Interpreting Room 1

The Dates: The 11 dates samples from Room 1 suggest two different building events. Because all of the roof primary beams yielded noncutting dates, it is only the door lintels and horizontal intramural beams that provide construction information. Apparently, the room was built in the spring of 1922—as evidenced by the 1921v comp and 1922v inc dates from the south and west door lintels. These dates fit well with those from Rooms 2 and 3. Some type of repair or remodeling was conducted in the spring of 1928 as indicated by the 1927v comp date from the south wall and the 1928vv date from the east wall intramural. These later dates fit with a single 1928 noncutting date from the lambing pens.
The Wood Species: There is a distinct preference for Douglas-fir primary beams, probably because of their size. The other elements—window and door lintels—are mostly ponderosa, pinyon, and juniper. This is interesting because Douglas-fir and ponderosas grow only in a few select areas today. Assuming there has been minimal vegetation change, the site occupants must have exerted substantial effort to procure the Douglas-fir primary beams.