The Dendroarchaeology of 1/4

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The Dendroarchaeology of 1/4 Section
Pueblito,Farmington District BLM, New Mexico

• Ronald H. Towner, Laboratory of Tree-Ring
  Research
• Karen Brelsford, University of Victoria
• Angelika Clemens, University of Arizona
• S. Colby Phillips, University of New Mexico

Photo R. Towner
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The Project

• This project was conducted by the 2002
  Geoscience 597j course at the Laboratory of
  Tree-ring Research, the University of Arizona
  with tremendous assistance from the Farmington
  Bureau of Land Management.

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Project Goals

• The goals of the project were to (a) provide
  students and professionals with experience in the
  collection, preparation, crossdating, and
  interpretation of archaeological tree-ring
  samples, and (b) to generate chronological and
  behavioral interpretations of ¼ Section Pueblito.

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Dendroarchaeological Strategies and Techniques

• Using a specially adapted drill bit, we extract ½
  inch wood cores from beams that exhibits a true
  outside (with bark, beetle galleries, patina).

Photo E. Peters
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Dendroarchaeological Strategies and Techniques

• Goals for Sampling
• To obtain samples from all appropriate beams at
  site
• To record the precise provenience of each beam
  and sample
• To describe the attributes of each beam
• To generate chronological and behavioral
  interpretations of the site

Photo R. Towner
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Date Types and Terminology

• Cutting dates (B, G, L, v- dates)
• Last year of tree growth before death.
• Bark, bark patina, or beetle galleries must be
  present.
• Seasonality in Cutting dates
• Latewood is complete (comp- dates). Tree was
  felled after growing season.
• Last ring growth is incomplete (inc-dates).
  Tree was felled during growing season.
• Noncutting dates (vv and dates)
• -dates possible absent rings near outside
  of ring growth. Probably deadwood use.
• vv dates indicate probable erosion of outer
  rings from a sample.
• Anomalous tree-ring dates
• Those dates that dont fit with the other
  beams from a structure/room, etc. Most likely
  caused by the reuse of timber, the use of dead
  wood, stockpiling, repair/remodeling, or other
  human behaviors.

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• The Dinetah is the ancestral homeland of the
  Navajo people in Northwestern New Mexico
• It is the location of many early Navajo sites
  that date from the early-1500s through 1760s
• The area is represented in Navajo oral traditions
  as home of Holy People and location of many
  important events in the origin of the Dine

Map from Towner 2001
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Dinetah Environment

• Dinetah is part of the Colorado Plateau
  pinyon-juniper woodland local trees include
• Juniper (Juniperus spp.)
• Pinyon (Pinus edulis)
• Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa)
• Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) (1)
• Cottonwood (Populus spp.)

Photos R. Towner
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Area Geology and Topography

• Geology of the area includes sandstone and
  limestone deposits that slope northward towards
  the San Juan River.
• It is a landscape of wide valley bottoms,
  steep-sided canyons and flat mesa tops.

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Area Climate

• Climate of Dinetah area includes cold, snowy
  winters and hot dry summers
• Precipitation falls as winter snow and summer
  monsoon rains
• The average precipitation is approximately 10-12
  inches per year.

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Dinetah Area and History

• Two phases mark the Navajo occupation
• Dinetah Phase (A.D. 1450 1650)
• Forked-pole hogans
• Plain gray ceramics and absence of European trade
  goods
• Gobernador Phase (A.D. 1650 1765)
• Construction of masonry defensive pueblitos in
  conjunction with hogans
• Polychrome ceramics and European metal tools (2)

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Pueblitos

• Pueblitos were originally believed to have been
  built by Puebloan refugees immigrating to Navajo
  lands following the Pueblo Revolt of A.D. 1680
• More recently they have been interpreted as
  defensive structures and a Navajo response to Ute
  raiding in the A.D. 1700s.
• Tree-ring dating and ceramic analyses have played
  important roles in changing the perceptions of
  pueblitos.

Photo R. Towner
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¼ Section Pueblito

• The site was first recorded by Mike Proper and
  Doug Dykeman and assigned LA 127742.
• The site is located on a boulder at the edge of a
  sandstone bench and commands views of the mesa
  and valley below.
• It is associated with a hogan structure a few
  meters to the northeast and a sweatlodge
  approximately 100 meters to the north.

Room 4
Room 1
Photo E. Peters
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• The structure is a 4-room sandstone masonry
  building with wood roof beams and door/ window
  lintels.
• Rooms 1 2 are around the base of the boulder on
  the north and west sides. Room 4 occupies the
  entire top of the boulder. Room 3 is below Room 2
  on the bench below the boulder. A burned and
  buried forked-pole hogan is 5 m NE of the
  boulder.
• Wood was in various states of preservation and
  several beams were in situ

Rm 1
Hogan area
Tree-ring sample numbers
Rm 2
Rm 3?
Rm 4
Sketch map courtesy of T. Windes
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Interpreting the Architecture

• The collapsed nature of the rooms makes
  architectural analysis difficult. Rooms 3 and 4
  could have been built at any time relative to the
  others. The north wall of Room 1 abuts onto the
  wall of Room 2 indicating that Room 2 was built
  before Room 1.

