Artifacts

by Scott G. Ortman

Chapter Contents

Introduction

1
This report synthesizes information on portable artifacts collected during excavations at Woods Canyon Pueblo. It also compares artifacts from Woods Canyon Pueblo with those from other Mesa Verde-tradition sites dating from the Pueblo III period in southwestern Colorado. The tables and charts in this report were produced using the artifact databases as they existed in August 2000. I am not aware of any provenience changes that have been made since that time, but slight discrepancies between the data discussed in this report and those contained in the database may develop over time if errors in the database are found and corrected. However, it is likely that any such changes will be minor and will not affect any of the conclusions presented in this report.

Processing of Artifacts in the Laboratory

2
All objects collected during the excavations at Woods Canyon Pueblo were processed according to Crow Canyon's standard laboratory procedures, which are described in Crow Canyon's on-line laboratory manual.

Definitions of Analytic Categories

3
All objects were classified into various stone, bone, pottery, vegetal, and other categories, as defined in the Crow Canyon laboratory manual.

Disposition of Materials

Curation

4
With the exception of wood samples submitted for tree-ring dating, all artifacts, ecofacts, and other samples from Woods Canyon Pueblo, as well as original field and laboratory documentation, are curated at the Anasazi Heritage Center, 27501 Hwy. 184, Dolores, Colorado, USA. The collections are indexed to artifact databases, which are curated at both Crow Canyon and the Heritage Center and are accessible on-line in The Woods Canyon Pueblo Database and the research database; materials are available for future study through the Heritage Center. Dated tree-ring samples and additional samples that might be datable in the future are stored at the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA. Several large roof timbers were found on the modern ground surface when Woods Canyon Pueblo was mapped (see Lipe 1995*2). A portion of each timber was submitted to the tree-ring lab, and the remaining portions are currently stored at Crow Canyon.

Repatriation

5
As of this writing, isolated, fragmentary human skeletal remains inadvertently collected during field screening of sediments at Woods Canyon Pueblo are in the process of being repatriated in accordance with protocol set forth in the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). The Anasazi Heritage Center is curating these remains during the repatriation process. Objects falling under the jurisdiction of NAGPRA are not currently available for study, and their future disposition has not yet been decided. All human bone and associated funerary objects recognized in the course of excavation were treated in accordance with the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center's policy on human remains in the on-line field manual. Bradley describes and interprets these materials in "Human Skeletal Remains."

Destructive Analysis

6
A number of artifacts were subjected to destructive analysis. Small portions of numerous rim sherds from white ware bowls and corrugated gray jars were removed to facilitate temper identification. In addition, the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research discarded tree-ring samples that possessed little dating potential.

Additional Studies of Woods Canyon Pueblo Artifacts

7
In addition to the analyses reported here, several other studies of artifacts from Woods Canyon Pueblo have been conducted or are in progress. Ortman (2000*1) studied painted designs on white ware pottery from Woods Canyon Pueblo and numerous other Pueblo II and III sites in the Mesa Verde region. Basic pottery and floor-assemblage data are presented in a study of the occupational history of the pueblo by Ortman et al. (2000*1). White ware temper data generated for Woods Canyon and several other sites in southwestern Colorado are provided in the Castle Rock Pueblo artifacts report (Ortman 2000*2). Kelley (1996*1) presents pottery type and attribute data from a 1993 in-field analysis of sherds found on the modern ground surface of the site, and Wilshusen et al. (1997*1) present basic pottery data for the ancient reservoir (Site 5MT12086) located adjacent to Woods Canyon Pueblo.

Organization and Use of This Report

8
This report is organized into sections and subsections, a list of which can be accessed by selecting the expanded table of contents at the top of the chapter. Selecting a heading in the table of contents will allow you to go directly to the section of interest without having to scroll through the entire chapter. When you link to a table, figure, or reference in the text, a new browser window will open to display the selected information. You can move back and forth between the chapter text and the data window by keeping both windows open, overlapping them (that is, not viewing them full screen) and selecting one or the other window. The data window will be updated each time a link for a table, figure, or reference is selected in the narrative text window; the text window will maintain your place in the longer document. Choosing a database map gives you access to the Woods Canyon Pueblo map database. In many subsections, information about archaeological context is taken from field observations recorded in The Woods Canyon Pueblo Database, along with analysis information for selected artifacts. Explanations of field context information can be found in the on-line field manual.

Definition of Site Components

9
In "Chronology" (this report), Churchill and Ortman group the units excavated at Woods Canyon Pueblo into seven areas (Areas 1–7) within four sections of the village (upper west side, canyon bottom, east talus slope, and canyon rim) (see "Architecture and Site Layout," Database Map 329, and Database Map 334). These same groupings and labels are used in this report, along with two temporal components defined to aid examination of change through time in artifact assemblages. The assignment of study units to site areas, site sections, and temporal components is given in Table 1.

10
The assignment of site areas to temporal components is based primarily on tree-ring data, the architectural style and abandonment mode of kivas, and pottery data. Table 2 summarizes these data for the seven tested areas at Woods Canyon Pueblo. These data are discussed in greater detail by Churchill and Ortman in "Chronology" (this report). The most-recent tree-ring date from each area provides a maximum possible age for the structure from which the dated timber was recovered, with the exception of the date for Area 1, which was yielded by a piece of charcoal found in a midden deposit. These dates indicate that buildings were constructed in Areas 5 and 7 during the late Pueblo III period (A.D. 1225–1280) and that there was activity in Areas 1 and 4 throughout the entire period (A.D. 1140–1280).

11
Details of kiva architectural styles, roof treatment at abandonment, and floor assemblages suggest that the canyon bottom was built, occupied, and abandoned earlier than other sections of the site. Several chronological trends are apparent in these data. First, the partly earthen walled and partly masonry lined kivas in Area 1 likely date from before A.D. 1200, whereas the kivas completely lined with stone masonry in Areas 3, 5, 6, and 7 were probably constructed after A.D. 1200. Second, the tested kivas with unburned, salvaged roofs in Areas 1 and 2 were likely built before A.D. 1250, whereas the kivas with burned and salvaged roofs in Areas 3, 4, 5, and 6 were likely built after A.D. 1250. Third, the sparse artifact assemblages on the floors of tested kivas in Areas 1 and 2 suggest that inhabitants of these structures moved to new homes nearby, whereas the large floor assemblages left on the floors of kivas in Areas 3, 4, 5, and 7 suggest that people abandoned these structures during the final regional emigrations of the late A.D. 1200s. Churchill and Ortman (in "Chronology") discuss these various lines of evidence in more detail and develop middle-range arguments that link architectural styles and abandonment modes to specific time periods.

12
The pottery assemblage from Woods Canyon Pueblo suggests that the site was occupied throughout the Pueblo III period and that the focus of the settlement changed over time. We can examine the pottery chronology of Woods Canyon Pueblo by comparing the proportions, by weight, of white ware sherds assigned to various formal types (as opposed to informal or grouped types, after Wilson and Blinman [1995*1:35]) from each tested area of the pueblo with the expected pottery-assemblage profiles for sites that date to specific time periods. These idealized pottery-assemblage profiles have been developed by Wilson and Blinman (1999*1) using tree-ring-dated assemblages from small sites with short occupation spans. In their model, early Pueblo III assemblages (A.D. 1140–1180) are dominated by McElmo Black-on-white to the near exclusion of Mancos Black-on-white; middle Pueblo III assemblages (A.D. 1180–1225) contain equal amounts of McElmo and Mesa Verde black-on-white; and late Pueblo III assemblages (A.D. 1225–1280) contain more Mesa Verde Black-on-white than McElmo Black-on-white.

13
Given these idealized assemblage profiles, the data in Table 2 indicate that there is more Mancos Black-on-white in all areas of Woods Canyon Pueblo than would be expected for a Pueblo III–period occupation. Nevertheless, I believe that the proportion of white ware sherds classified as Mancos Black-on-white in the Woods Canyon Pueblo assemblage is not sufficient to indicate occupation during the Pueblo II period. This conclusion is supported by two lines of evidence.

14
First, I suspect that analysts were biased toward assigning sherds with mineral-paint designs to Pueblo II pottery types. Mineral paint is so rare in pottery assemblages from Pueblo III sites in the Sand Canyon locality that analysts during the Sand Canyon Archaeological Project tended to take the mere presence of mineral paint as evidence that a sherd dated to the Pueblo II period. Application of this same principle to the Woods Canyon Pueblo assemblage, where mineral paint is much more common, would have resulted in an inflated percentage of Pueblo II types. Reanalysis of a sample of white ware bowl rims from Woods Canyon (see paragraphs 41–43) suggests that approximately half the sherds classified as Mancos Black-on-white in the database would probably be reclassified as Pueblo III types if they were analyzed today, with the benefit of experience. It is also important that the frequency of mineral-painted sherds varies randomly among the seven tested areas of the pueblo and does not correlate with other lines of evidence used to assess the occupational histories of these areas. All of this suggests that mineral paint is not an effective chronological indicator in the Woods Canyon area, and that our original pottery analysis may have slightly overestimated the proportion of Mancos Black-on-white by mistakenly considering mineral paint as a chronologically sensitive attribute.

15
Second, recent research using tree-ring-dated pottery collections indicates that Mancos Black-on-white sherds are more common in early Pueblo III (A.D. 1140–1180) assemblages than has previously been believed. Tree-ring-dated pottery assemblages from Indian Camp Ranch (Morris et al. 1993*1) and the Sand Canyon Project Site Testing Program (Varien 1999*2) were not available when Wilson and Blinman (1999*1) formulated idealized pottery-assemblage profiles for sites dating to specific time periods (see "Chronology"). Over the past few years, bowl rim sherds from these and numerous other tree-ring-dated sites, including Woods Canyon Pueblo, have been reanalyzed as part of a regional pottery design study (Ortman 2000*1). Some results of this work are presented in Table 3, which gives percentages of white ware pottery types by weight, the total weight of pottery classified, and the latest tree-ring date for each analyzed component, along with the date range to which each was assigned. The same group of analysts classified the pottery from every site in this calibration dataset. In Table 3, the grouped type "Pueblo II White Painted" was used for sherds that were either Cortez or Mancos black-on-white; "Late White Painted" was used primarily for sherds that were either Mancos or McElmo black-on-white; and "Pueblo III White Painted" was used for sherds that were either McElmo or Mesa Verde black-on-white.

16
The two early Pueblo III (A.D. 1140–1180) components in Table 3 are from Kenzie Dawn Hamlet (Varien 1999*2) and the Seed Jar site (Jerry Fetterman, personal communication 1999), both of which are associated with noncutting dates in the A.D. 1140s. Thus, the typological profile for A.D. 1140–1180 in this calibration dataset probably characterizes the early years of this interval. It is also important to note that only one site in this dataset, Knobby Knee Stockade (Wilson 1991*1), dates between A.D. 1180 and 1210, and sample sizes are relatively small for all three sites dating between A.D. 1140 and 1210. Nevertheless, it is apparent in Table 3 that numerous Mancos Black-on-white sherds were deposited at sites occupied during the mid–A.D. 1100s. It is also apparent that the frequency of Mancos Black-on-white dropped rapidly during the late A.D. 1100s but continued to occur in low frequencies throughout the A.D. 1200s. These results indicate that Wilson and Blinman's (1999*1) idealized assemblage profiles should be adjusted to reflect the continued abundance of Mancos Black-on-white in early Pueblo III assemblages.

17
Table 4 condenses the calibration dataset in Table 3 by time period and compares the result with the reanalyzed sample of white ware bowl rims from the early and late Pueblo III components at Woods Canyon Pueblo. In this context, the small percentage of Mancos Black-on-white pottery in these components seems typical and does not support the existence of a late Pueblo II occupation at the site. The proportions of other types in the Woods Canyon Pueblo assemblages suggest that occupation of the site was of a longer duration than that of most sites in the calibration dataset, leading to assemblage profiles that blend the characteristics of several phases. The profile for the early Pueblo III component appears to blend characteristics of the A.D. 1180–1210 and A.D. 1210–1230 periods, consistent with an occupation dating from the late A.D. 1100s and early A.D. 1200s; and the profile for the late Pueblo III component appears to blend characteristics of the A.D. 1210–1230 and A.D. 1230–1260 periods, consistent with a mid–A.D. 1200s occupation.

