MUSEUM OF NEW MEXICO OFFICE OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES THE BLINKING LIGHT SITE: A VALDEZ PHASE PIT STRUCTURE NEAR TAOS, NEW MEXICO Peter Y. Bullock With contributions by Nancy J, Akins, C. Dean Wilson, David V. Hill, Richard G. Holloway, Pamela J. McBride, Molly S. Toll, Steven A. Lakatos, and Marcy Snow Submitted by Timothy D. Maxwell Principal Investigator ARCHAEOLOGY NOTES 239 SANTA FE 1999 MEXICONEW ADMINISTRATIVE SUMMARY Between October 16 and November 22, 1995, the Oftice of Archaeological Studies, Museum of New Mexico, excavated a portion of LA 53678 for theNew Mexico State Highway and Transportation Department. A portion of the site was within the area proposed for realignment of the U.S. 64-NM 150-NM 522 intersection. LA 53678 is a Valdez phase pit structure. Excavation of the pit structure yielded a large amount of discarded prehistoric artifacts and one extramural feature. A historic component was represented by two areas of discarded Anglo-American artifacts. Specialized artifact and sample analyses provided detailed information with which to interpret the artifacts in light of research questions proposed in the data recovery plan. Submitted in fulfillment of Joint Powers AgreementD 05486 between the Officeof Archaeological Studies, Museum of New Mexico, andthe New Mexico StateHighway and Transportation Department. MNM Project No. 41.586a NMSHTD Pro-ject No. TPE-TPO-064-7 (14)250, CN 2736 NM Cultural Properties Review Committee Archaeological Excavation PermitNo. SE-111-48298 ... 111 INTRODUCTION In January and February 1986, New Mexico State Highway and Transportation Department (NMSHTD) archaeologists identifiedLA 53678, near the intersection of US 64-NM 150-NM 522 in Taos County, New Mexico. LA 53678 is on state land acquired from private sources and administered by NMSHTD (Fig. 1 and Appendix 1). The NMSHTD proposed to realign the intersection, and part of LA 53678 fellwithin the proposed right of way. The sitewas reconmended for data recovery. The data recovery plan and subsequent archaeological data recovery efforts wese proposedand performed by the Office of Archaeological Studies, Museum of New Mexico. The principal investigator was TimothyD. Maxwell. The project director was Peter Y. Bullock. Field assistants were Steven Lakatos, Raul Troxler, and Marcy Snow. The report was edited by Tom Ireland, graphics were drafted by Ann Noble, and photographs were printed by Nancy Warren. 1 Z ENVIRONMENT The LA 53678 is in the Southern Rocky Mountain physiographic province (Fenneman 1931), Costilla Plains physiographic subdivision. Part of the Rio Grande Rift (Garrabrant 1993:3), the Costilla Plains are composed of alluvial fan and valley fill sloping westward from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Elevations on the Costilla Plains range from 1,767.84 to 2,438.4 in (5,800 to 8,000 ft). LA 53678 is at an elevation of 2,185.41 m (7,170 ft). The site is on a southeast-facing slope on the south side of the small ridge that serves as the divide between the valleys of the Rio Seco and the Rio Lucero. Geology The Rio Grande Rift was formed when the Sangre de Cristo Mountains were uplifted during the Late Cenozoic period. This rift is an asymmetrical graben, bordered on the east by a north- south banded fault line that forms the western edge of the Sangre deCristo Mountains. Volcanism in the area occurred during the Pliocene period within the Taos Plateau volcanic field, Sevilleta formation (Bauer et al. 1991; Kelley 1990). The Costilla Plains were formedby alluvial rift, basin sediment deposits from deglaciationand glacial outwash from the mountains to the east. These form a series of large alluvial fans along the front of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The upper levelsof this alluvial depositionform the Lama formation, dating to the Pliocene and Pleistocene periods. These alluvial depositsare separated by well-developed soils, indicating deposition spaced betweenperiods of stability. This suggests that deposition episodes in the area correlate with periods of deglaciation (Hacker and Carlton 1982; Garrabrant 1993:7-8; Menges 1990:114-115; Pazzagliaand Wells 1990:429). An exception to this is the lack of aggregation in the Rio Hondo Valley during this period of deglaciation, caused by lengthy high-stream flow velocity in the Rio Hondo. Little change in terrain has occurred on the Costilla Plains since the end of the Pleistocene (Pazzaglia and Wells 1990). A number of perennial streams originate in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and flow across the Costilla Plains to the Rio Grande. Seeps and springs occur along the Rio Grande escarpment. Ground water in the Costilla Plains is plentiful, present in alluvial deposits of Quaternary and Tertiary age, at depths beginning at less than one foot below the surface (Garrabrant 1993:1). Prehistoric water availability, in the formof perennial streams and ground water, was similar to today’s. A higher water table existed inthe area prior to recent extensive well drilling (Garrabrant 1993). This suggests that surface water in the form of seeps and springs was more plentiful than it is now. Even with water diverted for irrigation, many portions of the local floodplains are too waterlogged for crops (Baxter 1990). Soils in the vicinity of LA 53678 are fine-textured loamyHaplargids-Camborthods, thin loam surface soil over moderately deep loamy clay to clay loam subsoils. Currently used primarily for grazing and raising forage crops, these soils are fertile when irrigated (Marker et al. 1974:85-86). 