July Meeting James Potter Presents, Cowboy Wash Pueblo And
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“The Mission of the Hisatsinom Chapter of the Colorado Archaeological Society is to further the education, opportunities and experiences of its members, students and the general public by partnering with and serving the archaeological, avocational archaeological, and related scientific communities of the Montezuma Valley, the Four Corners area and the State of Colorado.” VOLUME 28 JULY 2016 ISSUE 7 July Meeting 7pm Tuesday, July 5, at the First United Methodist Church in Cortez James Potter presents, Cowboy Wash Pueblo and Community Organization on the Southern Piedmont of Sleeping Ute Mountain Recent excavations at Cowboy Wash Pueblo on the southern piedmont of Ute Mountain have revealed tantalizing details about the occupation of this late Pueblo III village and its relationship to the larger Cowboy Wash community and cultural landscape of the late twelfth century. This talk will present the long-term objectives at the site by the Ute Mountain Tribal Historic Preservation Office and discuss preliminary results of excavations at the site as part of the joint CU-Boulder/PaleoWest field school in June of 2016. The talk will also highlight recent investigations at other sites south of Ute Mountain and frame the southern piedmont as a whole, in light of its history of violence, marginal environment, sensitivity to climate changes, and role as a borderland community. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- James Potter is a Principal Archaeologist with PaleoWest Archaeology. He has been working with the Ute Mountain Ute tribe since 2002, when he became the Principal Investigator for the Animas-La Plata Project, a Ute-administered reservoir project. Subsequent to that project, he was instrumental in helping the tribe establish its Tribal Historic Preservation Office (THPO), has authored the tribe’s first Cultural Resources Management Plan, and has helped the THPO secure grant funding for several large preservation projects, including the Cowboy Wash Pueblo project. View from Cowboy Wash Pueblo of the Sleeping Ute Mountain (photo courtesy of James Potter) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ July 8, Friday 7pm Hisatsinom is co-sponsoring this event with Crow Canyon Archaeological Center at CCAC. There will be a book sale and signing following the lecture. James Brooks presents, Mesa of Sorrows: Archaeology, History, and the Ghosts of Awat’ovi Pueblo Drawing on oral traditions, archival accounts, and extensive archaeological research, Brooks unravels the story of the massacre at Awat’ovi Pueblo and its significance. Piecing together three centuries of investigation, he offers insight into why some were spared in the massacre— women, mostly, and taken captive—and others sacrificed. He weighs theories that the attack was in retribution for Awat’ovi having welcomed Franciscan missionaries or for the residents’ practice of sorcery, and he argues that a perfect storm of internal and external crises revitalized an ancient cycle of ritual bloodshed and purification. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. James Brooks is Professor of History and Anthropology at UC Santa Barbara, where he directs the UCSB Public History program and serves as editor of The Public Historian. Brooks is an interdisciplinary scholar of the Indigenous and Colonial past. He is the author of a number of award-winning books, including Captives & Cousins: Slavery, Kinship and Community in the Southwest Borderlands (2002). In this lecture, Brooks will discuss his latest book, Mesa of Sorrows: A History of the Awat’ovi Massacre (2016, WW Norton press). ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ New Members Audrey Marnoy - Telluride, CO Mark Jazo – Monticello, UT ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOUR CORNERS LECTURE SERIES (July events) July 5 Tuesday, 7pm James Potter - Recent Research on the Cowboy Wash Community First United Methodist Church July 9 Saturday, 2pm Carol Patterson - Ute Rock Art of Western Colorado and theUintah Ouray Reservation Interpreted by Clifford Duncan Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum, Blanding July 14 Thursday, 7pm Paul Berkowitz and Billy Malone - The Case of the Indian Trader: Billy Malone and the NPS Investigation at Hubbell Trading Post Center for Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College July 22 Friday, 7pm Brian Forist - That’s How It Was in the Cs: The Work and Legacy of the Civilian Conservation Corps at Mesa Verde & Beyond Chapin Museum, Mesa Verde National Park July 25 Monday, 7pm Janet Lever-Wood Baskets and Bags in Rock Art and the Plants From Which