18
Why does Mesa Verde Black-on-white not dominate the reanalyzed sample from the late Pueblo III component, despite evidence of late A.D. 1200s occupation in the form of tree-ring-dated structures, burned and salvaged roofs, and large floor assemblages? It may be the result of sampling error, a dwindling site population during the final years of occupation, or an intensive occupation throughout the A.D. 1200s, with the tree-ring-dated structures having been built relatively late in the history of the site. The small pottery assemblage from the canyon rim (Area 7 in Table 2), the area from which most of the late tree-ring dates were obtained, is indeed dominated by Mesa Verde Black-on-white, similar to the assemblages associated with the A.D. 1260–1280 occupation spans in the calibration dataset (Table 3). This suggests a relatively short, late use of the rim complex. Additional excavations and accumulations research (see Varien 1999*1) may be necessary to determine the occupation spans of Areas 3–6 in the A.D. 1200s. Nevertheless, the presence of more McElmo Black-on-white in these areas suggests that they were occupied earlier and longer than the canyon rim.

19
If we return now to the pottery data in Table 2, keeping the earlier discussion regarding Mancos Black-on-white in mind, the predominance of McElmo Black-on-white in Areas 1–3 suggests that these areas date from sometime during the early and middle Pueblo III periods (A.D. 1140–1225). Areas 4, 5, and 7 appear to date from the late Pueblo III period (A.D. 1225–1280), on the basis of the predominance of Mesa Verde Black-on-white. Although Area 6 does contain a high proportion of Mancos Black-on-white pottery, most of the total weight of this type in this area is from a single carbon-painted jar sherd weighing 94.7 grams. It is therefore likely that occupation of this area also dates from A.D. 1225 to 1280.

20
Finally, pottery-attribute data suggest that Areas 1 and 2 in the canyon bottom fell out of use during the final decades of occupation, but that tested areas in other sections of the site continued to be occupied into the late 1200s. In the Sand Canyon locality, exterior band designs were painted on 15 percent of bowls dating from the late A.D. 1200s, but were rarely painted on bowls dating from the early A.D. 1200s. The proportion of bowls from Areas 3 through 7 that exhibit this attribute suggests that these sections of the site were occupied during the late 1200s. In contrast, the proportion of bowls from Areas 1 and 2 exhibiting this attribute is far too low to suggest that it was occupied during this same period (see Table 23, this report, and Ortman et al. 2000*1:Table 2). These data thus suggest that the canyon bottom fell out of use during the mid-1200s, whereas other sections of the village continued to be occupied up until the time of the final Puebloan migrations from the Mesa Verde region.

21
To summarize, then, all lines of evidence from Areas 1 and 2 point to an early and middle Pueblo III occupation that probably dates from the mid-1100s to the early 1200s, and the evidence from Areas 4, 5, and 7 suggests a late Pueblo III occupation for these areas that probably dates from the mid- and late 1200s. The evidence from Areas 3 and 6 is mixed. The location of Area 3 (on the talus slope), as well as the roof-treatment and floor-assemblage data for this part of the site, supports the assignment of a late Pueblo III date, whereas the pottery data support a somewhat earlier date. In Area 6, location (at the base of the cliff), kiva architecture, roof treatment, and the small pottery sample generally support a late Pueblo III date, but the floor-assemblage data suggest an earlier date of abandonment. Although the preponderance of evidence supports assignment of Areas 3 and 6 to the late Pueblo III component, the evidence is less conclusive for these areas than it is for other parts of the village. Throughout this report, artifacts from the early and middle Pueblo III occupation will be referred to as the "early" Pueblo III component, and artifacts from the late Pueblo III occupation will be referred to as the "late" Pueblo III component. In the remainder of this report it will be assumed that the occupations of all areas assigned to each component were at least partly contemporaneous.

22
Identification of early and late Pueblo III components at Woods Canyon Pueblo is significant for two reasons. First, the ability to compare early and late Pueblo III assemblages from the same location enables the analyst to hold the physical environment constant—especially the raw materials used in pottery and stone-tool production—when attempting to identify changes in artifact production, use, and discard during the final century of Pueblo occupation in the northern San Juan region. In this way, "push" factors (after Lipe 1995*1) related to the regional emigrations might be brought into sharper focus.

23
Second, it appears that the role of Woods Canyon Pueblo in the local settlement system changed between the early and late occupations. During the early Pueblo III occupation, the center of the Woods Canyon community was probably at the Bass Site Complex (Site 5MT136), Site 5MT4700, or the Albert Porter Preserve (Site 5MT123), all three of which are located on the uplands within a 2-km radius of Woods Canyon Pueblo (Database Map 337) (Lipe and Ortman 2000*1). During the late Pueblo III occupation, however, Woods Canyon Pueblo became the largest settlement in the Woods Canyon area, and an enclosed plaza and D-shaped building were constructed in the rim complex (in Area 7). This suggests that the site developed into the center of the local community during the final decades of Puebloan occupation in the Mesa Verde region (see Lipe et al. 1999*1; Lipe and Ortman 2000*1; Varien 1999*1; Varien et al. 1996*1). Thus, comparison of the early and late Pueblo III components may clarify how activities in the community center differed from those that occurred in other settlements. These topics will be addressed throughout this report by comparing the two components defined in Table 2.

Components from Other Sites Used for Comparative Purposes

24
In addition to the early and late Pueblo III components at Woods Canyon Pueblo, two additional late Pueblo III components are used in this report for comparative purposes. The first is Castle Rock Pueblo (Site 5MT1825), a medium-size village located in lower Sand Canyon adjacent to McElmo Creek, approximately 15 km south-southeast of Woods Canyon Pueblo. Results of excavations at this site are reported by Kuckelman (2000*1) and indicate that the village was constructed and occupied during the A.D. 1250–1280 period.

25
The second component is the great tower complex at Yellow Jacket Pueblo (Site 5MT5), a portion of a very large village located at the head of Yellow Jacket Canyon and Tatum Draw, approximately 15 km east-northeast of Woods Canyon Pueblo. The final report on test excavations at Yellow Jacket Pueblo has not yet been completed, but enough is known to conclude that the great tower complex was also occupied during the late Pueblo III period (Ortman et al. 2000*1). The great tower complex is associated with a noncutting tree-ring date of A.D. 1254 and has a lower proportion of McElmo Black-on-white sherds in its pottery assemblage than does the late Pueblo III component at Woods Canyon Pueblo. Thus, even though the great tower complex at Yellow Jacket is partly contemporaneous with the late Pueblo III component at Woods Canyon, it probably reflects a very late and short-lived occupation. In contrast, the late Pueblo III component at Woods Canyon Pueblo appears to represent an occupation of longer duration, probably from A.D. 1225 to 1280.

Pottery

Unmodified Sherds

26
More than 22,000 pottery sherds, weighing a total of more than 140 kg, were collected during excavations at Woods Canyon Pueblo. All were analyzed according to Crow Canyon's standard analysis procedures, which are described in the on-line laboratory manual. All but a handful of the recovered sherds were identified as locally made, Mesa Verde–tradition white and gray wares. The following paragraphs present several summaries of the basic sherd data.

Total Inventory by Ware and Type

27
The sherds collected from Woods Canyon Pueblo are tabulated in Table 5 according to pottery type (for type definitions, see the laboratory manual). The list of pottery types is arranged according to general ware categories. Unknown white and gray ware sherds are listed separately because such sherds may or may not represent local wares. Results are given by count and the percentage by count of each pottery type for the early and late Pueblo III components; percentages are not given for sherds that were not assigned to temporal component. Table 6 presents these same data using weight as the measure of abundance.

28
Pierce and Varien (1999*1) discuss the relative merits of counts vs. weights as measures of abundance. Comparison of Table 5 and Table 6 shows that percentages of various pottery types can vary depending on whether counts or weights are used. This effect is especially clear for the specific formal white ware types—that is, Mesa Verde, McElmo, and Mancos black-on-white—which are much more abundant by weight than by count. In contrast, the relative abundance of Pueblo III White Painted, which is a more general type used for sherds that do not exhibit diagnostic attributes of either McElmo or Mesa Verde black-on-white, is approximately equal by count and weight. Consistency in the relative frequency of a type for both count and weight probably indicates that sherds assigned to that type tend to be of average size for the collection overall. Greater relative frequency by count indicates that sherds assigned to that type are smaller than average, whereas greater frequency by weight indicates that sherds assigned to that type are larger than average. It is expected that sherds assigned to formal types will be larger than average because the classification of local white ware sherds to formal type relies heavily on the identification of specific painted designs, which are often difficult to recognize on small sherds.

29
The relative frequency of formal white ware types in the early and late components at Woods Canyon Pueblo generally supports the dating arguments presented in the definition of site components (paragraphs 9–23); however, the chronological pattern is more apparent by weight than by count. In the early Pueblo III component, McElmo Black-on-white is the most common white ware type, but there is also a significant percentage of Mesa Verde Black-on-white. This assemblage profile is consistent with an occupation dating between A.D. 1140 and 1225. In the late Pueblo III component, Mesa Verde Black-on-white is most common, followed by McElmo Black-on-white. This assemblage profile is consistent with an occupation dating between A.D. 1225 and 1280. Possible explanations for the Mancos Black-on-white sherds identified in the Woods Canyon Pueblo assemblages are presented in the discussion of site components (paragraphs 9–23). To these arguments I would add that less than 2 percent of the sherds found at Woods Canyon Pueblo were identified as definite Pueblo II types. In contrast, more than 15 percent of all sherds were identified as definite Pueblo III types.

30
The distribution of corrugated gray ware types in the early and late components is more problematic. The frequency of Mesa Verde Corrugated does increase over time, but so does the frequency of Mancos Corrugated. Because rim sherds are required for identification of both types, I discuss this pattern further in the analysis of corrugated jar rims, below (paragraphs 53–62).

31
The presence of a few sherds assigned to early (Basketmaker III and Pueblo I) types—including Chapin Gray, Chapin Black-on-white, Moccasin Gray, Mancos Gray, Indeterminate Neckbanded Gray, Early White Painted, and Early White Unpainted—suggests some form of human activity in the site area between A.D. 600 and 900. Such sherds are so rare, however, that they are unlikely to reflect occupation during this period.

White Ware Sherds by Type and Finish¹

32
Two kinds of paint are identifiable on decorated Mesa Verde White Ware pottery. Mineral paint derives from ground iron, manganese, or copper-rich rock that is held in liquid suspension. Carbon paint is believed to derive from the condensed extract of certain plants, such as Rocky Mountain beeweed (Cleome serrulata) and tansymustard (Descurainia richardsonii).

33
Table 7 presents counts and Table 8 shows weights in grams of painted white ware sherds assigned to various type and finish categories for the early and late Pueblo III components at Woods Canyon Pueblo. Both tables also display the percentage of sherds assigned to each type that have mineral paint and the percentage of each type among all white wares, regardless of paint type. Both Tables 7 and 8 show that approximately one in five white ware sherds in the Woods Canyon assemblage was decorated with mineral paint and that there was little change in the frequency of mineral paint over time.

