MUSEUM OF NEW MEXICO OFFICE OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES Data Recovery Investigations at Three Small Pueblo Sites along the US 84/285, Santa Fe to Pojoaque Corridor, Santa Fe County, New Mexico James L. Moore Jeffrey L. Boyer Eric Blinman, Ph.D. Principal Investigator ARCHAEOLOGY NOTES 363 SANTA FE 2008 NEW MEXICO Administrative Summary The Office of Archaeological Studies conducted the Pueblo of Tesuque Grant. Residential use of excavations at three sites along the Santa Fe to LA 390 and LA 145398 occurred during the Late Pojoaque Corridor. The fieldwork was per- Developmental period, but evidence suggests formed at LA 111326 on July 27 and 28, 2000; and that both locations continued to be used into the at LA 390 and LA 145398 from September 21 to Classic period. This is especially true of LA 28, 2004. All three sites are along US 84/285 in 145398, which also contains a Classic period Santa Fe County, New Mexico, and were studied canal segment and evidence of an associated corn in conjunction with the reconstruction of that field. No accurate date could be assigned to LA highway. LA 390 and LA 145398 were examined 111326 because no temporally diagnostic materi- at a late stage in the project, when the Pueblo of als were recovered from the section of the site Tesuque requested the additional construction of that was examined. No structures, features, or two turnouts along the highway at the north end intact cultural deposits were found in the parts of of their grant. LA 111326 was examined as part of LA 390 and LA 145398 that were examined, while the larger Santa Fe to Pojoaque project and added the section of LA 111326 that was excavated con- to this report because few cultural remains were tained only a thermal feature of questionable found within the highway right-of-way, in con- date. trast to other sites investigated during that proj- As a result of this research, the potential of ect. the examined portions of LA 390, LA 111326, and These studies were conducted at the request LA 145398 to yield information relevant to local of the New Mexico Department of prehistory has been exhausted. Transportation (NMDOT). All three sites are on NMDOT Project No. MIP-084-6(59)177, CN 2155 MNM Project Nos. 41.678 (LA 111326) and 41.772 (LA 390 and LA 145398) NMCRIS Activity Nos. 89966 (LA 390 and LA 145398) and 67881 (LA 111326) ARPA Permit Nos. BIA AAO-99-002 (LA 111326) and BIA/SRO-04-002 (LA 390 and LA 145398) Administrative Summary iii Contents Administrative Summary . iii Introduction . 1 History of Site Investigations . 3 Physical Environment. 5 An Overview of the Prehistoric Period . 9 Field Methods . 21 Analytic Methods and Research Issues . 25 Data Recovery and Treatment Plan . 33 Data Recovery at LA 390 . 51 Data Recovery at LA 111326 . 59 Data Recovery at LA 145398 . 67 Summary and Conclusions . 79 References Cited . 81 Appendix 1: Site Location Information . 95 Appendix 2: Intensive Scan Microscopy Pollen Analysis of Five Samples from LA 145398 . 97 FIGURES 1. Project vicinity map . 2 2. Polythetic set of variables for distinguishing biface flakes from core flakes. 29 3. Plan of LA 390 . 52 4. Excavation areas at LA 390.. 54 5. Profile of the northwest wall of the mechanically excavated trench at LA 390 . 55 6. Plan of LA 111326 . 60 7. Excavation area at LA 111326 . 62 8. Plan and profiles, Feature 1, LA 111326 . 63 9. Plan of LA 145398 . 68 10. Plan of the part of LA 145398 around the east Tesuque turnout. 69 11. Profile of the south wall in the mechanically excavated trench at LA 145398 . 74 A2.1. Location of LA 145398 showing elevation profile route . 97 A2.2. Elevational profile from Santa Clara Peak to Santa Fe Recreation Area via LA 145398 . 105 TABLES 1. Administrative information for LA 390, LA 111326, and LA 145398 . 1 2. Wood charcoal taxa in flotation samples, Feature 1, LA 111326 . 64 3. Other plant taxa in flotation samples, Feature 1, LA 111326 . 64 4. Auger tests, LA 145398. 72 A2.1. Raw pollen counts and concentration values, LA 145398 . 