DATA RECOVERY at the Hermit Road Site (AZ B:16:1125) and the Three Mile Rest House Site (AZ B:16:0134), Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
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DATA RECOVERY at the Hermit Road Site (AZ B:16:1125) and the Three Mile Rest House Site (AZ B:16:0134), Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona By Jim H. Collette, L. Theodore Neff, Michael R. Robins, Elizabeth Hickey, Brian Kranzler, Jim Hasbargen, and Jason Nez Museum of Northern Arizona September 2009 DATA RECOVERY AT THE HERMIT ROAD SITE (AZ B:16:1125) AND THE THREE MILE REST HOUSE SITE (AZ B:16:0134), GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, ARIZONA by Jim H. Collette L. Theodore Neff Michael R. Robins Elizabeth Hickey Brian Kranzler Jim Hasbargen Jason Nez Submitted to: National Park Service Grand Canyon National Park P.O. Box 129 Grand Canyon, Arizona 86023 Submitted by: L. Theodore Neff, Ph.D. Archaeology Projects Principal Investigator Museum of Northern Arizona 3101 North Fort Valley Road Flagstaff, Arizona 86001 Final September 2009 ABSTRACT In the fall of 2007 and the spring of 2008 archaeologists from the Museum of Northern Arizona (MNA), Flagstaff, and the National Park Service (NPS) excavated two prehistoric sites in Grand Canyon National Park, Coconino County, Arizona. Site AZ B:16:1125 is located along Hermit Road adjacent to the South Rim and consisted of a lithic scatter exposed on outcropping Kaibab Limestone. It is situated partly within the right-of-way of Hermit Road, which was scheduled for improvement between Grand Canyon Village and Hermit’s Rest. Site AZ B:16:0134 is near the Bright Angel Trail northeast of Three Mile Rest House. It is situated at the top of the Redwall Limestone Formation overlooking Indian Garden. The NPS proposes to place composting toilets in this location to better serve visitors using Three Mile Rest House. The prehistoric component of AZ B:16:0134 consisted of a roasting pit (F1), a buried thermal feature (F3), and associated lithic artifacts. Site AZ B:16:1125, also known as the Hermit Road Site, had artifacts associated with three possible time periods: the Late Archaic, the Late Formative, and the Protohistoric/Historic. The primary component comprised a surface lithic scatter of mostly expedient core flakes and tools that probably represent a temporary Formative camp, although no diagnostic artifacts were found in association. The features at AZ B:16:0134, also known as the Three Mile Rest House Site, were radiocarbon dated to three time periods: the Late Archaic, the Late Archaic/Early Agricultural transition, and Late Pueblo I-Early Pueblo II. The dates appear to reflect intermittent re-use of the roasting pit over 2500 years. Macrobotanical analysis showed that the pit was used to roast agave. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It was a pleasure to work with the National Park Service at Grand Canyon National Park and our own staff at the Museum of Northern Arizona on this project. We would like to thank Ellen Brennan, the NPS Key Official for the excavations at the Three Mile Rest House Site and Hermit Road Site. Ellen was instrumental in getting the project off to a fantastic start and introducing us to the project area. We would also like to thank Amy Horn, Archaeology Program Manager, who saw the project to its fruitful conclusion and shepherded us through the intricacies of the Park cultural resource database. NPS archaeologist Jim Hasbargen was our very able mate in the field, and Ray Knight, also from the Park, safely packed in our supplies by mule during our work at Three Mile. At MNA, Pats Shriver and Lynn Yeager provided the critical administrative and budgetary aide that enabled the project to proceed smoothly and efficiently; thank you both. Big thanks are also due to the hard work of crew members Brian Kranzler and Jason Nez, and analysts Michael “Mick” Robins and Elizabeth Hickey; we couldn’t have done it without you, nor looked as fashionable while doing it. Finally, we would like to express our gratitude to Robert Breunig at MNA, and Janet Balsom at Grand Canyon N.P., for their long-term support and encouragement. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1. Introduction.....................................................................................................1 Background......................................................................................................................1 Justification......................................................................................................................6 Chapter 2. Environment....................................................................................................7 Geology............................................................................................................................7 Biotic Communities .........................................................................................................9 Fauna..............................................................................................................................10 Climate...........................................................................................................................11 Chapter 3. Previous Research and Culture History.....................................................12 Archaeological Overviews of the Grand Canyon ..........................................................12 Summary of Culture History in the Park ......................................................................14 Paleoindian Period .....................................................................................................14 Archaic Period ...........................................................................................................15 Preformative Period ...................................................................................................17 Formative Period........................................................................................................17 Protohistoric and Historic Periods .............................................................................20 Previous Research in the Project Area...........................................................................21 Major Projects............................................................................................................21 Other Sites in the Project Area...................................................................................27 Chapter 4. Field and Laboratory Methods....................................................................29 Field Methods ................................................................................................................29 Surface Mapping........................................................................................................29 Artifact and Specialized Sample Recovery................................................................29 Excavation..................................................................................................................31 Laboratory Processing and Specialized Analysis ..........................................................32 Curation of Artifacts and Excavation Records ..........................................................33 Chapter 5. Data Recovery at AZ B:16:1125 (Hermit Road Site) ................................34 Background....................................................................................................................34 Location and Setting ..................................................................................................34 Work Effort................................................................................................................37 Stratigraphy................................................................................................................38 Archaic-Basketmaker II Component .............................................................................40 Artifacts......................................................................................................................40 Ancestral Puebloan Component.....................................................................................40 Artifacts......................................................................................................................42 Post-Formative (Protohistoric/Historic) Component.....................................................48 Artifacts......................................................................................................................48 Summary and Interpretation ..........................................................................................48 Chapter 6. Data Recovery at AZ B:16:0134 (Three Mile Rest House Site)................50 Background....................................................................................................................50 Location and Setting ..................................................................................................50 iv Work Effort................................................................................................................51 Stratigraphy................................................................................................................55 Archaic/Basketmaker and Ancestral Puebloan Components.........................................56 Features......................................................................................................................56 Artifacts......................................................................................................................60 Non-Artifactual Remains...........................................................................................71 Chronology