34
This pattern contrasts greatly with data from the Sand Canyon locality, where mineral paint is rare in assemblages dating after A.D. 1150 (Varien et al. 1992*1:Table 5.3). To illustrate, less than 1 percent of white ware sherds had mineral-painted designs at Castle Rock Pueblo (Site 5MT1825), a late Pueblo III (A.D. 1225–1280) village located approximately 15 km south-southeast of Woods Canyon (Ortman 2000*2:Table 3). However, approximately 65 percent of white ware sherds had mineral-painted designs at Knobby Knee Stockade (Site 5MT2525) and Roundtree Pueblo (Site 5MT2544), two middle Pueblo III (A.D. 1180–1225) unit pueblos located approximately 10 km northwest of Woods Canyon (Wilson 1988*2:Table A.19). These data suggest a spatial trend in the use of mineral paint during the Pueblo III period, with carbon paint dominating in sites southeast of Woods Canyon, toward Ute Mountain and Mesa Verde proper, and the use of mineral paint continuing in sites to the northwest, toward the Abajo Mountains in southeast Utah, well into the A.D. 1200s. Whether mineral-painted white ware vessels were made by the inhabitants of Woods Canyon Pueblo or were obtained through exchange is unknown. The only possible direct evidence of mineral paint use at Woods Canyon was a red "pigment" stone (PD 472, FS 10) recovered from early Pueblo III deposits in Structure 1-S (Table 44). The possibility that this stone could have been used to make mineral paint is untested.

Total Inventory by Ware and Form

35
All sherds collected from Woods Canyon Pueblo were assigned to one of five basic ware categories: plain gray ware, corrugated gray ware, white ware, nonlocal wares, and unknown wares (no local red ware sherds were identified). Sherds were also assigned to one of four basic form categories: bowl, jar; other, and unknown. Total counts and percentages by count for these various ware-form combinations are presented in Table 9 for each temporal component; Table 10 presents these same data using weights as the measure of abundance. The percentages of various ware-form combinations are fairly consistent for both counts and weights, but differences are apparent. Corrugated jars and unknown white ware forms are slightly more abundant by count, whereas white ware bowls and jars, and other white ware forms, are slightly more abundant by weight. These data suggest that corrugated jar sherds and white ware sherds of unknown form tend to be smaller than average, whereas white ware bowl, jar, and other form sherds tend to be larger than average. I discuss this pattern further in the analysis of rim sherds, below (paragraphs 38–40).

36
These ware-form combinations are found in roughly the same proportions in other Pueblo III sites in southwestern Colorado that have been interpreted as permanent, year-round habitations (Pierce and Varien 1999*1). For example, at both Castle Rock (Ortman 2000*2:Table 2) and Woods Canyon pueblos, corrugated jar sherds are most common, followed by white ware bowl sherds, then white ware jar sherds. This suggests that the ware-form characteristics of the Woods Canyon sherd assemblage resulted from a set of domestic activities that produced sherds of various wares and forms at a relatively consistent rate across sites. This inference is supported by the fact that nonhabitation sites possess strikingly different proportions of these ware-form categories in their sherd assemblages. For example, the pottery assemblage from Woods Canyon Reservoir (Site 5MT12086) is dominated by sherds from white ware jars and contains few sherds from corrugated jars or white ware bowls (Wilshusen et al. 1997*1:Table 1). Obviously, the activities that occurred at the reservoir led to different patterns of sherd deposition than are typical of habitation sites, including Woods Canyon Pueblo.

37
Despite the general, qualitative similarity in ware-form characteristics of sherd assemblages from habitation sites, there are quantitative differences in these characteristics across sites (Pierce and Varien 1999*1), including the early and late Pueblo III components at Woods Canyon. The most notable difference appears to be an increase in the deposition of corrugated jar sherds during the late Pueblo III period, at the expense of white ware bowl sherds. Analysis of corrugated jar rims (paragraphs 53–62) suggests that corrugated jars tended to be larger during the late Pueblo III occupation; to the extent that larger vessels tend to produce more sherds, the adoption of larger corrugated jars with little or no concomitant change in use life may be responsible for increased deposition of corrugated jar sherds during the late Pueblo III period. Pottery and faunal assemblages from the Sand Canyon locality support the notion that communal meals were prepared and eaten in large villages more often than in contemporaneous smaller villages and hamlets (Driver 1996*1; Ortman 2000*2:par. 41–66). If so, it could be that increased corrugated jar sherd deposition in the late component at Woods Canyon is evidence of increased communal feasting associated with the development of the site as a community center.

Rim Sherds by Ware and Type

38
Rim sherds may provide a better indication of type frequencies among the vessels used during an occupation, because rim sherds usually preserve more diagnostic attributes of pottery types than do body sherds and therefore tend to be classified more precisely. Table 11 presents counts of rim sherds in the Woods Canyon Pueblo components by ware and type. The relative frequency of rim sherds assigned to each type is also shown as a percentage of all rim sherds by count. Table 12 presents these same data using weight as the measure of abundance. In these tables, the relative frequencies of specific, named types clearly are much higher among the rim sherds alone than in the sherd assemblage as a whole.

39
As was the case in the overall sherd assemblage, significant differences in the relative frequencies of different types by count and weight probably relate to the average sizes of the rim sherds assigned to each type. As an example, Mesa Verde Black-on-white is much more common by weight than by count, whereas Pueblo III White Painted and Indeterminate Local Corrugated Gray are more common by count than by weight. These patterns indicate that rim sherds assigned to specific traditional types tend to be larger than average, whereas rim sherds assigned to generic types tend to be smaller than average. The higher frequencies of specific types among the rim sherds indicate that rims were assigned to these specific types more often than body sherds were.

40
The distribution of formal types among rim sherds generally supports and amplifies the conclusions reached on the basis of all sherds. In both cases, differences between components in the representation of formal white ware types are more apparent by weight than by count. McElmo Black-on-white is most common in the early Pueblo III component, and Mesa Verde Black-on-white is most common in the late Pueblo III component. Also Mancos-Black-on-white is relatively less common among rim sherds than it is among all sherds. By weight, McElmo and Mesa Verde black-on-white are two to three times more prevalent than Mancos Black-on-white among all sherds (Table 6), but are four to five times more abundant among rim sherds only (Table 12). As was noted above for all sherds, both Mancos and Mesa Verde corrugated increase in frequency over time. Corrugated rim sherds are discussed more fully in the analysis of corrugated jar rims, below (paragraphs 53–62).

White Ware Rims by Type and Finish

41
Table 13 presents counts, and Table 14 shows weights in grams, of painted white ware rim sherds assigned to various type and finish categories for the early and late Pueblo III components. Both tables also present the percentage of sherds assigned to each type that are mineral painted, and the percentage of each type among all white wares, regardless of paint type.

42
The data in Table 14, especially, illustrate the role that mineral paint played in assigning white ware sherds to type. Mineral paint occurs on approximately 20 percent of the painted white ware sherds assigned to each component at Woods Canyon Pueblo. About 20 percent of the sherds classified as Pueblo III White Painted are also mineral painted, but mineral paint is over-represented among sherds assigned to the definite or possible Pueblo II types of Mancos Black-on-white, Pueblo II White Painted, and Late White Painted. In contrast, mineral paint is underrepresented among sherds assigned to the formal Pueblo III types of McElmo and Mesa Verde black-on-white. These data suggest that analysts tended to assign mineral-painted white ware rim sherds to earlier types, even though mineral-painted sherds overall occur in roughly the same frequencies in both components.

43
Further illustration of this analytical bias can be seen in Table 15, which cross-tabulates the results of a 1998 reanalysis of white ware bowl rim sherds from Woods Canyon Pueblo with the results of the original analysis of paint and pottery type. The data in this table show that only one-third of mineral-painted sherds originally classified as Mancos Black-on-white were reclassified as such in the reanalysis. The overall percentage of Mancos Black-on-white sherds was also reduced by one-half in the reanalysis results. These data suggest that the occurrence of Mancos Black-on-white sherds in the Woods Canyon Pueblo assemblage is partly due to analytical bias (also see the definition of site components, paragraphs 9–23).

Rim Sherds by Ware and Form

44
Rim sherds often can be assigned to more specific form classes than can body sherds, and when it was apparent during analysis that a rim sherd came from a ladle, canteen, mug, or kiva/seed jar, this was recorded in a "comments" field. Ladle rims curve more tightly than bowl rims and possess either distinctive use wear on the outside edge of the rim or evidence of a handle attachment. Canteen rims are small jar rims with very tight curvature. Mug rims are square in cross section, are seldom everted, usually possess intricate painted decorations on their exteriors, and sometimes preserve evidence of a handle attachment near the rim. Finally, kiva jars and seed jars are slightly larger than canteens, do not have necks, and, in the case of kiva jars, have a distinctive lip that is designed to hold a lid in place.

45
Table 16 summarizes the wares and forms of rim sherds in the Woods Canyon components by count, and Table 17 presents these same data using weight as the measure of abundance. The more specific vessel forms of kiva jar, seed jar, ladle, and mug are tabulated here on the basis of information recorded in the comments field of the pottery data file. It was assumed that white ware jar rims for which no additional comments were recorded are from large storage jars, or ollas. As is the case in the overall assemblage, rim sherds show relatively little variation in relative abundance by count and weight when classified in terms of ware-form combinations. This suggests that sherd size does not significantly affect an analyst's ability to assign rim sherds to ware and form categories. Also, as was the case for the entire sherd assemblage, the three most common ware-form categories among the rim sherds are corrugated jars, white ware jars, and white ware bowls. The relative frequencies of these three forms, however, are strikingly different when rim sherds alone are considered. White ware bowls are by far the most common ware-form combination among rim sherds only, whereas corrugated jars are by far the most common among all sherds.

46
These differences relate to the typical circumferences of rims in the original vessels of these various ware-form combinations and to differences in the relative numbers of rim and body sherds produced by vessels of different sizes. White ware bowls are open forms with large rim circumferences; when they break, they produce numerous rim sherds and a relatively high ratio of rim to body sherds. Corrugated and white ware jars are taller, closed forms, usually with smaller rim circumferences, that produce far fewer rim sherds per vessel than do white ware bowls. As a result, the best way to estimate the relative number of vessels of different ware-form classes in a pottery assemblage is to compare the total degrees of arc subtended by the rim sherds of various ware-form classes.

47
Such data were considered by Pierce and Varien (1999*1) in their study of the Sand Canyon locality Site Testing Program assemblages. They found that raw counts of rim sherds, though less precise than degree-of-arc measurements, nevertheless gave a closer approximation of the relative numbers of vessel ware-form classes than did raw counts of all sherds. Judging from this finding, it appears that white ware bowls were the most common vessel form used at Woods Canyon, followed by corrugated jars and then white ware jars and white ware ladles. Canteens, mugs, and kiva/seed jars were all relatively rare.

48
As we saw in the data for all sherds, the primary difference in the relative frequency of vessel wares and forms between the early and late Pueblo III components is a higher percentage of corrugated jars in the late component and a corresponding decrease in the percentage of white ware bowls. This pattern is apparent for both counts and weights and suggests increased deposition of broken and worn-out corrugated jars during the late Pueblo III occupation. One way this could occur is through increased use of corrugated jars for cooking, which would have shortened the use life of the vessels and increased the deposition rate of corrugated jar sherds. The analysis of corrugated jar rims (paragraphs 53–62) also suggests that more large corrugated jars were used during the late Pueblo III occupation. Both patterns suggest an intensification of food preparation as Woods Canyon Pueblo became a community center in the mid-1200s.

49
Studies of midden composition in Chaco Canyon have revealed that the trash mounds of great houses—the structures most analogous to community centers in the central Mesa Verde region—also contain relatively more corrugated jar sherds and fewer white ware bowl sherds than the middens of smaller residential sites. Chaco researchers have also interpreted this pattern as evidence of periodic communal gathering and feasting (Toll 2001*1:72).

Modified and Shaped Sherds

50
A number of sherds that had been modified or shaped after their parent vessels broke were collected during the Woods Canyon Pueblo excavations. Table 18 summarizes the pottery types to which such sherds were assigned in each component by count and weight and presents relative frequencies of different types by count and weight for the entire Woods Canyon assemblage. Modified sherds possess at least one abraded edge. Shaped sherds have edges that were flaked, ground, or both to make a specific shape. Some larger shaped sherds may have been used as containers (called "sherd containers" in Crow Canyon's analysis system) or as pottery-molding trays, also called pukis. Perforated sherds with shaped edges were classified as sherd pendants and are discussed in the section on objects of personal adornment, below (paragraphs 133–134). Sherds with shaped edges but lacking a perforation, such as disks, triangles, and rectangles, were classified as shaped sherds and are included here. These shaped sherds may have been pendant blanks, gaming pieces, or other nonutilitarian items.

