Annual Report of Excavations at Wallace Ruin (5MT6970)

Abstract

Descriptive report

Full text

Annual Report of Excavations at Wallace Ruin (5MT6970)
Submitted to the Colorado State Archaeologist Office, Colorado Historical Society,
Denver, Colorado.
Bruce Bradley, PhD
University of Exeter
Department of Archaeology
December 2015

Introduction
Limited excavations were undertaken intermittently at Wallace Ruin between
April and October 2015. This work was done under the authority of Colorado State
Archaeological Permit #2015-66. Excavations were undertaken by the author with the
assistance of Terri Hoff and Tom Hoff. Room 33 is east of excavated Room 30 and
south of unexcavated inferred kiva 31/32 (Figure 1).
Figure 1 Room Suite 29-33. Room 33 excavation (not completed).

Excavations
Excavations were originally designed to begin work in Kiva 31/32. This was
initiated by the area around the structure being investigated by wall tracing. This
process located the east wall of Kiva 31/32 as well as an extension south to an east-
west wall forming the south wall of Room 33. Since the ultimate goal of excavations in
this area of the site is to understand the construction and use history, Room 33 needed
to be excavated prior to Kiva 31/32.
Excavations proceeded after setting elevation and area grid points with a total
station, tied into the primary site datum. This was accomplished with the assistance of
Dr. Stephen DiNasio, who also undertook aerial photography with a drone and
produced a contour map of the Great House (Figure 2).
Figure 2 Contour map of Wallace Great House. Courtesy of Stephen DiNasio.

The west wall of the room is mostly missing. The north wall is the exterior face of
the south wall of Kiva 31/32, including a masonry ventilator shaft (Figure 3). The wall is
compound masonry with massive square stones on the exterior face. The exterior of
the ventilator shaft is well-laid masonry but is not evenly coursed like the Phase 3
masonry at Wallace Ruin. The east and south walls are double width but of a more
variable quality and include some scabbled stones. It looks like the stones were mostly
reused from earlier construction.
Figure 3 Room 33 north and east walls at the top of Stratum 4 (PD474). Note ventilator
shaft exterior in upper left corner.
Excavations were done by stratigraphic layers rather than by levels or arbitrary
divisions. We distinguished 4 strata and one surface (Figure 4). Stratum 1 (PD 471)
started at the modern ground surface and was a mix of silty loam, building blocks
(Figure 5) and significant quantities of artifacts. This unit originated as wall fall, primarily
from the north wall, which was an exterior wall of Kiva 31/32. Many of the building
stones were quite large and most were heavily oxidized through burning. It seems there
was a significant thermal event exterior to the wall, in the area now occupied by Room
33). We encountered no evidence of in-place burning in the room so it is likely that it

occurred before the room was added. We expect to find evidence of the burning under
Room 33. Stratum 1 seems to have accumulated slowly through time, while at the
same rate artifacts were being deposited as secondary refuse (see Appendix 1- Field
Specimen Catalog). Although no distinct surfaces were encountered, there were
occasional compacted areas that may have resulted from use. Painted whitewares are
Figure 4 Room 33 plan and profile maps.

predominantly Mesa Verde B/w but there are a few earlier types mixed in. There are
also a few San Juan redware sherds as well. Bone was fairly well preserved.
Figure 5 Room 33 bottom of Stratum 1- wall fall.

Stratum 2 (PD 472) was basically a continuation of Stratum 1, comprised of
building blocks (Figure 6), loam, flecks of charcoal and numerous artefacts. The only
differences were a less dense concentration of wall fall and small slabs of burned
sandstone were scattered throughout.
Figure 6 Room 22 Stratum 2 (PD 472) showing wall fall.
Stratum 3 was a relatively thin deposit (averaged about 10 cm) of mixed
sediments with localized variations. Generally, it was below major wall fall; in some
places building blocks were pressed down into it by the overlying deposits. The
sediments were primarily brown loam, small lumps of brown clay-loam with occasional
lenses of laminated gray clay and tan sandy-loam and occasional disintegrated wood
pieces. The thickness of the stratum varied across the room. There was an especially
distinct area of the laminated sediments adjacent to the ventilator shaft in the northwest

quarter of the room. The small, burned sandstone slabs continued to be encountered
across the room with an especially dense multilayered accumulation in the northeast
corner (Figure 7). There was a scatter of small charcoal pieces, flakes, small
bones and quite a few sherds. In the center of the room we encountered an area of
darker sediment with numerous small white flecks and small pockets of gritty sediment
that contained gastroliths. In retrospect this may have been an animal disturbed area
with a mix of sediments; some of which came from below. There were a number of
artifacts in Stratum 3 including pieces of a distinctive black-on-white olla scattered
throughout the room. Most painted sherds continued to be Mesa Verde Black-on-white.
All sediment was passed through ¼” screen. While not clear, this deposit may have
been remnant roofing material (roof fall).
Figure 7 Room 33 Stratum 3 (PD 473) northeast corner showing concentration
of burned sandstone pieces.

