Faunal Analysis, Zooarchaeology Research Papers (original) (raw)

The U.S. 89 Archaeological Project investigated 41 prehistoric sites located approximately 30 km (~25 miles) north of Flagstaff, Arizona. All sites were on
Coconino National Forest (CNF) land, specifically the Peaks Ranger District. The project was conducted by Desert Archaeology, Inc., for the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) prior to widening and improvement of 26.7 km (16.6 miles) of U.S. 89, between the southern boundary of Wupatki National Monument in the north, and the town of Fernwood in the south. Archaeological fieldwork occurred over two primary field seasons in 1997 and 1998, with a very brief field season in 1999. A total of almost 12 person-years of labor was expended on the fieldwork.

The U.S. 89 project area crosses diverse environmental zones, ranging from uniper-sage grasslands in the north at approximately 5,700 ft (1,737 m) asl,
to ponderosa pine forests at over 7,200 ft (2,195 m) asl in the south. Mixed pinyon pine and juniper woodlands comprise the middle elevations. Five elevation zones were defined, using increments of 500 ft as a proxy for changes in precipitation, temperature, and vegetation. Additionally, all project area sites are within 25 km of Sunset Crater, with the closest sites only 5-6 km west of the volcano. Sunset
Crater erupted for a very short period (weeks to months to a few years at the absolute most) sometime between A.D. 1050 and 1125 and most probably between A.D. 1085-1090. Basalt lava covered an area of around 8 sq. km, while another 2,300 sq. km was covered by cinder and ash deposits. Sunset Crater cinders were found on all project area sites. An isopach map of cinder depth constructed for this project
indicates that, minimumally, the U.S. 89 sites were covered with from 5-50 cm of volcanic material, which had a significant impact on prehistoric settlement, subsistence, and economic systems. Prehistoric adaptation to environmental variability, as well as to the Sunset Crater eruption, were primary research themes.

A wide range of site types are present in the
project area, including large, permanent habitations,
containing 10-30 masonry rooms and pithouses,
smaller homesteads or seasonal farmsteads with 2-
8 structures, single-room fieldhouses, limited-activity
areas, special-use sites, and agricultural field systems.
A total of 73 structures was excavated, including
41 pithouses, 26 masonry rooms, and 6 ramadas.
Close to 100,000 artifacts were recovered, with ceramics
the dominant artifact type, comprising more
than 80 percent of the assemblage. The earliest sites
were occupied around A.D. 400, with the occupation
continuing into the early to mid-A.D. 1100s. The
most intensive occupation was between A.D. 1050
and 1125, the approximate time of the Sunset Crater
eruption.
The project area crosses what has long been considered
to be a boundary between two distinct archaeological
culture areas: the Sinagua to the south
and the Cohonina to the north and northwest. Dr.
Harold S. Colton, the founder of the Museum of
Northern Arizona (MNA), first recognized this
boundary in the 1930s, and placed it at Deadman
Wash, which crosses the approximate center of the
U.S. 89 project area. Although later researchers have
moved the boundary to the Coconino Divide,
roughly 8 km south of Deadman Wash, it is still well
within the current project area. About half the intensively
investigated U.S. 89 sites lie south of this
point, and about half lie to the north. This affords
an excellent opportunity to address the question of
the cultural affiliation of project area inhabitants, as
well as the legitimacy of archaeological culture areas
in general, and every analyst on the project was
asked to examine this question using their particular
data set.
The results of the U.S. 89 investigations are presented
in a series of anthropological papers: Anthropological
Papers No. 30, Part 1 and Part 2, contains
background information on the project and descriptions
of the 41 investigated sites; Anthropological
Papers No. 31 presents the results of the flaked stone,
ground stone, shell, animal bone, and mortuary
analyses; Anthropological Papers No. 32 presents the
analysis of the ceramic assemblage, including petrographic
ceramic sourcing studies and form and
function analyses; Anthropological Papers No. 33
contains the environmental analyses, with chapters
on the botanical assemblage (pollen and flotation
studies), prehistoric agriculture, the eruption of Sunset
Crater Volcano, and a detailed paleoenvironmental
reconstruction; and Anthropological Papers No.
37 presents the overall project synthesis and conclusions.
In Anthropological Papers No. 37, the data
presented in the preceding volumes are used to reconstruct
the settlement, subsistence, and economic
systems of the prehistoric populations who inhabited
the U.S. 89 project area and the Flagstaff area in
general.
This volume presents the analyses of the nonceramic
artifacts from the 41 investigated sites. These
artifacts comprise approximately 16.5 percent of the
98,329 total recovered artifacts: 15,610 pieces of
flaked stone, 1,163 pieces of ground stone, 96 bone
tools, 70 pieces of shell, and 237 miscellaneous artifacts,
which include stone beads, jewelry, and pieces
of pigment. Additionally, 3,493 pieces of unworked
animal bone were also recovered. Note that the
above totals are raw laboratory counts and do not
consider artifact conjoins and refits, and therefore,
the numbers differ slightly from numbers used in
the following analyses, which are based on minimum
number of individuals.
The overall analysis of the flaked stone assemblage
is presented in Chapter 1, while Chapter 2
presents a specialized study of Flagstaff area projectile
points, placing them in their regional context.
Chapter 3 presents the ground stone analyses, also
with an emphasis on regional patterns and interaction
networks, and the shell jewelry recovered from
the project area is discussed in Chapter 4. Chapter 5
presents the results of the analysis of the faunal remains,
including both bone tools and unworked
animal bone used as a food source. The 23 recovered
mortuary features, all of which were
inhumations, are discussed in Chapter 6, and a specialized
study of the dentition of these remains is
presented in Appendix A.
Most of the mortuary features were recovered
from isolated contexts, with only a single possible
small cemetery found. The remains and associated
grave goods were stored and analyzed at MNA in
Flagstaff, and repatriated by the Hopi Tribe upon
completion of the analyses.