51
Table 19 summarizes modified and shaped sherds by component and the ware-form combination of the parent vessel of each piece. This table shows that, relative to the overall sherd assemblage, modified corrugated sherds are underrepresented but tend to be larger than the other modified or shaped sherds. Corrugated sherds are not well suited for use as pottery scrapers because they have uneven surfaces, coarse paste, and large temper inclusions that make it difficult to create a smooth scraping surface. Several complete examples of corrugated sherd containers, however, have been found in excavations at Sand Canyon Pueblo (Site 5MT765). Most modified and shaped sherds are of white ware and probably represent portions of pottery scrapers, gaming pieces, or pendant blanks.

Pottery Vessels

52
Six whole, partial, or reconstructible vessels were collected from various contexts at Woods Canyon Pueblo. Four of these are white ware bowls, one is a white ware jar, and one is a sherd container made from a white ware vessel. All were produced locally. The type, form, condition, and metric data for each collected vessel are listed in Table 20, and the type, form, and context of each vessel are listed in Table 21. If the vessel was reconstructed and is not considered to be a funerary object, you can click on the vessel's photo number in Table 20 to see a photograph of it.

Analysis of Corrugated Jar Rims

53
Additional data were collected from a sample of corrugated jar rim sherds in an attempt to address several questions raised by the basic sherd data. Rim-arc analysis was conducted to determine whether the size distributions of cooking vessels changed as Woods Canyon Pueblo became a community center during the late Pueblo III period. In addition, rim form measurements were collected to refine the typology and chronology of corrugated jar rims at the site. Results of these analyses are presented in the following paragraphs.

Rim-Arc Data

54
Figure 1 summarizes rim-radius estimates drawn from samples of corrugated jar rim sherds found at Woods Canyon Pueblo and the great tower complex at Yellow Jacket Pueblo. Measurable sherds were placed on radial graph paper, and the curve that best approximated the circumference of each rim was recorded in 1-cm intervals. The degrees of arc encompassed by the rim along this curve was also recorded, to the nearest 5 degrees. The total degrees of arc assigned to each radius class was used as the measure of abundance, rather than the count or weight of sherds assigned to each radius class. This was done to compensate for the tendency of vessels with smaller rim diameters to break into fewer rim sherds that encompass more degrees of arc than do vessels with larger rim diameters (Pierce and Varien 1999*1). Finally, the horizontal distance from the outside edge of the rim to the inside edge of the orifice was measured with the sherd held in proper orientation, to estimate the size of the opening on the parent vessels of these sherds. These data are summarized in Figure 2.

55
Examination of the relationships between rim diameter, orifice (throat) diameter, and total volume of reconstructed corrugated jars from Sand Canyon Pueblo suggests that, in general, larger-volume vessels tend to have larger rim and orifice diameters (Ortman 2000*2:par. 46). On the basis of this finding and the data presented in Figures 1 and 2, it appears that more large-volume corrugated jars were used and discarded during the late Pueblo III period at Woods Canyon Pueblo and the great tower complex at Yellow Jacket Pueblo than during the early Pueblo III period at Woods Canyon. This pattern is also documented for the Sand Canyon locality, where rim-arc data suggest that more large-volume corrugated jars were used and discarded at Sand Canyon Pueblo, a large late Pueblo III village and community center, than at smaller villages and earlier hamlets in the locality (Ortman 2000*2:par. 57). Because household sizes do not appear to have increased over the course of the Pueblo III period, these data strengthen the argument that preparation and consumption of communal meals occurred in late Pueblo III community centers in the central Mesa Verde region (Driver 1996*1; Ortman 2000*2; Potter 2000*1).

Rim Form Measurement Data

56
Wilson and Blinman's (1999*1) assemblage-based ceramic chronology is based on three corrugated gray ware types: Mancos Corrugated, which was most common during the period A.D. 1025–1100; Dolores Corrugated, which was most common during the period A.D. 1100–1180; and Mesa Verde Corrugated, which was most common during the period A.D. 1225–1280. These three types are defined solely on the basis of rim eversion: Mancos Corrugated rims are everted less than 30 degrees, Dolores Corrugated rims are everted between 30 and 55 degrees, and Mesa Verde Corrugated rims are everted more than 55 degrees. In contrast, the system used by Crow Canyon analysts recognizes only two corrugated types: Mancos Corrugated, with rim eversion less than or equal to 30 degrees, and Mesa Verde Corrugated, with rim eversion greater than 30 degrees. Dolores Corrugated is, in effect, included in Mesa Verde Corrugated. This simplified system is used to minimize inter-observer variation in typing, since many different people analyze sherds from Crow Canyon's excavations. An unfortunate result of this convention, however, is that most corrugated rim sherds deposited during Pueblo III occupations are classified as a single type, Mesa Verde Corrugated, and are of little use in dating arguments.

57
Wilson and Blinman's classification is based on their observation that the degree of eversion of corrugated gray rims increased gradually over time. Given this continuous variation, an alternative method for assessing the chronological value of corrugated rim sherds is to measure the eversion angle directly. This was attempted on a sample of corrugated rim sherds from Woods Canyon Pueblo and the great tower complex at Yellow Jacket Pueblo. The method used is illustrated in Figure 3. With the sherd held in proper orientation, calipers were used to measure the horizontal distance from the interior inflection point to the lip of the rim, and the diagonal rim length between these same two points. These two measurements were used to define a right triangle, from which an estimate of the angle of eversion could be calculated. Both the proper orientation of the rim in the parent vessel and the interior inflection point were identifiable on each measured rim sherd.

58
Table 22 compares horizontal and diagonal rim measurements, as well as eversion estimates, for samples of corrugated rim sherds from the early and late Pueblo III components at Woods Canyon Pueblo and the great tower complex at Yellow Jacket. The weights of all corrugated rim sherds from these three components are also provided. The components are listed in chronological order (see the earlier explanation of how site components were defined [paragraphs 9–23] and the discussion of components from other sites used in the analyses [paragraphs 24–25]). Contrary to expectations, there is little variation in the mean eversion-angle estimates across the three components. However, both the horizontal rim width and the diagonal rim length measurements do increase over time.

59
Figure 4 illustrates this pattern using box plots to represent distributions of the "flare"—that is, horizontal plus diagonal measurements—of sherds from these three components. In each plot, the shaded box represents the midspread (middle 50 percent) of cases for a component, the horizontal line inside each box represents the median of cases, the tails illustrate the range of values up to 1.5 box lengths from the edges of each box, and circles illustrate outlier values. The fact that median values of both rim measurements increase without a corresponding change in eversion angles indicates that the measurements change in proportion, such that their ratio remains constant. This consistent ratio is illustrated using box plots in Figure 5.

60
The pattern of increasing horizontal and diagonal rim measurements across the three components may be due partly to the fact that the later assemblages tend to have larger sherds (see Table 22). Because more-highly-flared rims need to be fairly large to be measurable, fewer of the highly flared rims would be measurable in assemblages with smaller sherds, resulting in a bias against highly flared rims in the earlier assemblages. A scatterplot illustrating the relationship between the "flare" and the weight of the measured rim sherds (Figure 6) illustrates the moderate positive relationship between these variables. However, the relatively low r² value for these data indicates that there is still much variation that is not accounted for by sherd size.

61
Another factor that might be contributing to the pattern in these data is that larger vessels tend to have larger rims that might produce larger measurements somewhat independent of the degree of eversion of the rim. Since the rim-arc data suggest that the late Pueblo III assemblages contain more large corrugated vessels than does the early Pueblo III assemblage, one might expect sherds from these late assemblages to possess larger rim measurements overall. Figure 7 illustrates that there is indeed a slight positive relationship between vessel size, as estimated by rim-arc data, and the "flare" of corrugated vessels. Figure 8, however, shows that the pattern of increasing "flare" through time appears to hold even when vessel size is taken into account. This figure presents the same data as in Figure 4; however, in this case, rim sherds with rim-radius estimates of 9 cm or less are classified as being from "small" corrugated vessels, and rim sherds with rim-radius estimates greater than 9 cm are classified as being from "large" corrugated vessels. The figure shows that the "flare" of corrugated jar rims increases through time for both small and large corrugated vessels.

62
In summary, the data suggest that the rims of corrugated jars became increasingly flared over the course of the Pueblo III period, but it appears that the eversion angle estimates do not capture this change as well as the measurements themselves. The most likely reason that the eversion angle estimates do not capture the pattern noted by other researchers is that a right triangle based on the measurement points illustrated in Figure 3 does not adequately represent the shape of the rim as perceived by analysts who estimate rim eversion visually. Most highly everted corrugated jar rims are actually out-curved rather than bent at a sharp angle. I suspect that most analysts assess rim eversion using the angle of the rim at its tip, and that on most curved rims the angle of eversion at the tip is much greater than the angle between the tip and the interior inflection point estimated for this pilot study. Nevertheless, the rim measurements taken do show a chronological trend in the sampled components and suggest that a more objective method for classifying corrugated jars rims could be developed through further research.

Analysis of White Ware Bowl Rims

63
Additional data were collected from a sample of rim sherds from white ware bowls from the early and late Pueblo III components at Woods Canyon Pueblo and from the great tower complex at Yellow Jacket. These data were used to examine whether different kinds of meals came to be served to different social groups as Woods Canyon Pueblo became a community center during the late Pueblo III period. For background and arguments related to functional analysis of vessels from Pueblo III sites in the Mesa Verde region, see Ortman (2000*2:par. 41–66). Rim-arc data were collected to assess whether the size distributions of serving vessels changed as Woods Canyon Pueblo became a community center. In addition, the relationship between exterior painted decoration and vessel size was examined to determine whether serving bowls of different sizes were used for different purposes. The results of these analyses are presented in the following paragraphs.

Rim-Arc Data

64
Figure 9 presents the rim-arc analysis results. For this analysis, rim sherds were assigned to 3-cm radius intervals using simplified radial graph paper, such that Radius Interval 9 encompasses radii that were 6 to 9 cm, Interval 12 encompasses radii that were 9 to 12 cm, and so on. The degrees of arc encompassed by the sherd was also estimated to the nearest five degrees, using the upper boundary of the interval as a guide. The total degrees of arc assigned to each radius interval is used as the measure of abundance, rather than the count or weight of sherds assigned to each radius interval. This approach compensates for the tendency of smaller-diameter vessels to break into fewer rim sherds that encompass more degrees of arc than do larger-diameter vessels (Pierce and Varien 1999*1).

65
Analyses of rim-arc data from the Sand Canyon locality suggest that more large bowls, and bowls of two distinct sizes, were used and discarded in late Pueblo III community centers, compared with earlier and contemporaneous small sites (Ortman 2000*2:par. 53–54). These changes in the distributions of bowl sizes probably reflect differences in the kinds of meals served in late Pueblo III community centers, compared with other sites. The rim-arc data from Woods Canyon and Yellow Jacket pueblos (Figure 9) duplicate the Sand Canyon locality results. Within Woods Canyon Pueblo, the early Pueblo III distribution has a single mode, whereas the late Pueblo III distribution possesses two modes at the 9- and 15-cm intervals. The assemblage from the great tower complex at Yellow Jacket also appears to possess a less well defined bimodal distribution, and both late Pueblo III assemblages contain more large vessels than does the early Pueblo III assemblage. These results suggest that the same food presentation and consumption patterns occurred in at least four community centers (Castle Rock, Sand Canyon, Woods Canyon, and Yellow Jacket pueblos) spread across the central Mesa Verde region.