They Were Made Anasazi Heritage Center ___________________________________________________________ Tewa Origins Field Trip June 15-19 nine of us led by Bob Bernhart, the McBrides, and greatly assisted by our chapter field trip coordinator, Richard Robinson, embarked on a search for the Tewa origins of the pre- Hispanic world in northern New Mexico. We camped in the Lake Abiquiu campground for four nights, leaving early every morning and not returning until late each evening. An explosive growth period along the northern Rio Grande during the early 1300s prompted us to find out for ourselves if this growth could have been a result of the depopulation of the Mesa Verde region. We visited seven Tewa Pueblos occupied during those times in hopes of finding evidence of the Tewa ancestral homelands being in our area. (see photo below) Two of the sites we visited are under active investigation this summer by two different university field schools. One is by archaeologist Dr Sam Duwe, University of Oklahoma, who is re- screening the back-dirt piles left behind during earlier CRM activities associated with Lake Abiquiu construction over 50 years ago. They are looking for evidence, in this small early 1300's village, of how and why this village formed here on the northern boundary of the early Tewa world so close to Tsiping Pueblo (1275-1400), a very large defensive site, when it would have been easy just to move there. The second field school is conducted by Dr Scott Ortman, CU Boulder, who is investigating the possibility of large scale cotton agriculture at Cuyamungue Pueblo, AD 900s-1680, and possible trade networks associated with cotton textiles. Both professors graciously gave us personal tours of these sites, and we learned a great deal. We also had the privilege of a tour given by Mike Bremer, Forest Service archaeologist, and Dr Ortman. They took 23 of us (including Ortman's field school participants) to Tsiping Pueblo. A Forest Service permit was required and obtained for all in attendance. After our earlier visit to Duwe's site, it was pointed out to us by Ortman that one might have had to prove 'Tewa-ness' before being allowed to live in the Tewa village of Tsiping, and this might explain why the small site was formed and inhabited only for a fairly short time. This last day of the tour happened to be the hottest day of the year, which we barely survived, but this was well worth the visit to this large and important site. I think we all had the opportunity to see the evidence that helps substantiate that much of the population increase in the northern Rio Grande in the late 1200s into the early 1300s was due to the migrants moving from our area. Some of the evidence we saw at those seven sites included shrines, round kivas, pottery design styles, linguistic metaphors (names for objects and places that are associated with our area), and oral histories shared by our experts. We had a good time despite the oppressive heat, a flat tire, and almost being locked out of the campground (saved by our chapter president, Dave). – Bob McBride Dave Melanson (l) and other chapter members tour cavates and ladders at Tsankawi ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Chapter Land Survey The chapter survey team has retired from our recent work north of Dove Creek after recording eight sites on 150 acres. The retirement came early this year with the heat and rattlesnakes. We have about 650 acres remaining on this property located on the western uplift flanks of the Dolores River. We plan to resume this survey in late winter or early spring. We recorded several lithic scatters and Archaic stone fragments but only one tiny gray sherd. This was not too surprising since the elevation of the survey area is above 7400 feet which makes maize agriculture a little iffy. The remains of a 1928 homestead was recorded on the property. It featured two dug outs, an orchard (dead from neglect and lack of adequate of water), a barn in ruins, and a breached earthen dam. The property sold in 1938 for $1 per acre and was never lived on again. (see photo below) – Bob McBride Feature 1 southeast corner logs on top of stone walls (bottom of photo), Bob Bernhart holding catsup bottle next to support post, Diane McBride and Dale Diede on northwest corner 5-29-16 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ June Meeting Minutes Minutes of Hisatsinom Chapter Meeting June 11, 2016 President Dave Melanson called the meeting to order at 7 pm. 59 people were present. He welcomed everyone, then reminded people about the Alice Hamilton Scholarship raffle tickets available, and that the cause, scholarships given by CAS, was a worthy one. Dave recognized Karen Kinnear, current president of CAS,