloan Craft Production and Exchange
Social Issues
Final Thoughts

Appendix: Contents of Supporting Documents
References Cited
Index

Praise and Reviews:

“Provides by far the best data available so far on the chronology of Archaic and Basketmaker II occupations in the Four Corners area.”—William D. Lipe, Washington State University

"A tour de force."—Don D. Fowler, author of A Laboratory for Anthropology

"An engaging and data-intense book. I was impressed with Geib's ability to compress the results and interpretations from a complicated, large, data recovery project reported in multiple volumes into a single, well-written, and organized text."—Kiva: The Southwest Journal of Anthropology and History

"An outstanding addition to the growing body of archaeological knowledge of the Kayenta region of northern Arizona and southern Utah. The synopsis of the excavations and laboratory analyses of materials from 34 sites provides concise, yet rich, descriptions accompanied by excellent cartography. Geib has achieved a remakably effective synthesis of a large body of new archeaeological data with attention to current research topics. Moreover, the work sheds light on a remote and relatively little-known portion of the northern Southwest."—Journal of Anthropological Research

"This volume is an impressive demonstration of the potential of Cultural Resource Management (CRM) projects to make important contributions to basic archaeological research and of how project results should be disseminated. Overall this monograph and the associated online volumes are major sources not just on the archaeology of this region, but for the anthropological study of southwestern and more generally pre-agricultural Archaic societies, of the adoption of agriculture, and of the development of prev-village communities."—New Mexico Historical Review