Vessel Size vs. Exterior Decoration

66
Ortman (2000*2:par. 59–61) argued that the sizes of white ware bowls in Sand Canyon locality sites reflected food-presentation and consumption practices associated with the formation of Pueblo III villages. These practices were argued to have affected the characteristic ways that serving vessels were viewed, leading to changes in the way they were decorated. Data on the size and decoration of rim sherds from white ware bowls at Woods Canyon Pueblo support and amplify these conclusions and suggest that the social changes inferred for the Sand Canyon locality also occurred in the Woods Canyon community.

67
During the early Pueblo III period, Woods Canyon Pueblo was a settlement of several households, and the center of the Woods Canyon community was probably at the Bass Site Complex (Site 5MT136), Site 5MT4700, or the Albert Porter Preserve (Site 5MT123), all three of which are located on the mesa top within a 2-km radius of Woods Canyon Pueblo (Database Map 337) (Lipe and Ortman 2000*1). As Woods Canyon grew into a community center during the thirteenth century, it is probable that an increasing number of meals were consumed in contexts that exposed bowl exteriors to view by more-distant social relations. In historic and modern Pueblo villages, plazas are settings for community events including dances, ceremonies, feasts, and the redistribution of food. An informal plaza probably was created inside the enclosing walls of the rim complex at Woods Canyon, which suggests that analogous events might have taken place in this village as well. If so, prepared food would have been carried into the plaza by participants in the event, giving spectators an opportunity to view vessels from the side. Thus, bowl exteriors likely were viewed much more often during the late Pueblo III occupation of Woods Canyon than during the early Pueblo III occupation.

68
Ancient Pueblo pottery vessels tended to be decorated most intensively on areas that had relatively high contextual visibility (see Carr 1995*1:185–215; Ortman 2000*2:par. 60). Given this correlation between contextual visibility and intensity of decoration, we might expect the exterior surfaces of white ware bowls to have been decorated more intensively during the late Pueblo III occupation of Woods Canyon Pueblo, when the site was a large village and community center. This pattern has been documented for late Pueblo III community centers in the Sand Canyon locality (Ortman 2000*2:par. 60–61), and data presented in Table 23 (see also Ortman et al. 2000*1:Table 2) show that it occurred at Woods Canyon Pueblo as well.

69
On the basis of the relative volumes of large and small serving bowls from Sand Canyon Pueblo, Ortman (2000*2:par. 47–48) argued that small bowls were most likely used for individual servings, and large bowls for serving food to a household or larger group. If this were the case, and if increased decoration of bowl exteriors was due to increased public food presentation at communal feasts, we could expect larger bowls to have been used more often for such presentations. If so, large serving bowls would have been viewed from the side more often than small bowls, and thus we might expect large bowls to have been decorated more intensively on their exteriors. Figure 10 demonstrates that larger serving bowls were indeed decorated on their exteriors more often than smaller bowls at Woods Canyon Pueblo. These data support a model of increasing presentation of food in public spaces—presumably for consumption in communal feasts—in late Pueblo III community centers in the central Mesa Verde region.

Pottery Production and Exchange

70
This section summarizes direct and indirect evidence of pottery production at Woods Canyon Pueblo and examines the nature of the local pottery exchange networks in which the residents of Woods Canyon Pueblo participated. Evidence of long-distance pottery exchange is presented in the discussion of objects of nonlocal materials (paragraphs 129–132).

Direct Evidence of Pottery Making

71
Direct evidence of pottery production in the Woods Canyon Pueblo assemblage includes manufacturing tools (polishing stones), raw materials (potting clay and temper), sherds from unfired vessels, and miscellaneous fired clay objects. Another potential form of direct evidence of pottery manufacture is pottery scrapers made from sherds. Although pottery scrapers have been collected from other sites in southwestern Colorado (e.g., Wilson 1988*2:Table A.6), none were identified specifically in the Woods Canyon modified sherd assemblage. The direct evidence of pottery production from Woods Canyon Pueblo is listed in Table 24.

72
Polishing stones are small, very smooth, and very hard stones or pebbles that exhibit evidence of abrasive wear. The polishing stones from Woods Canyon were made of high-quality, fine-grained stone, including cherts, quartzites, slate/shale, and agate/chalcedony. Even if some of these stones were found locally, many were rare and required some effort to procure. Traces of clay were found adhering to the surfaces of one such stone (PD 386, FS 9), indicating that at least one of these stones was used for polishing the surfaces of white ware vessels. It is unknown whether polishing stones had additional uses.

73
The strongest direct evidence of pottery making consists of sherds from vessels that had not yet been fired when the site was abandoned. Unfired sherds were found only in Nonstructure 2.1-N at Woods Canyon Pueblo. All of these sherds contain sherd temper and therefore are probably from white ware vessels (see the discussion of white ware temper, paragraphs 82–83). No unfired sherds from corrugated gray ware vessels were identified. Clays suitable for use in pottery making were also found in several locations at Woods Canyon Pueblo. One of these samples is of raw, untempered clay, but other samples consist of prepared pastes with sherd, sand, and crushed sandstone tempers typically found in white ware sherds at the site. Moistening the samples also revealed that one sample (PD 334, FS 11) appears to be slip clay, probably from the local Morrison Formation. No samples of potting clay were recognized as containing the coarse temper characteristic of corrugated gray ware pastes.

74
A sample of igneous rock (PD 469, FS 5) may offer a third line of evidence for pottery manufacture at Woods Canyon Pueblo. Since the closest major source of this material is Sleeping Ute Mountain, approximately 15 km to the south, this rock must have been carried to the site. No chipped-, ground-, or pecked-stone tools in the Woods Canyon collection were made of igneous rock, but this material was identified as temper in white and corrugated gray ware sherds found at the site. It is therefore reasonable to consider this igneous rock sample as unground pottery temper. Since igneous rock is a much more common tempering agent in corrugated gray wares than in white wares at Woods Canyon, this sample may be the only direct evidence of corrugated gray ware manufacture recovered from the excavations.

75
In addition to polishing stones, unfired sherds, potting clays, and temper samples, a small number of unusual fired clay objects that might or might not have been parts of pottery vessels were found in a variety of contexts at Woods Canyon. Because these objects are fired, have no obvious function, and were unlikely to have been traded, they are presumed to be by-products of pottery manufacture.

76
The amount and distribution of these various forms of direct evidence of pottery making can be used to assess the nature of pottery production at Woods Canyon. If pottery making was an unspecialized, household-level industry, then raw materials and tools associated with it should occur occasionally throughout the site. On the other hand, if pottery production was specialized, such that relatively few people made most of the pottery used in the village, then direct evidence should be relatively abundant in a few locations and absent in most others.

77
The evidence from Woods Canyon is tabulated by study unit in Table 25 and suggests that production of white ware pottery was unspecialized. Direct evidence of white ware manufacture is not especially abundant in any single location, but is widely distributed at the site, despite the fact that most structures and features were subjected to only limited testing. Because the excavations were limited, it is possible that concentrations of direct evidence remain to be found in areas that were not excavated. Nevertheless, the fact that direct evidence was found in so many of the tested structures suggests that white ware production was a household-based, part-time activity. This pattern has been noted at numerous other sites in southwestern Colorado (Errickson 1993*1; Ortman 2000*2: par. 69; Wilson 1988*2, 1991*1).

78
In contrast, little direct evidence of corrugated gray ware production was found. This may be attributed at least in part to the fact that polishing stones are not used in gray ware manufacture. Nevertheless, no unfired corrugated sherds or coarse-tempered raw clay samples were identified in the Woods Canyon Pueblo collection, leaving open the possibility that corrugated gray ware production was organized quite differently from white ware production.

Indirect Evidence of Pottery Making

79
Available indirect evidence of pottery production and exchange consists of temper data from white and gray ware sherds. In this section, temper data from Woods Canyon Pueblo and the great tower complex at Yellow Jacket Pueblo are used to examine the nature of local pottery exchange. This analysis builds on previous studies of local pottery exchange in the Sand Canyon locality (Glowacki 1995*1; Glowacki et al. 1995*1, 1998*1; Thurs et al. 1996*1) and other areas in southwestern Colorado using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) data (Glowacki et al. 1997*1) as well as temper data (Blinman 1986*2; Blinman and Wilson 1988*3, 1992*1, 1993*1; Ortman 2000*2:par. 78–83). The studies have identified distinct white ware manufacturing tracts and have documented modest levels of vessel movement between sites. Evidence for long-distance, interregional pottery exchange is presented in the discussion of objects made of nonlocal materials (paragraphs 129–132).

80
Most of the tempers identified in the examined sherds were readily available to potters at both sites. However, it is likely that igneous rock was not locally available at Woods Canyon and Yellow Jacket pueblos. Igneous rock originates in the intrusive volcanic mountains of the Four Corners area, including Sleeping Ute Mountain and the San Juan Mountains in Colorado, the Abajo Mountains in Utah, and the Carrizo and Chuska mountains in Arizona and New Mexico. Weathered igneous cobbles suitable for use as pottery temper can be found on terraces along the watercourses that drain these mountains. The closest known source of igneous rock to Woods Canyon Pueblo is Ute Mountain, located approximately 15 km south of the site, and the closest known source to Yellow Jacket Pueblo is the Dolores River valley, approximately 10 km northeast of the site.

81
Cross-cultural data compiled by Arnold (1985*1:51–56) suggest that potters in small-scale societies tend to travel no more than 6 to 9 km to obtain temper for pottery making. Both Woods Canyon and Yellow Jacket pueblos are more than 9 km from the closest major source of igneous rock for each site. This suggests that at least some of the igneous-tempered sherds from these two sites are from vessels that were made at sites closer to igneous rock sources. However, the fact that a sample of igneous rock was recovered from Woods Canyon Pueblo leaves open the possibility that this material was acquired for use as pottery temper through exchange or special collection trips to the sources.

White Ware Temper Data

82
Table 26 presents temper data for a sample of white ware bowl rims from the early and late Pueblo III components at Woods Canyon Pueblo and from the great tower complex at Yellow Jacket. These sherds were examined using a binocular microscope, and each was classified on the basis of the most abundant type of nonplastic inclusion mixed with the clay during paste preparation. The four temper categories identified were crushed sandstone, quartz sand, crushed igneous rock, and crushed sherd. The results of analysis are tabulated by count and by the proportion of each category within the sample from each component.

83
These data indicate that most white ware vessels from these sites were tempered with crushed potsherds or crushed sandstone. Very few were tempered with sand or igneous rock. The rarity of igneous-tempered white wares is consistent with the location of these sites far from igneous rock sources. Igneous temper is much more common in white ware vessels deposited at sites located close to sources of this material. For example, approximately 30 percent of the white ware vessels at Castle Rock Pueblo, which is located adjacent to Ute Mountain, had igneous rock temper (Ortman 2000*2:Table 21).

Corrugated Gray Ware Temper Data

84
Table 27 presents temper data for a sample of corrugated gray ware rims from the early and late Pueblo III components at Woods Canyon Pueblo and the great tower complex at Yellow Jacket. These sherds were examined using a binocular microscope, and each was classified on the basis of the most abundant type of nonplastic inclusion mixed with the clay during paste preparation. The results are tabulated by count and by the proportion of each category within the sample from each component.

85
A number of distinct tempers—crushed sandstone, quartz sand, and igneous rock—were identified in the corrugated sherds. These same tempers are also present in white ware sherds, although in finer particle sizes. Additional tempers observed in the corrugated sherds were derived from some form of weathered or decomposed sedimentary or metamorphic rock. Multilithic sands are usually coarse, weathered, subangular grains of various colors and rock types. They may derive from weathered conglomerate sandstone. Weathered metamorphic temper appears to be crushed or cracked chunks of rock described as having granular morphology, uniform texture, and fluid colors. They probably derived from weathered chunks of metamorphosed or silicified sandstone. This poorly understood material appears to have been the primary tempering agent used by the inhabitants of Woods Canyon Pueblo in making corrugated gray ware pottery.

