Description

LA 134795 is an Early Navajo habitation site located on the west-sloping portion of the mesa. There are at least three collapsed forked-pole hogans and several other features in the vicinity. Sherds and lithics indicate a Gobernador Phase occupation, but later use of the area is indicated as well.

We collected 13 tree-ring samples from the site area, including nine from architectural elements and four from CMTs. One of the samples was lost between the field and LTRR, four are juniper, and nine are pinyon. Seven of the samples, all pinyon, yielded dates that range from 1743vv to 1792G. The architectural samples, hogan forks and leaners, all yielded noncutting dates that range from 1754++vv (BBM-97) to 1771+vv (BBM-94). Samples from the CMTs, however, yielded an 1781+vv date (BBM-93) and two 1792cutting dates (BBM-91, 92). The most parsimonious interpretation, therefore, is that the site was initially occupied in 1792.