Prehistoric Pueblo Organization, Goodman Point Locality, Southwestern Colorado

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In this project Drs. Lipe and Bradley will continue their archaeological research in the Goodman Point region of the McElmo district in Southern Colorado. In addition to numerous surface scatters and smaller sites, this area contains the Sand Canyon Pueblo, a large 13th century A.D. settlement. This apparently single-component single-story walled site has 250-300 surface rooms, ca 90 kivas, at least 14 towers, several informal plazas and at least one associated reservoir. Clearly it was a central focus for the region. During one season of field research, the investigators will continue excavation at the Sand Canyon site, survey the 7.5 km surrounding area, and excavate at two smaller sites which date from a slightly earlier period in time. The Goodman Point region, during this period formed an outlier of the Chacoan culture which was centered in New Mexico. This culture which unified a large portion of the Southwest U.S.A. seems to have developed quickly and then rapidly disappeared. Although a great deal of work has been done in the heartland of the Chacoan region, much less has taken place in the outlying regions. This project should provide insight into how this complex, spatially extended culture arose, was maintained and then declined. It will provide a model of sociopolitical and economic organization. Anthropologists are interested in the process which leads to the development of complex societies such as our own. Archaeological data, because of the long term perspective they provide, offer a unique insight into this question.