Comparison of White Ware and Corrugated Gray Ware Tempers

86
There are many differences in the tempers used in white ware and corrugated gray ware vessels. Sherd, the most common temper in white ware vessels, is completely absent in the corrugated gray ware samples. There is also a wider variety of sedimentary tempers used in corrugated vessels than in white ware vessels. Finally, igneous temper is much more common in corrugated gray ware vessels than in white ware vessels in each component. These differences in temper use between corrugated gray and white ware vessels are probably related to differences in the ways these vessels were used. Corrugated gray ware vessels were cooking pots that were routinely subjected to thermal stress by being placed over open fires, which created marked temperature variation along the vessel walls and between the interior and exterior surfaces (Pierce 1998*1). Tempering agents that resisted thermal expansion counteracted the tendency of fired clay to expand when heated and helped corrugated vessels withstand thermal stress without cracking or breaking (West 1992*1). In addition, the larger temper particles in cooking pots help diffuse microfractures that develop during use, thus increasing the use life of the vessel (Varien 1999*1:Chp. 4).

87
White ware vessels, in contrast, were used for serving and storage and were not exposed to significant thermal stress after firing. As a result, temper in white ware pastes functioned primarily to keep unfired vessels from cracking as they dried. Presumably, sherd temper could be used in white ware vessels, even though this would result in an effectively "untempered" finished fabric, because temper was not necessary for the typical uses of finished white ware vessels.

88
In a recent study, Hensler (1999*1:676–682) compared the thermal-stress resistance of corrugated gray ware sherds tempered with sand and trachyte—the latter a type of igneous rock found in the Chuska Mountains of New Mexico and Arizona. She found that trachyte-tempered sherds appeared to possess greater thermal-stress resistance than did sand-tempered sherds, and she attributed this difference to the performance characteristics of trachyte temper. These characteristics may also apply to the local igneous tempers used in the central Mesa Verde region. If so, it is likely that cooking pots tempered with igneous rock functioned better than cooking pots tempered with sedimentary rock.

89
Ortman (2000*2:par. 77–83) examined the distribution of igneous-tempered white ware vessels at late Pueblo III sites across southwestern Colorado, including Woods Canyon Pueblo and the great tower complex at Yellow Jacket, and found that this distribution supported a model of unstructured, down-the-line exchange, probably taking the form of gift exchange between friends and relatives living in nearby settlements. This interpretation was based partly on the assumption that there would be no functional advantage to using igneous temper in white ware vessels. There are insufficient data to determine whether corrugated vessels diffused over the social landscape in the same way. However, the higher frequency of igneous-tempered corrugated sherds than white ware sherds across the sampled components suggests that igneous-tempered corrugated vessels were used more widely than igneous-tempered white ware vessels. Whether such vessels were exchanged more widely over the social landscape or were manufactured more widely cannot be determined from the available data.

90
Regardless of the cause, it is likely that the more widespread distribution of igneous-tempered corrugated sherds at a given distance from igneous rock sources is due to the fact that igneous-tempered cooking pots worked better than cooking pots tempered with other materials, including the sedimentary and metamorphic tempers found in most of the corrugated sherds examined from Woods Canyon and Yellow Jacket. If the value of igneous-tempered cooking pots was recognized, residents probably would have tried either to make such vessels using imported igneous temper or to obtain finished vessels through trade. This model also raises the possibility that corrugated gray ware vessels were produced specifically for exchange in communities located close to igneous rock sources.

Chipped-Stone Tools and Manufacturing Debris

Definitions of Raw Material Categories

91
Although knowledge of lithic-procurement sites and the availability of raw material in southwestern Colorado is limited, the raw materials out of which Woods Canyon Pueblo chipped-stone tools were made can be grouped into local, semilocal, and nonlocal stone types. Each group is discussed briefly in this section.

Local Raw Materials

92
Local lithic raw materials are of average to poor quality; they occur within the geological strata exposed in Sandstone, Woods, and Yellow Jacket canyons; and they likely were available within easy walking distance of Woods Canyon Pueblo. The closest known source of Dakota quartzite is in a short tributary of Woods Canyon, approximately 2 km downstream from the site. There is an ancient quarry in this area with numerous large flakes and "tested" cores of Dakota quartzite on the modern ground surface. Fine-grained and conglomerate sandstones are also available from the Burro Canyon Formation and the Dakota Sandstone at this location and elsewhere. Morrison quartzite and chert/siltstone, both from the Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation, are also widely available in the local canyons near Woods Canyon Pueblo. Finally, although specific sources have not been identified, slates and shales are available in the Mancos Formation and the Dakota Sandstone, both of which outcrop in Woods Canyon and throughout the uplands of southwestern Colorado.

Semilocal Raw Materials

93
Semilocal lithic raw materials are of relatively good quality and probably occur less widely in their geological strata of origin than do local raw materials. As a result, such materials were potentially local but probably more difficult to obtain, possibly requiring special collecting trips. Agate/chalcedony and petrified wood occasionally occur within the Burro Canyon Formation and the Dakota Sandstone, as well as in other formations that outcrop farther away. Jet occasionally occurs within shale and coal-bearing deposits in the Dakota Sandstone and the Mancos and Menefee formations. The closest known sources of Burro Canyon chert to Woods Canyon Pueblo occur in the Dolores River valley and on Cannonball Mesa, both approximately 20 to 25 km away. Known sources of Brushy Basin chert occur around the San Juan River near the Four Corners monument, approximately 50 km from Woods Canyon (Green 1985*1:71–72).

Nonlocal Raw Materials

94
These lithic materials are high quality and definitely do not occur within easy walking distance of Woods Canyon Pueblo; thus they must have been acquired through special collecting trips or trade. Red jasper comes from Triassic and Permian formations of the Monument Upwarp and Elk Ridge Uplift in southeastern Utah, west of Cottonwood Wash. Obsidian is likely to have come from either the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico or the San Francisco Peaks in Arizona, where sources of widely exchanged obsidian are known (Shackley 1988*1, 1995*1). No Washington (Narbona) Pass chert was identified in the Woods Canyon Pueblo chipped-stone artifact assemblage.

Artifact Type vs. Raw Material

By Count

95
Table 28 summarizes the number of chipped-stone artifacts made from various raw materials in the early and late Pueblo III components at Woods Canyon Pueblo (for definitions of the artifact types used, see the Crow Canyon laboratory manual). Chipped-stone artifacts are grouped into the following categories: cores and core tools (cores, modified cores, and peckingstones); flake tools (modified flakes); and formal tools (bifaces, drills, and projectile points). Hammerstones, which are believed to have been used to make chipped-stone tools, and polishing/hammerstones, whose use(s) are unknown, are also included in this table. The full suite of raw material categories was considered for projectile points, bifaces, and drills; but because Brushy Basin chert, Burro Canyon chert, and red jasper were recorded only in "comments" for other chipped-stone artifact categories, their presence may be underrepresented in those categories. If these materials were not identified consistently, then red jasper probably would have been classified as nonlocal chert/siltstone, Brushy Basin chert as Morrison chert/siltstone or unknown chert/siltstone, and Burro Canyon chert as unknown chert/siltstone.

96
The only noticeable change in raw material use over the occupation of the pueblo is an apparent increase in the use of finer-grained Morrison Formation materials (Morrison chert/siltstone), relative to larger-grained Morrison Formation materials (Morrison quartzite) for informal chipped-stone tools (cores, core tools, and flake tools) in the late Pueblo III component. This pattern is mirrored in the chipped-stone-debris data (Table 33).

By Percentage

97
Table 29 summarizes the percentages of objects in each chipped-stone artifact category that were made of various raw materials. In this table, data from both temporal components are considered as one. The absence of nonlocal raw materials among cores and in the sample of chipped-stone debris (see paragraph 104) suggests that nonlocal raw materials came to Woods Canyon Pueblo primarily in the form of finished formal tools. Nonlocal materials do not appear to have been procured directly or reduced at the site. Semilocal materials also occur primarily in the form of formal tools, but the presence of a few pieces of chipped-stone debris and one projectile point preform made of semilocal stone suggests that these materials were occasionally worked at the site. Whether semilocal materials were obtained through trade or special collection trips is unknown.

98
Among local raw materials, the readily available materials from the Morrison Formation dominate the expedient-tool assemblage, suggesting that peckingstones and modified flakes were made from whatever material was at hand or easily obtainable. Dakota quartzite also occurs among core and flake tools, and it dominates the formal tool assemblage, suggesting that this material was procured directly and worked at the site. However, many materials that were more difficult to obtain—for example, agate/chalcedony, Burro Canyon chert, red jasper, and obsidian—are also common among formal tools. This suggests that projectile points, bifaces, and drills were made from high-quality raw materials, either at Woods Canyon or elsewhere, regardless of the availability of those materials in the local environment.

Mass Analysis of Chipped-Stone Debris

99
A sample of chipped-stone flakes and angular debris from secondary refuse deposits assigned to each temporal component was analyzed using mass analysis techniques developed by Ahler (1989*1; see also Patterson 1990*1; Shott 1994*1). Each piece was examined for the presence of cortex and then was sorted by size using a set of nested screens (1-in, ½-in, and ¼-in mesh). Items in the resultant groups were counted and weighed (for details on these procedures, see the laboratory manual). The data presented in the following paragraphs suggest possible changes in the nature of chipped-stone reduction over the course of the Pueblo III period at Woods Canyon Pueblo.

Raw Material vs. Cortex

By Count and Weight

100
Table 30 presents counts and weights of chipped-stone debris of various raw materials, distinguishing between pieces with and without cortex. The percentage of pieces of each raw material with cortex and the percentage of pieces of each raw material in the entire sample of chipped-stone debris are also presented. The table shows that, in general, fine-grained materials (cherts and siltstones) are more abundant by count, and coarse-grained materials (quartzites) are more abundant by weight. In the same way that sherd size affects the relative proportion of sherds assigned to various typological categories by count and weight, differences in the relative abundance of raw materials by count and weight in chipped-stone debris probably relate to differences in the average size of flakes of various raw materials. A greater percentage by count probably indicates that flakes of that material are smaller than average; a greater percentage by weight probably indicates that flakes of that material are larger than average; and a relatively equal percentage by count and weight probably indicates that flakes of a given material are average-sized, relative to flakes of all materials in the assemblage.

101
However, unlike pottery sherds, almost every piece of chipped-stone debris could be assigned to a specific raw-material category. Thus, differences in the abundance of raw materials by count and weight reflect differences in the flake-size distributions of these materials and do not reflect analytical biases. On the basis of this principle, it appears that chert flakes tend to be smaller than quartzite flakes in the Woods Canyon Pueblo assemblage. Flake-size distributions for common local raw materials (Figure 11) support this interpretation, in that there are fewer large flakes and more small flakes of Morrison chert/siltstone than of Morrison and Dakota quartzite in the Woods Canyon Pueblo assemblage.

102
Table 30 also shows that, overall, cortex is present on approximately one in five pieces of chipped-stone debris by count, and one-third of chipped-stone debris by weight. The greater percentage of cortex by weight as opposed to count indicates that pieces of chipped-stone debris with cortex are generally larger than pieces that do not have cortex. This is an expected result, because cortex tends to be removed during the initial stages of raw-material reduction, and flake size generally decreases during later stages of reduction. The difference between the percentages of pieces with cortex by count vs. weight is also much greater for Morrison Formation materials than for Dakota quartzite. This suggests that pieces of Morrison material with cortex tend to be larger than average, whereas pieces of Dakota material with cortex tend to be of average size. This pattern is also supported by the flake-size data in Table 31. One possible interpretation of this pattern is that Dakota quartzite was reduced more completely than Morrison Formation materials because of differences in the kinds of tools most often made using these respective materials.

By Size Category

103
Table 31 presents the number of pieces of various raw materials, with and without cortex, that fall into each size class used in the mass analysis. The smallest size category, smaller than ¼ in, is underrepresented among these data, because the screens used to collect artifacts in the field had ¼-in mesh, which resulted in most artifacts of this size falling through the screen in the field. The few flakes of this size in the sample are all of local material, and very few have cortex. Overall, it is apparent that pieces of local raw material with cortex tend to be larger than pieces that do not have cortex. Also, even though there are very few pieces of semilocal material in the sample of chipped-stone debris, several pieces of semilocal materials do have cortex, suggesting that primary reduction of these materials did occur occasionally at Woods Canyon Pueblo.