Directly beneath Stratum 3 was a compacted surface which marked the boundary
with the next stratum. This contact was not a prepared floor surface but did exhibit
evidence that it may have served as a use surface. At contact there were patches of very
lightly sorted sediments as well as sherds and other artifacts in direct contact. There were
also some artifacts and stones that protruded through the contact. This contact was
designated Surface 1 (PD 475) (Figure 8).
Figure 8 Room 33 Surface 1 (PD 475); left looking east and right looking west.
Below Surface 1 is a very distinctive, thick stratum (PD 474). Stratum 4 consists
mainly of a powdery (when dry) ochre yellow sediment that contains a large proportion of
gastroliths. This sediment extends across the whole room but is most ‘pure’ in the center.
It is an extraordinary material with pockets that are the texture of talcum powder. In some
areas, especially in the southwest corner there are animal burrows cutting into this
stratum from above, mixing the sediments. In some areas there are also patches of more
compacted sediments that while not laminated do show some sorting. These may
represent use compaction but do not form a continuous enough level to be designated
surfaces. Along with the amazing number of gastroliths there are sherds, flakes and
small animal bones scattered throughout, but no particular concentrations. The burned

sandstone pieces typical of Stratum 3 also continue in this stratum with the concentration
still in the northeast corner.
Strata such as this (yellow powdery sediment with gastroliths) have been
encountered in other rooms; specifically, in Room 29 as a fill directly on the floor. I have
also encountered similar strata at other sites such as Sand Canyon Pueblo. The
gastroliths are most likely from turkeys and one is tempted to interpret these deposits as
turkey droppings. This would explain the ubiquitous distribution of gastroliths. However,
I scoured the archaeological and agricultural literature to find out if turkeys ‘pass’
gastroliths. I found many references to the need for grit in the diet but nothing about what
happens to it. I used this as an opportunity to do an archaeological experiment. I raised
turkeys for several years and examined dropping accumulations in their pens by washing
them through graduated screens down to the size of window screen (I don’t recommend
this as a recreational activity!). I found no gastroliths. I also collected the contents of
turkey gizzards when they were butchered. All gizzards contained identifiable gastroliths.
My conclusion was that gizzard stones entered the archaeological record through the
deaths of turkeys; not as a result of their being excreted by live turkeys. The question
then became - How were the gastroliths being concentrated in the distinctive yellow
sediments in some structures? For a long time, this has been a conundrum for me.
Recently I had two conversations with friends in which this topic was raised. They both
suggested that the Ancestral Pueblo people may have understood the need for grit in
turkeys’ diet and been recycling them into turkey pens and I should have thought of it long
ago. This is likely what was happening. I have collected samples of the sediment for
testing to see it is indeed decomposed bird droppings.

All of the sediment from Stratum 4 in Room 33 has been screened through 1/4”
and 1/8” mesh. Artifacts, gastroliths etc. were recovered from the 1/4” matrix and then it
was discarded. The matrix left in the 1/8” screen was totally collected as well as a sample
of the materials that passed through. I have washed some of the 1/8” matrix through
window screen mesh, dried it and picked out the small artifacts, bones, micro flakes and
obvious gastroliths. By dry weight one sample of 794 grams produced 199 grams (25%)
of gastroliths (Figure 9), and this didn’t include those collected while excavating or in the
¼” screen (Figure 10). This is undoubtedly under counting the gastroliths as only those
that exhibit the distinctive polish (only present on hard stones) have been identified as
gastroliths. When I examined the contents of turkey gizzards the were a lot of pieces of
sandstone and other grits that did not show this polish.
Another interest is the lithology of the gastroliths. Turkeys will continuously ingest
stones throughout their lives as needed. The lithology of these stones should represent
the foraging area of the turkeys. One would expect to see a random selection from an
Figure 9 Gastroliths from 1/8” screen

.
Figure 10 Gastroliths collected while excavating.
area. If foraging included areas where flaking was taking place the gastroliths should
show this. This is definitely the case with the gastroliths recovered from Wallace Ruin.
Close examination reveals that the majority (subjectively observed) of gastroliths
originated as small fragments of debitage. Most of the stones represented do not
naturally occur in the vicinity of the site. There are examples of stone from long
distances including Nabrona Pass chalcedony from the Chuska mountains, yellow
silicified wood from the Chaco area, red jasper from southeastern Utah and even at
least one piece of turquoise (source unknown). All of these stones are represented in
the debitage and tools at the site. This, of course, does not mean that all of the
gastroliths came from the site area. Turkeys could have been brought from other sites
that also have these stone sources represented.

