THE INSTITUTE FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL CERAMIC RESEARCH
2003 REPORT OF THE BLANDING RED WARE PROJECT
q Pertinent Permits
Antiquities Annual Permit U-03-LU (Issued 3/03/03)
Edge of the Cedars Curation Agreement 2004-14 (Issued 1/01/04)
Manti-La Sal National Forest Permit 2720-2 (Issued 4/17/03)
Bureau of Land Management Cultural Resource Use Permit 03UT78756
(Issued 5/01/03)
Navajo Nation Cultural Resources Investigation Permit C0320-E (Issued 5/01/03)
Navajo Nation Minerals Department Geologic Permit (Issued 11/01/03)
q Field Work Personnel
Field Director - William A. Lucius
Field Assistant - Irene Lopez-Wessell
q Field Work Dates
Primary Fieldwork - June 16 - July 9, 2003
Secondary Fieldwork - November 19 - 21, 2003
q Resource Voucher Samples Collected
Clay Voucher Sample Locale UTM
03CVSO1 Recapture 12S 0637302 E, 4169484 N
03CVS02 North Fork 12S 0616285 E, 4169100 N
03CVS03 Brushy Basin 12S 0626113 E, 4166850 N
03CVS04 Brushy Basin 12S 0626096 E, 4166858 N
03CVS05 Recapture 12S 0637299 E, 4169484 N
03CVS07 Recapture 12S 0637295 E, 4169035 N
03CVS08 Recapture 12S 0637272 E, 4169050 N
03CVS21 Aneth 12S 0664518 E, 4114982 N
q Narrative, Primary Fieldwork Season
William Bruce Ellis, Heritage Program Manager of the Manti-LaSal National Forest, recruited fifteen Passport in Time volunteers to assist in the fieldwork. Fieldwork was divided into two ten-day sessions:
1st Session (June 16-25) 2nd Session (June 30 - July 9)
Shiela Goff Gayle Barg
Doug Hitchingam Renna and Andrew Lantz
Suzanna Morgan Susan Merrill
Marie Palowoda David Neary
Sally Shott George Rathbun
Sally Warren Bill Simington
Lisa Zabka Michaela Sullivan
The Forest Service also arranged for a field camp location at the Kigalia Ranger Station on Elk Ridge and provided a bank of porta-potties and a water tank and trailer in support of the Passport in Time volunteers. During each session the volunteers received an intensive orientation and training in the subjects of archaeology, geology and ceramics, field methods, data collection and field laboratory analysis procedures. William A. Lucius and Irene Lopez-Wessell supervised the volunteers in all fieldwork activities.
The fieldwork focused on the collection of surface ceramics from Pueblo I sites in the Milk Ranch Point area. lMACS site location data reveals two distinct habitation clusters (Milk Ranch Point North and South). The 2002 Hammond Fire roughly coincides with the Milk Ranch Point North area of occupation and effectively removed the heavy brush in the locale. Don Irwin, Forest Archaeologist, provided corrected GPS site coordinates from a relocation survey performed by Winston Hurst subsequent to the fire. The corrected data allowed for easy access to sites in the northern locale. In contrast, the relocation of sites in the South locale was difficult at best given the heavy brush cover. Further, IMACS site location coordinates in the southern locale were consistently incorrect, not surprising given the vegetation cover and the time period of the initial surveys. Site collection strategies had to be adjusted to avoid disturbing excelsior stabilization mats in the northern locale and the effective removal of most surface artifacts in both areas by previous surveyors. Therefore many more sites were visited (n=35) than were subjected to collection (n=10).
In general, the Pueblo I occupation observed on Milk Ranch Point appears to represent an intensive if short-term (775-825 A.D.) homestead settlement pattern consisting of residential hamlets situated on cleared fields organized into two broad communities (Milk Ranch Point North and South). It is proposed that the integrative community great pit house for the northern locale is probably buried under the later occupation at Site 42SAl1800. The location of the community center for Milk Ranch Point South is unknown. It is unlikely that the Pueblo I red ware ceramics recovered from Milk Ranch Point were manufactured there, given that the sites are situated on a broad bench above the Chinle Formation and at some distance from appropriate Morrison Formation clays and diorite stream cobbles. The assemblages suggest that the homesteaders came from nearby communities, bringing with them red ware vessels. Additionally they would have maintained contacts with red ware producing communities in order to replace broken vessels. Documentation of previously unrecorded refired clay colors suggests some homesteaders came from or had exchange relations with an unknown red ware production zone in the general Blanding area.
