Archaeologist at Work

Black on white pottery piece, circa 900 A.D.

It's been a little over a week since I returned from Crow Canyon Archaeological Center located in Cortez, Colorado. We novices assisted archaeologists in selected dig sites of ancient Indian (Anasazi) pueblos located in Hovenweep National Monument. I had signed up and planned for this trip since January. Had my duffel bag packed for two weeks, kept adding odds and ends to it for any eventuality or weather, and now it's over! But only in the physical sense. In the realm of memory and thought, it's all still with me and will stay with me forever. So much so that I know I will return to Crow Canyon and will pursue archaeological opportunities wherever a 'novice' with a little practical experience is needed. There are many, many archaeological volunteer opportunities out there for us baby boomers and we are such hard workers and take such a sincere interest. Not only that, we contribute real time and money to assist foundations. Why? Because many of us have a real interest in archaeology.

Most of my life has been devoted to family and work and now toward the end of my work years, like many boomers, I've decided it's time to pursue a lifelong interest. Even though I have a Bachelor's degree in business, I've registered for courses at a local junior college in the field of anthropology for a second semester. What fun! But not easy with working forty-plus hours a week at a full-time job. After the first course I got an A+. Did I need to? No, I didn't but not knowing exactly how much effort to put forth, I worked almost as many hours on class-time and homework as I did on my 'real' job. This semester I hope to be a little less insane about the class. Or, should I say classes! I actually signed up for a class and a lab, am I crazy? We'll see how it goes.

This October, in the middle of the semester, I'm taking a week to travel to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Without a doubt my favorite place in the United States! My daughter, who now has a child of her own, and I have traveled there for many years starting perhaps twenty years ago. We fell in love with the Southwest and in particular the Santa Fe area. We've returned there year after year and now my grandson loves it too. There is much to offer there from the breathtaking skies to the ancient Indian ruins, amazing hikes, culture, charm, great restaurants and shopping.

Next time: Digging at Hovenweep National Monument with Crow Canyon archaeologists. Above is an actual pottery sherd artifact found at Goodman's Point by a fellow novice.

Crow Canyon:

Crow Canyon is a wonderful place and yields an amazing experience for a novice such as I. Those that have participated before are called "alumni". Participants share Hogans (pronounced "ho gaan" which I assume is a Native American word and pronunciation). A Hogan is a octagonal shaped wooden building made just for sleeping and dressing. I shared mine with a young woman from Portland, Oregon.

The first two days were filled by classes for the novices led by archaeologists or other very knowledgeable people. In a class called, "Inquiries into the Past" we were taught about different pueblo periods we may encounter while on the dig and actually saw and touched many of the artifacts that have been excavated from the sites in the area. The different periods consist of the Archaic Period, 6000-1500 B.C., Basketmaker II 1500 B.C. to 400 A.D., and Basketmaker III dating from 400 A.D. - 700 A.D. The later periods were Pueblo I, II and III ranging from 800 A.D. through 1300 A.D. There's a great deal to learn about these periods including the tools, cooking utensils, hunting methods, type of seeds and plants gathered, crops they grew and animals they hunted. Many books are available to assist in clarifying the periods and illustrating pottery and tools of the period. I have one listed in my favorite books.

Ancient Pottery, Mesa Verde museum

Decorative pieces, Mesa Verde museum

I'm jumping ahead but on our fourth day at Crow Canyon, an archaeologist, Scott Ortman, took us to Mesa Verde, what a treat. The museum at Mesa Verde has many amazing artifacts and I included a couple here to give you an idea. Black on white pottery and amazing jewelry. Some materials were traded by the ancient Indians from as far away as South America such as turquoise, macaw feathers and beads. Chaco Canyon, a few hundred miles from Cortez served as the center of the trade world and pueblo people likely traveled from far and wide to partake in ceremonies, rituals and trading. It was an active, vital time. Around 1140 A.D. most of cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde and also pueblos were abandoned. Archaeologists are still hypothesizing as to the reasons and to where the Anasazi migrated. But most assume the drought of the period was severe enough to move to more fertile lands as crops could no longer be grown in such an arid location.

At Mesa Verde we were able to tour one of the cliff houses. Pictured here is Cliff Palace, one of the largest. We were up on the hill waiting for our tour and it was a good vantage point to take a picture.

Cliff House, Mesa Verde

Back to our second day - we spent it in the lab learning how to clean artifacts, viewing different types of pottery and learning how to categorize artifacts found in the field. Evenings were spent in a lecture with the archaeologists educating us on many aspects of Indian life, their history, where they may have gone and how the modern Indian is relate to their ancient ancestors.

The third and fourth day was why we came to Crow Canyon! Finally, participating in the digs at the Goodman site at Hovenweep National Monument. These excavations had been going on for five years and we were participating in the sixth and final year. If you are interested, browse the Crow Canyon's website and read the annual field reports. Grant Coffey was our on-site archaeologist. We spent two full days at the site excavating first a part of an ancient Kiva. A Kiva is a structure built from ground level down. It's where ceremonies and rituals were performed. Kiva's are still used today. During the winter, Kiva's was also a refuge from the cold - a place to live, cook and work on crafts until the winter passed. Here's a replica of an excavated Kiva from Mesa Verde.

Kiva, Mesa Verde

The second day of our "dig" experience was quite productive for all of us five novices.  We each were given a "midden" to dig in.  A midden, what's that?  A midden is a garbage dump, to put it simply.  It was an ancient dumping ground and one could find just about anything in it.  Turkey bones, rabbit bones, stone tools, pieces of pottery, you name it.  It's a real gold mine for an archaeologist and can really give one an impression of daily life.  We all found pieces of pottery and tools, one found almost an entire pot broken into pieces and others bone and stone tools.  I will put a few photos here to give you an idea.  It was a great day to say the least and gratifying to not only find these pieces but know they would end up in the lab, be categorized and become part of the solution to the puzzle of these ancient people's lives.  I couldn't help but think that if they were alive now and saw us digging in their garbage, they would think we were insane, and we might feel the same 1,500 - 2,000 years when others may be digging in our garbage dumps.  To us, it's just garbage but to an archaeologist an answer to many questions.

Potter pieces dug from ancient midden at Goodman Point, Hovenweep National Monument, Colorado

Deer bone awl tool, dug from ancient midden, Goodman site, Hovenweep National Monument, Colorado

Various pieces of pottery found in Goodman site midden

A marvelous and educational experience to participate in these digs through Crow Canyon in Cortez, Colorado that I highly recommend to those of all ages that have a burning interest in archaeology and the ancient people of the Southwest.
To be continued.....