Excavations were concluded before the bottom of Stratum 4 was
encountered. Future work will continue where we left off. The room has been covered
with a ground=level roof, which should keep it in good shape for future excavations.
Artifacts (see Appendix 1)
Artifacts recovered in the excavations were typical for what would be expected for
a Pueblo II/III use of the area and room. Pottery is mostly Pueblo III with a high proportion
of the painted whiteware being Mesa Verde Black-on-white. Cortez, Mancos and McElmo
Black-on-white are also present, but in small numbers. There are also a few sherds of
San Juan redware (including a pendant) and one small sherd of White Mountain redware.
Graywares all look to be of local origin with Mesa Verde Corrugated dominating. Ground
stone artifacts are mainly fragmentary and include manos (slab and trough), trough
metates (pieces built into walls), hand stones, lap stones, abraders and one full-grooved
fragment. Several pieces of ground red pigment were also recovered. Flaked stone
includes a range of flakes, including some biface flakes, point preforms (Figure 11) and
finished projectile points (Figure 12). A number of bone tools were also recovered, the
Figure 11 Room 33 point preforms

Figure 12 Room 33 projectile points
several being spatulate forms (Figure 13). There are also awl forms (Figure 14) including
the smallest awl have seen (Figure 15) made from a small rodent ulna. One bone tube
(Figure 16) made from a bird long bone (probably turkey) was also found.
Figure 13 Room 33 bone spatulates.

Figure14 Room 33 bone awls
Figure 15 Room 33 miniature bone awl.
Figure 16 Room 33 bone tube
Other artifacts include two shell disc beads and a San Juan redware pendant.

Dating
No direct dating has been done and no tree-ring samples encountered. The
overwhelming proportion of painted pottery is Mesa Verde Black-on-white. The
masonry of Room 33 is a mixed bag. It was added onto the south side of a kiva
retaining wall, is two stones wide in most places, but not compound in the sense of the
Phase 3 masonry at the site. It also incorporates a variety of stones some obviously
reused. This is typical of the Phase 4 masonry. However, the adjacent rooms 28 and
30 have similar masonry but were built in the 12th century. Those rooms were also
reused in the 13th century and contained Mesa Verde Black-on-white. At present I will
defer making a chronological interpretation.
Room Use
Until excavations are continued and a floor is cleared the original room use will
remain unknown. I do speculate that Stratum 4 indicates that there was an intense and
probably long-term use of the room as a turkey pen. This could have been as part of a
domestic habitation (although no structures have yet indicated that this was the case in
the 13th century) or the turkeys could have been kept at or brought to the site for ritual
functions (eg. for feathers and/or feasting).
Concluding Remarks
Presently, the time and purpose for the addition of Room 33 to the south side of
an enclosed kiva is uncertain. It probably served for a time as a turkey pen and
subsequently abandoned possibly with the roof dismantled, and subsequently used as
an activity area and for secondary refuse deposition. It is also apparent that there was

some sort of intense burning event outside the kiva wall before Room 33 was added.
Hopefully, this will be sorted out during future excavations.
Acknowledgements
Since the conclusion of our previous excavations at Wallace Ruin the property
surrounding it (including our access) has changed ownership. It is now owned by Steve
and Jay Wallace; grandsons of Walter and Wilda Wallace after which the site is named.
They graciously allowed us to cross their property and went further to enable our access
by blading in a road to the site. They have also shown an interest in our activities and
visited us during excavations. For these we are grateful.
As indicated at the beginning of this report I have been ably assisted, physically,
intellectually and in resources by Terri and Tom Hoff. They have kept some of the
notes, washed most of the artifacts and provided the materials for our records (including
keeping the site notebook, printing notes and taking the bulk of the photographs. I am
much obliged for their contributions and friendship. I anticipate when we can all get
back out there to continue our investigations.