Raw Materials by Component

104
Table 32 summarizes the sizes of pieces of various raw materials in the analyzed samples from the early and late Pueblo III components at Woods Canyon Pueblo. There are too few pieces of semilocal material in the overall sample of chipped-stone debris to determine whether any changes in the availability or use of these materials occurred over time. However, there are relatively fewer flakes of Dakota quartzite in the late Pueblo III sample than in the early Pueblo III sample. This pattern is also apparent in Table 33, which presents the total count and weight of chipped-stone debris of various raw materials in the early and late Pueblo III samples, and in Table 34, which presents the percentage of chipped-stone debris of various raw materials by count and weight. Table 33 also shows that the mean weight of a piece of chipped-stone debris decreased over time, suggesting that raw materials were reduced more extensively during the late Pueblo III occupation of the pueblo.

Flake-Size Distributions

105
Experimental studies (Patterson 1990*1; Shott 1994*1) suggest that plots illustrating the percentage of flakes of various sizes in an assemblage can be used to determine the dominant reduction mode reflected in that assemblage. Flake-size plots summarizing the by-products of experimental dart-point manufacture usually exhibit a concave curve, with a low percentage of large flakes and exponentially increasing numbers of smaller flakes. In contrast, flake-size distributions derived from experimental primary-core-reduction assemblages show a more irregular pattern, with more medium-size flakes and fewer small flakes than are produced in bifacial reduction.

106
Figure 11 presents flake-size distributions for the three most common raw materials in the analyzed sample of chipped-stone debris from Woods Canyon Pueblo. These distributions do not closely approximate experimental bifacial-reduction assemblages, and they suggest that the dominant mode of lithic reduction at Woods Canyon was primary-core reduction. This is an expected result, since the stone artifact assemblage is dominated by expedient core and flake tools, which would not produce very many small flakes. It is somewhat surprising that the flake-size distribution for Dakota quartzite, a preferred local material for bifacially flaked tools, does not exhibit a shape consistent with experimental bifacial-reduction assemblages.

107
Several factors may have contributed to this lack of correspondence. First, Dakota quartzite was used for both expedient and formal tools, so we should expect the resulting chipped-stone debris to reflect both primary-core and bifacial reduction. Second, many of the flakes produced in bifacial reduction are pressure flakes that would fall through the 1/4-inch mesh used to screen deposits in the field. It is thus conceivable that the flake-size distribution of an assemblage collected through 1/8-inch mesh would exhibit a more concave shape. Third, the replicated projectile point types used to define flake-size distributions for bifacial reduction (see Patterson 1990*1; Shott 1994*1) may not be comparable to Puebloan projectile points. Most of the bifacially flaked tools in the Woods Canyon Pueblo assemblage are small arrow points, whereas the replicated points in the experimental studies used to define flake-size distributions are larger dart points. One must produce a bifacially flaked preform as an intermediate step in dart point manufacture, but an arrow point can also be created by pressure-flaking a primary flake of appropriate size and shape. The by-products of arrow points made in this way might produce very different flake-size distributions than those observed in dart-point replication studies.

108
Figures 12 through 14 present flake-size distributions for the three most common raw materials in the early and late Pueblo III samples from Woods Canyon Pueblo, and these data allow an assessment of whether the distributions changed over time. The flake-size distributions for Morrison quartzite (Figure 12) and Morrison chert/siltstone (Figure 13) chipped-stone debris suggest that there was little change in the reduction of these materials during the occupation of the village. In contrast, the shape of the flake-size distribution for Dakota quartzite, a preferred raw material for formal tool manufacture, does vary across the early and late Pueblo III samples (Figure 14). The early Pueblo III sample is similar to the flake-size distributions for Morrison Formation materials, but the late Pueblo III sample exhibits a slightly concave curve.

109
Several scenarios could account for this change. One is that formal tools were produced more often during the late Pueblo III occupation of Woods Canyon, perhaps in response to increased hunting activity or violent conflict. This possibility does not appear to be borne out by the data for chipped-stone tools, which do not suggest any significant increase in formal tool manufacture during the late Pueblo III occupation.

110
A second possibility is resource depletion. This also seems unlikely, since a major source of this material is still apparent on the modern ground surface 2 km downstream from the village. Table 35 presents counts and weights of chipped-stone raw materials by temporal component and presence/absence of cortex. If resource depletion did occur, one might expect to find fewer pieces of Dakota quartzite, and fewer large pieces with cortex, in the late Pueblo III assemblage. The data present an inconsistent picture. Although there are relatively fewer pieces of Dakota quartzite chipped-stone debris overall, a few large and heavy pieces with cortex dominate the late Pueblo III sample. Figure 15 shows that most of the late Pueblo III sample by weight has cortex, a result inconsistent with resource-depletion models.

111
A third possibility is that Dakota quartzite was worked more often within the village, as opposed to outside the village, during the late Pueblo III occupation. The widespread occurrence of defensible architecture and physical evidence of violence (Kuckelman 2000*1; Lipe et al. 1999*1:338–343) at late Pueblo III sites suggests that conflict was endemic during the final decades of Puebloan occupation in the central Mesa Verde region. If so, it may have become hazardous for people to remain outside the confines of the village for extended periods. This could have affected the reduction pathway for Dakota quartzite. Much more research on chipped-stone tool production is needed to address questions raised by the chipped-stone debris at ancient Pueblo sites.

Analysis of Projectile Points and Bifaces

Catalog, Analysis Data, and Provenience

112
Table 36 is a catalog of all projectile points and bifaces collected from Woods Canyon Pueblo. Information regarding the original use, condition, material, production stage, and size of each item, as well as the context in which each was found, is presented. The point-classification scheme used follows Lekson (1997*1), Pierce (1999*1), Holmer (1986*1), and Hayes and Lancaster (1975*1). A single large, corner-notched point (PD 603, FS 5) characteristic of early Pueblo (Basketmaker III and Pueblo I) occupation was found in Nonstructure 7-N, in mixed postabandonment and cultural refuse. This object may represent an heirloom or an artifact from early use of the area around the site that subsequently washed into the site deposits. All other diagnostic points are of styles that are common in Pueblo sites dating to the Pueblo II and Pueblo III periods.

Form vs. Raw Material

113
Table 37 summarizes the raw materials out of which projectile points and bifaces of various types were made. There are two large/medium, side-notched points of agate/chalcedony and a few small, side-notched points of nonlocal materials (obsidian, red jasper) that could have been made elsewhere and traded into Woods Canyon Pueblo. But none of these points is stylistically distinctive. The recovery of an unfinished agate/chalcedony projectile point and the presence of a few flakes of agate/chalcedony in the sample of chipped-stone debris suggest that points of this material could have been made locally. The absence of obsidian and red jasper in the chipped-stone debris sample and among unfinished points, however, suggests that these points were made elsewhere and traded into the site.

114
Among the local raw materials, Dakota quartzite was clearly favored over Morrison chert/siltstone for projectile points, despite the fact that Morrison Formation materials dominate the overall chipped-stone assemblage (Table 34). A number of corner-notched points typical of Pueblo II–period occupation (Hayes and Lancaster 1975*1; Lekson 1997*1), including two Rosegate series points (Holmer 1986*1), were also identified. Such points are associated with both the early and the late Pueblo III components.

Production Stage vs. Raw Material

115
Several of the points and bifaces from Woods Canyon Pueblo are interpreted as projectile points in various stages of production (Table 38). These unfinished projectile points were classified according to Whittaker's (1994*1:199–206) scheme. Stage 2 refers to preforms, and Stage 3 to refined but unfinished points. These unfinished points constitute direct evidence that projectile points of Dakota quartzite and agate/chalcedony were made at Woods Canyon Pueblo. The abundance of Morrison chert/siltstone in the overall chipped-stone assemblage suggests that the single point of this material was also made at the site. The two points of Burro Canyon chert may or may not have been made at the site, and the three points of nonlocal materials (obsidian and red jasper) probably were not.

Ground-Stone Tools

Artifact Category vs. Site Section

116
Table 39 summarizes the ground-stone artifacts collected from Woods Canyon Pueblo, according to the section of the site—canyon rim, canyon bottom, upper west side, or east talus slope—where each was found (for definitions of the artifact categories used, see the Crow Canyon laboratory manual). Intrasite analysis of artifact assemblages from the seven tested areas of the pueblo (see paragraphs 137–144) suggests that ground-stone tools were unusually abundant in the canyon rim (Area 7) relative to the total number of artifacts recovered from this area. Most of these artifacts are from the rim complex itself. For example, only two of the 11 ground-stone tools in the canyon rim assemblage were found outside the rim complex, in Nonstructure 9-N (see Database Map 334), and both were classified as indeterminate ground stone. The nine tools from inside the complex were of a number of different types, and most were probably used for grinding corn.

Artifact Category vs. Raw Material

117
Table 40 summarizes the ground-stone artifacts from Woods Canyon according to the kind of stone from which they were made. The table shows that most ground-stone tools were made of sandstone, a locally available, relatively coarse grained material.

Artifact Category vs. Condition

118
Table 41 summarizes the ground-stone artifacts from Woods Canyon Pueblo according to their condition. Relatively few fragmentary ground-stone artifacts were classified as abraders or one-hand manos, because their fragmentary condition made it difficult for analysts to distinguish them from other ground-stone artifacts.

Pecked and Polished Stone Tools

Polished Igneous Stones and Polishing/Hammerstones

119
Table 42 catalogs all the polished igneous stones and polishing/hammerstones collected from Woods Canyon Pueblo (for definitions of these artifact categories, see the laboratory manual). All the polishing/hammerstones were found in late Pueblo III contexts, and all the polished igneous stones were found in early Pueblo III contexts. The closest sources of the igneous rock from which the polished igneous stones were made are McElmo Creek and the Dolores River valley, both of which are more than 15 km from Woods Canyon Pueblo. This suggests that either the raw material or the finished artifacts were obtained through exchange. The uses of polishing/hammerstones are uncertain, but these tools are similar in form and wear patterns to artifacts used as hide grinders in historic Walpi (Adams 1988*4).

Axes and Mauls

120
Table 43 is an inventory of all the stone axes and mauls identified in the Woods Canyon Pueblo assemblage. The condition of each item, the material from which each was made, basic measurements, and descriptions of use wear are reported in this table, along with assessments of inferred use. For definitions of the axe and maul categories, see the on-line laboratory manual. Minimum measurements recorded under "Comments" indicate the minimum possible measurement for a given dimension based on a fragment. Table 44 summarizes the provenience of each object.

121
Most axes and mauls were made of Morrison quartzite, although Dakota quartzite was used as well. Only one maul in the Woods Canyon Pueblo assemblage (PD 198, FS 18) is interpreted as a definite weapon. This interpretation is based on Woodbury's (1954*1) review of ethnographic data on the traditional uses of axes and mauls among the Pueblo, in which he reported that spherical, grooved mauls were fastened to leather thongs and used as weapons in historic times. A small, single-bitted axe that lacks use wear (PD 128, FS 20) also conforms to Woodbury's definition of a weapon, but it seems unusually small to have been used for this purpose.

122
Most of the remaining axes and mauls found at Woods Canyon appear to have been worn out from heavy use, and few were found in their original, undamaged state. In most cases, flakes and spalls that broke off of axes and mauls during use were classified as bulk chipped stone. The evidence of battering on maul heads and of large flakes removed from them suggests that mauls were used for quarrying and shaping stone. Large flakes were also removed from the bit ends of axes, but battering damage, such as occurs from stone-on-stone contact, was rare, suggesting that heavier axes were used for chopping and splitting wood. On the basis of replication experiments, Mills (1987*1) inferred that axes also might have been used for chopping sagebrush at ground level, possibly as a step in clearing fields.