Upright door jams
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The Samples Collected

• Pinyon (Pinus edulis)
• 28 samples collected, 3 duplicates
• 25 independent samples
• 20 samples dated
• 1 cutting, 2 near cutting, 17 noncutting dates
• Juniper (Juniperus osteosperma and Juniperus
  scopulorum)
• 11 samples collected, 1 duplicate
• 10 independent samples
• 6 samples dated
• 1 near cutting date, 5 noncutting dates

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Species Selection and Use

• Pinyon and juniper are the only species used in
  the structures at the site.
• Juniper is the only species used in Room 4 on top
  of the boulder, but the small sample size (n2)
  makes any inferences about its use very
  tentative. Interestingly, both upright door jambs
  in Room 1 are juniper.
• Pinyon was clearly the favored species for
  construction and was used as roof primary beams
  and door lintels.
• The absence of other species, such as Douglas-fir
  or Ponderosa pine may be related to their
  relative distance from the site, or the fact that
  none of the rooms required long, straight beams
  for spanning the rooms or bearing heavy roofs.

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Sample Species Provenience Inside Outside Tool
Number Date Date Marks
DNT-1086 PNN Loose below bench No date MA limb trim
DNT-1087 PNN Loose below bench 1607 1738vv Metal ax shaping and debark
DNT-1088 PNN Loose below bench 1621 1726vv
DNT-1089 PNN Loose below bench 1618p 1717vv
DNT-1090 PNN Loose below bench 1626 179vv Metal ax limb trim, end
DNT-1091 JUN Loose below bench No date Metal ax limb trim
DNT-1092 PNN Loose below bench 1623 1732vv
DNT-1093 PNN Loose below bench 1615p 1723vv
DNT-1094 JUN Loose below bench No Date Metal ax limb trim and ends
DNT-1095 JUN Room 4 Primary 1544- 1723vv Metal ax limb trim and ends
DNT-1096 JUN Room 4 Primary 1618 1731vv Metal ax limb trim
DNT-1097 PNN Hogan No date charcoal
DNT-1098 PNN Hogan No date charcoal
DNT-1099 JUN Ax-cut stump No date Metal ax
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Stem and Leaf Plot

• Stem and leaf plot of dates from ¼ Section
  Pueblito
• 171 3789
• 172 33346
• 1267788888
• 000027
• Left column represents decades, i.e. 1710s, and
  row numbers represent individual years, i.e.
  1713, 1717, etc. Underline indicates cutting or
  near cutting date.

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Chronological Interpretations

• The tree-ring dates and other data indicate the
  following chronology of the pueblito
• Room 2 was built in the spring of 1737 the
  complete terminal ring for 1736 (DNT-1077) and
  incomplete terminal rings from 1737 cutting dates
  (DNT-1062/1076) indicate tree-cutting in the
  spring of 1737.
• Room 1 was probably built in the summer of 1742
  or 1743. Sample DNT-1080 is a near cutting date
  (1740v) from an upright door jamb, an element
  that is typically a freshly cut beam in Navajo
  structures. All the other dates from Room 1
  cluster between 1738 and 1742, but are noncutting
  dates.
• Room 4 yielded only two noncutting dates (1723vv,
  1731vv) and could have been built before, after,
  or at the same time as any of the other rooms.
• The logs on the bench that may be associated with
  Room 3 yielded seven dates, all noncutting. Two
  beams that appear to be in situ (DNT-1085 and
  1087) indicate construction sometime after 1738.
• A loose log in Room 1 dated 1747vv and suggests
  that the site was occupied for approximately 11
  years (1737-1747), but the occupation may not
  have been continuous or year-round.

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Regional Context

• The Navajo occupied the Dinetah region from at
  least the 1540s until the 1750s.
• During the Late Gobernador Phase ca.1716 to
  1750s, the pueblito built on a boulder or mesa
  top was a common Navajo structure.
• These pueblitos were probably built as a response
  to mounted Ute raiding parties.

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Acknowledgements

• We very much appreciate the advice and assistance
  of the following individuals and organizations
• James M. Copeland of the Farmington District
  Bureau of Land Management
• Thomas W. Swetnam of the Laboratory of Tree-Ring
  Research
• Jeffrey S. Dean of the Laboratory of Tree-ring
  Research
• Richard L. Warren of the Laboratory of Tree-Ring
  Research

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The End