101 Contents v Introduction Jeffrey L. Boyer Between 1997 and 2004, the Office of tion. In each case, the portions of the sites within Archaeological Studies (OAS), Museum of New NMDOT construction areas were small relative Mexico, conducted a series of archaeological to the total area of the sites. Archaeological inves- investigations at 19 sites along US 84/285 tigations did not produce significant numbers of between Santa Fe and Pojoaque, Santa Fe artifacts from surface or subsurface deposits or County, New Mexico (Fig. 1). The investigations reveal significant surface or subsurface features were performed at the request of the New or structures. This report presents the results of Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) investigations at these 3 sites, including analyses in anticipation of various planned highway con- of collected artifacts and other materials. Because struction and improvement activities associated they are discussed here, they are not discussed in with the US 84/285 Pojoaque South and Santa Fe subsequent reports on the US 84/285 Pojoaque to Pojoaque Corridor projects. The project direc- South and Santa Fe to Pojoaque Corridor proj- tors were Jeffrey L. Boyer, James L. Moore, and ects, which will deal with the other 16 sites. Steven A. Lakatos. The three sites are on the Pueblo of Tesuque Investigations at 3 of the sites—LA 390, LA Grant (Appendix 1). They are parts of a cluster of 111326, and LA 145398—yielded little informa- sites at or near the north boundary of the Pueblo tion relevant to research issues beyond their loca- of Tesuque Grant (Fig. 1 and Table 1). TableTable 1. 1. Administrative Administrative information information for LA 390, LAfor 111326, LA 390, and LA 145398 111326, and LA 145398 Site NMDOT NMDOT MNM NMCRIS No. NMCRIS Right-of-Entry Letter USDI BIA Permit No. Project No. Control No. Project No. Activity No. (Tesuque Pueblo) LA 390 MIP-084-6(59)177 CN 2155 41.772 50208 89966 9/2/2004 BIA/SRO-04-002 LA 111326 MIP-084-6(59)177 CN 2155 41.678 50208 65471 8/12/1999 BIA/AAO-99-002 (testing) LA 111326 MIP-084-6(59)177 CN 2155 41.678 50208 67881 8/12/1999 BIA/AAO-99-002 (excavation) LA 145398 MIP-084-6(59)177 CN 2155 41.772 50208 89966 9/2/2004 BIA/SRO-04-002 Introduction 1 2 Data Recovery Investigations at Three Small Pueblo Sites History of Site Investigations LA 390 Tesuque Grant. Because of his familiarity with the site grid, Steven A. Lakatos directed exten- The name LA 390 was assigned by H. P. Mera in sion of the grid to LA 390. the 1930s to a small mound assumed to be the remains of a prehistoric surface roomblock unit. LA 111326 The site was on the west side of the highway near the north boundary of the Pueblo of Tesuque The name LA 111326 was assigned by Hohmann Grant. Sherds collected by Mera from LA 390 et al. (1998) to a small artifact scatter along the belong to types associated with the Late west side of US 84/285 on the Pueblo of Tesuque Developmental period (ca. AD 900–1200; Lakatos Grant. The scatter had previously been recorded and Montoya n.d.). as a southern extension of a site thought to be LA 390 was not referenced again in published Mera’s LA 391 (McCrary 1983). Preliminary or NMCRIS records until the OAS began investi- examination of existing site records by the OAS gations in the US 84/285 Santa Fe to Pojoaque suggested that the site was the location of Mera’s Corridor project area in 1999 (Boyer and Lakatos LA 389 (Boyer and Lakatos 2000). However, sub- 2000). At that time, LA 390 referred to a scatter of sequent examinations of site records and artifacts artifacts and two large artifact concentrations, collected by Mera from LA 389 show that this site perhaps representing structural areas, on the was on a nearby ridge and had been largely south side of the grant boundary fence—the site removed during highway construction in the discussed in this report. Subsequent examination 1930s and 1960s (Lakatos and Montoya n.d.). of site records and collected artifacts showed that Because it is a discrete artifact scatter, clearly sep- Mera’s LA 390 was probably closer to the modern arated from the site investigated by the OAS as highway, at or near a location investigated by the LA 391, the site is identified in this report and in OAS as LA 391 (Lakatos and Montoya n.d.). updated NMCRIS records as LA 111326. Test Given the differences in how sites were defined excavations were conducted at the site in 1999 and recorded in the 1930s (Mera gave site num- (Boyer and Lakatos 2000). They revealed a bers to obvious and presumed roomblock units, hearth, a portion of which was excavated. In 2000 ignoring artifact scatters surrounding those units excavation of the hearth was completed, and a and scatters with no evident architectural fea- series of grid units surrounding the feature were tures), the site investigated by the OAS as LA 390 excavated. These investigations, conducted by may represent part of the artifact “halo” around Richard Montoya and Paul Cooter, were super- Mera’s LA 390. However, that conclusion cannot vised by Steven A. Lakatos. be securely demonstrated, and the location is treated and described in this report as a discrete site.