A similar homestead hamlet (42SAl1885) located on Forest Service lands in Notch Canyon was also collected, as well as various sites on Bureau of Land Management lands on Big Mesa (between Big Canyon and Brushy Basin) and Black Mesa. Reconnaissance at the multi-component Site 42SA10358 on the Elk Ridge Road in the Brushy Basin locale, although lacking sufficient Pueblo I surface ceramics for collection, revealed an associated feature that may represent a Pueblo I red ware kiln. Although no associated ceramic wasters were noted, a clay voucher sample (03CVS03) from within the site complex matches one clay type favored for Pueblo I red ware production (2.5YR6/8). Diorite river cobbles probably derived from the nearby Brushy Basin Wash were also noted on the site.
q Narrative, Second Fieldwork Season
The late arrival of the work permit precluded reconnaissance of Pueblo I sites and clay resources on the Navajo Reservation during the primary field season. In November William A. Lucius and Irene Lopez-Wessell returned to resume fieldwork with the intent to inspect site concentrations in the Montezuma Creek and Aneth locales. No collections were made on the Montezuma Creek sites. Those located north of the Navajo Reservation have been seriously impacted by pot hunting activities, resulting in obliteration of the target midden areas. Despite our Navajo work permit, the grazing permit holder would not allow us to collect Site 42SA16204. In the Aneth area we did collect two Pueblo I sites located on the first terrace of the San Juan River and collected a nearby clay voucher sample (03CVS21) from a Morrison outcrop. The refired clay color does not match any red ware ceramics, indicating that it was not used for ceramic production. A gray clay voucher sample (03CVS22) was collected near Recapture Reservoir subsequent to our work in Aneth.
q Analysis
As stated in our revised research design, we collected only a portion of each sherd for removal and analysis, leaving the major portion in its original site position. Digital scales were used to record original sherd weight prior to their division. Exceptions to this standard occurred when the sherd was too small to fracture and when our digital scale suffered catastrophic failure. Of the total 278 sherds collected for analysis, the majority (226 sherds) are Pueblo I red ware, with smaller amounts white ware (47 sherds) and gray ware (5 sherds). The gray ware sherds reflect misidentification by field crews and will not be discussed further. Laboratory analysis occurred while in the field by the volunteers and utilized binocular microscopes for temper type identification and a generator-powered research kiln for clay refiring analysis.
Binocular microscope inspection of the Pueblo I red ware sherds revealed that all contained crushed diorite temper, with one sherd from Site 42SA00712 containing both diorite and crushed sherd. Pueblo I red ware sherds fall into four refired clay color groups. The following table displays percentages by weight:
| Refired Color | Wt. | % |
| 2.5YR5/8 | 171.1 | 23.5 |
| 2.5YR6/8 | 513.6 | 68.1 |
| 5YR6/6 | 17.9 | 2.4 |
| 5YR6/8 | 45.1 | 6.0 |
| Totals | 753.7 | 100 |
The percentages of the first two refired clay colors complement previous data, supporting the interpretation that two major production zones were primarily responsible for red ware production in the Blanding area. However, the occurrence of two previously undocumented refired clay colors suggests the possibility of two additional production zones.
White ware sherds were sorted by type. The following table displays percentages by weight:
| Ceramic Type | Wt. | % |
| Chapin B/W | 30.3 | 14.1 |
| Dolores White | 12 | 5.6 |
| Kana' a B/W | 9 | 4.2 |
| P1 White Body | 46.1 | 21.4 |
| P1 White Body | 4.3 | 2.0 |
| Tallahogan Red | 4.4 | 2.0 |
| White Mesa B/W | 109.2 | 50.7 |
| Totals | 215.3 | 100 |
As expected, the Pueblo I white ware sherds consistently refired to light yellow to white colors, with diorite being the predominate temper material, indicative of production zones in the Mesa Verde Region. Imports from the Kayenta Region (Kana'a B/W and Tallahogan Red) were distinguished by the presence of quartz sand temper.
q Other Information
The intensive fieldwork 2003 field season served to further refine our knowledge of the geological variability and availability of ceramic resources and the geographic distribution of Pueblo I populations in relation to this resource base. Despite the wide geographic availability of ceramic resources, Pueblo I red ware production was probably localized, with two major and two minor production zones currently indicated. The exact locations of red ware production in the Blanding area remain unknown, although current evidence suggests Alkali Ridge and Brushy Basin were primary production zones. Despite the considerable distances between the various sites and temporal variation, in general the red ware ceramics assemblages are very similar, suggestive of an effective and durable ceramic distribution system in operation during the Pueblo I period.
A professional paper that details our work on Milk Ranch Point was given at the March, 2004 Colorado Council of Professional Archaeologists meeting in Colorado Springs, Colorado. A summary report of the four years of the research and fieldwork of the Blanding Red Ware Project will be presented at the 2004 Pecos Conference in Bluff, Utah. We will take that opportunity to thank the volunteers who participated in this and previous field seasons.