• 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

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

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.

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.)

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.

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.

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)

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.

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.

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.

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

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 (n=2) 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.

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.

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 (1740+v) 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.

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.

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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