3 Climate The local climate is characterized assemiarid, usually dry and sunny with mild summers and cold winters (Garrabrant 19935; Tuan et al. 1973: Fig. 78). Precipitation ranges from 25.4 to 35.6 crn (10 to 14 in) per year on the Costilla Plains. Snow provides only 13 to 18 percent of the precipitation in this area of the Taos Valley. The wettest months are July and August. The winter months are the driest at lower altitudes. In the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, annual precipitation ranges from 48.3 to 70.6 crn (19,O to 27.8 in), and snow provides a third of the total (Gabin and Lesperance 1977:390-391; Carrabrant 19935; Tuan et al. 1973). Prehistorically, there was an increase in precipitation in the A.D. 1000s across large areas of the Southwest. This was causedby a northward shift in the jet stream, allowing warm, moisture- bearing air masses to move north in a trend that peaked by A.D. 1100. This was reversed between A.D. 1100 and 1200 as the jet stream moved south, allowing the return of northern cool dry air (Knight 198251; Pazzaglia and Wells 1990:429). Yearly temperatures for the project area range from 39.4 to 47.1 F. The difference between day and night temperatures averages30 degrees (Gabin andksperance 1977: 390-391; Garrabrant 1993:5-6). The first frost generally occurs in the third week in September, and the last frost generally occurred in the third week of May (Tuan et al. 1973:86). The number of frost-free days averages 120; however, the length of the growing season averages 160-180 days (Smith 1920:272- 273). Flora and Fauna Local vegetation in the area of LA 53678 is primarily big sage, with areas of mixed grasses also present. Scattered juniper stumps indicate that the sitearea previously was scattered juniper parkland. Open areas of grassland were once present in the vicinity of the site. The sagebrush-grassland community supports elk, mule deer, bobcat, and coyote. Cottontail rabbit, .jackrabbit, prairie dog, and assorted species of small mammals, including a variety of rodents and birds, are also common in the area. 4 CULTURE HISTORY This discussion is limited to the periods represented by components at LA 53678: the Early Puebloan and Late Historic (191 2-1946)periods. The reader is referred to Baxter (1990), Cordell (1979), Stuart and Gauthier (1981), Lamar (1970), Weber (1992, 1996), and Young and La1 rence (1988) for a more detailed synthesis of Taos area prehistory and history. Puebloan The cultural chronology usedin the Taos area was first developed by Wendorf ( 954). Although it has been altered a number of times since its inception (Wendorf and Reed 1955; Wetherington 1968), it is still useful to describe the general prehistoryof the area. This chronology is based on a sequence of pit structures to large aggregatedpueblos, and the individual phases are characterized by architectural and ceramic traits. A reevaluation of sequence dates based on nonceramic dating techniques by Crown (1990) suggests that the clusters of traits used to define each phase do not appear synchronously at the phase boundaries. The Valdez Phase The Valdez phase is the earliest Puebloan phasein the Taos region characterized by ceramics and architecture. Corresponding to the late Developmental phase in the Rio Grande chronology (Woosley 1986), this phase is commonly dated to A.D. 1000-1200 (Crown 1990), based on the presence of Taos Black-on-white pottery. Valdez phase sites are primarily composed of deep pit structures, sometimes found in association with surface jacal structures, work areas, and storage pits. These sites are generally small. The pitstructures are isolated or in groupsof up to four (Green 1976). There has been some attempt to group these sites intolarger communities based on structural styles (Boyer1994). Recent test excavations have revealed small pueblos dating to the Valdez phase (Boyer and Bullock1996), suggesting a greater degree of site variabilitywithin the phase than is usually considered. Associated ceramic types for this phase include mineral-painted Taos Black-on-white and Taos Gray, a plain, incised, or neckbanded gray ware or brown ware. Pot Creek Phase The Pot Creek phase, commonly dated to A. D. 1200-1250, is defined by the presence of carbon-painted Santa Fe Black-on-white. The Pot Creek phasesites have been traditionally characterized by population aggregation into small pueblos of 4-16 rooms that surround or abut a courtyard that may contain a kiva.