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Pithouse Number 1, Mesa Verde National Park

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2017

Terah L. Smiley
Terah L. Smiley*
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of ArizonaTucsonArizona
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Extract

An early eighth century pithouse was accidentally discovered in Mesa Verde National Park during the spring of 1939 when workmen were digging a trench for a new pipe line. Before the trench was dug the area was thoroughly examined so that the digging would not cut through any prehistoric structure. There were no surface indications of this pithouse. During the actual laying of the pipe line workmen discovered the floor levels of the pithouse visible on the sides of the trench. The Park Service authorities decided to excavate the structure to preserve anything of archaeological value.

The pithouse is located on Chapin Mesa, 108° 29′ 27˝ west, 37° 12′ 17˝ north, at an elevation of 7,200 feet. Today a thick forest of juniper and pinyon trees covers the entire area. The red topsoil is about 1.7 m. in depth and overlays a.layer of shale. The floor of the pithouse is 1.25 m. below present ground level and well within the limits of this topsoil layer.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 14 , Issue 3 , January 1949 , pp. 167 - 171
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1949

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References

1 Figure 38, a photograph taken at the site, shows the density of this growth.

2 Pottery type designation is after Colton, H. S. and Hargrave, L. L., “Handbook of Northern Arizona Pottery Ware.,” Bulletin, Museum of Northern Arizona, No. 11, Flagstaff, 1937 Google Scholar.

3 Lino Fugitive Red ware has not been reported heretofore in the immediate area. This vessel (its paste and temper were exactly the same as the Lino Gray ware) had traces of a red wash on the exterior.

4 More extensive excavation of similar sites in this area may lead to a breakdown of this classification; the known evidence does not warrant such a breakdown. For a complete description of Lino pottery .types in this area see Lancaster, J. A. and Watson, D. W., “Excavation of Mesa Verde Pit House.” American Antiquity, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 190–8, 1942.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

5 Morris, E. H., “Archaeological Studies in the La Plata Distric.,” Publications, Carnegie Institution of Washington, No. 519, Washington, 1939, Pl. 164 Google Scholar, f-h; Roberts, F. H. H., “Shabik'eshchee Villag.,” Bulletin, Bureau of American Ethnology, No. 92, Washington, 1929, pp. 134–6.Google Scholar

6 Fifteen specimens comprising 12 individual trees, all of Douglas fir species, were loaned the writer for study by Gila Pueblo, Globe, Arizona. Independent dating of these specimens by Dr. Deric O'Bryan, of Gila Pueblo, and the writer gave the same results with few exceptions and those of but a year or two difference. Examination of various fragments of the same tree will sometimes yield additional rings. A complete analysis of those specimens in possession of Gila Pueblo will appear in a future publication of that institution. Five specimens in the possession of the writer, one of which is from the same tree as one in possession of Gila Pueblo, are included in the summary. All dates given are those of the writer.

7 Morris, op. cit., p. 64.

8 John Otis Brew, “Archaeology of Alkali Ridge, Southeastern Utah,” Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Vol. 21, Cambridge, 1946, p. 177.

9 Excavated by Superintendent J. L. Nusbaum in 1926. No detailed report was made of this excavation.

10 J. W. Fewkes, “Field Work on Mesa Verde National Park,” Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 72, No. 1, Washington, 1920, p. 58.

11 Lancaster and Watson, op. cit., pp. 190–8.