Four Corners Archaeological Project. Report Number 20. Archaeological Excavations on Reach II of the Towaoc Canal.

摘要

In 1989 archaeological investigations were conducted by Complete Archaeological Service Associates at five sites south and southeast of Cortez, Colorado. Excavation of 5MT8937, 5MT8938, 5MT8940, 5MT9072, and 5MT9077 was carried out as part of the mitigation effort for Reach II of the Towaoc Canal, the second stage of a three phase project. The Towaoc Canal is a major construction feature of the Bureau of Reclamation's Dolores Project. Its purpose is to transport irrigation water from McPhee Reservoir to the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation, southwest of Cortez. Site 5MT8937 contained a stockaded Basketmaker III habitation with two pithouses and a small Pueblo II habitation with a kiva. Site 5MT8938 was a large, stockaded Basketmaker III-transitional Pueblo I habitation with two residential pithouses and numerous rooms. The site was later reused as a seasonal habitation during the late Pueblo I period, and two burials were placed at the site during the late Pueblo II- early Pueblo III period. Site 5MT8940 consisted of a middle-late Pueblo III fieldhouse with a small roomblock and a large, subterranean oven. Site 5MT9072 was a stockaded early Pueblo I settlement with two pithouses. Site 5MT9077 was a middle Pueblo II fieldhouse with one masomy room and seven exterior features. This report presents descriptions and interpretations of the five sites, as well as the results of the artifactual and biocultural analyses.