Other Stones and Minerals

Inventory

123
A wide variety of stones and minerals that were polished, ground, flaked, battered, fire altered, or unmodified were found at Woods Canyon Pueblo. These objects are listed in Table 45, along with their condition, material, weight, and provenience.

Modification vs. Raw Material

124
Table 46 summarizes the other stones and minerals from Woods Canyon Pueblo, according to the kind of modification present (if any) and the raw material from which each was made. The "ground" category refers to miscellaneous pieces of stone that did not fit into other ground-stone tool categories. Pigment stones are of iron-rich material and have one or more abraded surfaces resulting from having been ground in order to obtain the pigment. The "polished" category includes objects that are probably ornament fragments or blanks lacking perforations, as well as larger fragments of polished shale. Unmodified stones and minerals were collected when, in the excavator's opinion, they were objects that did not occur naturally at Woods Canyon Pueblo and therefore must have been collected and carried to the site by its inhabitants. Finally, fossils might have been collected for their spiritual value.

125
One piece of worked turquoise (PD 241, FS 17) that might have been an inlay piece was found. This object is made of a material that does not occur naturally in the northern San Juan region, and therefore either the raw material or the finished piece must have been obtained through trade. A piece of nonlocal chert/siltstone was probably imported; it could have been raw material procured, but never actually used, for the manufacture of chipped-stone tools.

Bone Tools

126
Table 47 lists the bone tools collected from Woods Canyon Pueblo, along with their condition, species and element identifications, and provenience (for definitions of the categories used, see the laboratory manual). Species and element identifications for these objects were made by Driver (see "Faunal Remains"). Most of the worked-bone objects classified as "other modified bone" were fragmentary, and therefore this category most likely contains indeterminate bone artifacts rather than artifacts that do not fit into the other bone tool categories.

127
Table 48 summarizes these objects by artifact type, species, element, and temporal component. It is apparent from these data that certain species were preferred for specific types of bone tools. The larger bones and antlers of artiodactyls (deer and elk) were preferred for hide scrapers and pressure-flakers, whereas the smaller-diameter long bones of domestic turkeys and possibly other large birds were better suited for needles and awls. The modified lynx or bobcat bone may have been a ritual item, since large cats do not appear to have made a significant contribution to the diet of the Woods Canyon Pueblo inhabitants (see "Faunal Remains").

128
These data also indicate that more bone tools were recovered per gram of corrugated pottery from contexts assigned to the late Pueblo III component than from those assigned to the early Pueblo III component. This suggests that certain activities requiring bone tools may have taken place more often than activities related to cooking during the late Pueblo III occupation of the site. Since the majority of identifiable bone tools are awls, and cooking was an essential daily activity in all households, it is possible that the increase in bone tool deposition over time derives from a corresponding increase in weaving and sewing activities. Intrasite analyses (see paragraphs 139–142) further indicate that bone tools from the late Pueblo III component were especially abundant in Area 5 (Nonstructures 3-N and 10-N and Structure 7-S). This spatial clustering may indicate that a specialist weaver or basketmaker lived in Area 5. However, the specific functions of bone awls in the Woods Canyon Pueblo assemblage were not investigated further.

Objects of Nonlocal Materials

Inventory

129
Table 49 is an inventory of all artifacts and ecofacts in the Woods Canyon Pueblo collection made of raw materials that do not occur in southwestern Colorado. The table shows the material from which each object was made, the closest possible source of each material, and the provenience of each item.

130
Very few objects of nonlocal materials were found in the excavations at Woods Canyon. Only four nonlocal red ware sherds were found. These sherds were not examined further, but probably represent either White Mountain Red Ware or Tsegi Orange Ware. Two projectile points of red jasper were probably made in the northern San Juan region west of Comb Ridge (in southeast Utah), and an obsidian point was probably made either in the Flagstaff area of northern Arizona or in the Jemez Mountains in New Mexico. One piece of worked turquoise likely was made in northern New Mexico. One unmodified olivella sp. shell also must have been obtained through trade from either the Gulf of California or the Pacific coast. Most of the nonlocal objects appear to have come from other parts of the Puebloan world to the south, east, and west. There is no evidence of exchange with more northerly peoples such as the Fremont and Numic peoples of Utah and Colorado.

Relative Density of Nonlocal Objects

131
One way to compare the intensity of exchange relationships between sites is to divide the number of nonlocal objects by the total grams of corrugated pottery recovered. Corrugated pottery is a useful benchmark for comparison of artifact densities across assemblages because cooking pots are heavily used and eventually break, and the sherds accumulate at relatively consistent rates proportional to the population size and occupation span of a site (Varien 1999*1:Chp. 4). Table 50 presents these data for Castle Rock Pueblo and for the early and late Pueblo III components at Woods Canyon Pueblo. These data show that the rate of deposition of nonlocal objects at Woods Canyon decreased over time, but was always lower than at Castle Rock, even during the early Pueblo III occupation.

132
Very few nonlocal objects are found in southwest Colorado sites dating from the late Pueblo III period (Ortman 2000*2:par. 84–90, 129–131), but even by this standard, the density of such objects at Woods Canyon Pueblo is low. The locations of Woods Canyon and Castle Rock pueblos may be responsible for this difference. Castle Rock is located on McElmo Creek, a likely east-west travel route, whereas Woods Canyon Pueblo is located in the center of a maze-like canyon system and was surrounded by a dense cluster of additional Pueblo III villages. Both factors could have resulted in fewer long-distance travelers visiting Woods Canyon Pueblo.

Objects of Personal Adornment

Catalog of Beads, Pendants, and Tubes

133
Table 51 lists analysis and provenience information for objects of personal adornment found at Woods Canyon Pueblo (for definitions of the artifact categories used, see the on-line laboratory manual). The majority of beads and pendants were incomplete or fragmentary, and it is likely that additional fragmentary pendants were classified as shaped sherds. Most of these objects were found in secondary refuse. These patterns contrast with those documented at Castle Rock, where most objects of personal adornment were complete and were found in contexts that suggest accidental loss rather than discard in middens (Ortman 2000*2:par. 132).

Raw Materials by Component

134
Table 52 summarizes the distribution of objects of personal adornment by raw material and component. These objects were made of many different raw materials, many of which were unusual, precious, and/or nonlocal to southwestern Colorado. Unusual or rare materials are used selectively for personal adornment in many cultures throughout the world. The deposition rate of objects of personal adornment at Woods Canyon Pueblo does not appear to have changed over time.

Intrasite Analyses

Kiva Floor Assemblages

135
The total weight of artifacts found on the floors of kivas has been used as a line of evidence in assigning excavated areas of Woods Canyon Pueblo to temporal components (see "Chronology"). Table 53 presents counts and weights of pottery sherds, vessels, chipped-stone debris, and other artifacts found on the floors of these structures. Approximately 2 m² of floor was exposed in each structure, with the exception of Structure 9-S, where approximately 1 m² was exposed. These data indicate that, for the most part, more and heavier artifacts were left on the floors of kivas assigned to the late Pueblo III component than were left on the floors of kivas assigned to the early Pueblo III component. Counts of chipped-stone debris are the only exception to this pattern, although the weights indicate that heavier and perhaps still usable pieces of chipped-stone debris tended to be left in the late Pueblo III structures. Several of the very large and heavy "other artifacts" left on the floors of the late Pueblo III structures are ground, pecked, and polished stone tools, including axes, manos, and metates. In contrast, the few items found on the floors of kivas assigned to the early Pueblo III component (a broken projectile point and bone awl, an expended core, and a bone tube) were small, light, and often broken, and they easily could have been overlooked when inhabitants of these structures moved to a new location.

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The fact that both depleted and de facto (that is, containing still-usable artifacts) floor assemblages are present in the tested kivas at Woods Canyon Pueblo suggests two different abandonment modes for structures at the site, and supports the inference that the site had a relatively long use history. Early Pueblo III structures were abandoned by people who made short-distance moves, possibly within the site itself, and who carried usable objects to their new homes. In contrast, the number of usable objects left behind in late Pueblo III structures indicates that the inhabitants of these structures moved farther away and did not plan to return. This implies that Woods Canyon Pueblo was occupied up until the final decades of Pueblo occupation in the central Mesa Verde region. For further discussion of kiva floor assemblages from Woods Canyon, see "Chronology" and "Abandonment and Emigration."

Artifact Assemblages by Site Area

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Analysis of the architecture and layout of Pueblo III villages in the central Mesa Verde region has identified significant variation in the inventory and arrangement of various architectural features, including towers, kivas, surface rooms, multiwalled structures, plazas and great kivas, enclosing walls, and room- and kiva-dominated blocks (Lipe and Ortman 2000*1). Whether this architectural variation correlates with social or functional differentiation within and between villages is an important question, one that is examined here through comparison of artifact assemblages from the seven numbered areas at Woods Canyon Pueblo (Database Map 334). If social and/or functional differentiation existed at the village, then one might expect different mixes of activities to have occurred in different areas of the site and for these different activities to be reflected in the artifact assemblages they generated.

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Table 54 presents counts and Table 55, relative frequencies, of common artifacts by category in the seven excavated areas at Woods Canyon Pueblo. The artifact categories used are the same as those used in an intrasite analysis of kiva suites at Castle Rock Pueblo (Ortman 2000*2:par. 158–165). Formal chipped-stone tools include bifaces and projectile points, and expedient chipped-stone tools include modified flakes and other chipped-stone tools. All ground-stone tools and all bone tools, respectively, are also considered together. Counts rather than weights of pottery sherds were used for this analysis in order to increase the interpretability of relative frequencies across all artifact categories.

Box Plots of Artifact Frequencies Across Site Areas

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Figure 16 examines the relative frequencies of common artifacts by category across the excavated areas at Woods Canyon Pueblo. The percentages of these artifacts were converted to Z-scores across site areas to facilitate comparison, because some categories have many more items assigned to them than others. Z-scores rescale the values of a distribution in such a way that the mean value equals 0 and the standard deviation equals 1. For each plot, the white box represents the midspread (middle 50 percent of cases) of the rescaled distribution for that particular artifact category. The horizontal line inside each box represents the median value, and the tails represent the range of cases, excluding outliers. Outliers (indicated by circles on the box plots) are values for a given artifact category that fall between 1.5 and 3 box lengths from the boundaries of the box, and extremes (indicated by asterisks) are values that fall more than 3 box lengths away. Outliers and extremes represent assemblages with unusually high or low relative frequencies of a particular artifact category. The same outliers and extremes shown in the plots of Z-scores are also identified in box plots of raw frequencies.

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Perhaps the most important pattern in these data is the lack of evidence that qualitatively different activities occurred in one place or another. In other words, activities that led to the deposition of the analyzed artifacts occurred in every excavated area of Woods Canyon Pueblo, a finding that indicates that basic domestic activities occurred throughout the site, including in the rim complex. However, this finding leaves open the possibility that certain activities that do not leave significant artifactual traces, especially ritual activities, occurred only in certain areas.

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Despite this qualitative similarity, there is quantitative variation in assemblage composition at Woods Canyon Pueblo. Two points are worth emphasizing. First, the two early Pueblo III areas of the village, Areas 1 and 2, do not appear as outliers in the box plots for any artifact category, whereas Areas 3, 5, 6, and 7 all appear as outliers in at least one distribution. This may be because the largest artifact assemblages were recovered from the early Pueblo III areas; that is, sampling error is responsible for the outlier values from other areas with smaller sample sizes. Alternatively, it may be that households became more specialized and interdependent as Woods Canyon Pueblo became a community center during the late Pueblo III period, leading to greater inter-area variation in artifact assemblage composition.

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Second, ground-stone tools and peckingstones, both of which were involved in grinding corn into meal, are unusually abundant in Area 7, which includes the two small, household kivas, a D-shaped structure, and an enclosed plaza in the rim complex. Ground-stone tools were also unusually abundant in trash deposits associated with a kiva inside a D-shaped enclosure at Castle Rock Pueblo (Ortman 2000*2:par. 164), and two-hand manos from the D-shaped structure at Sand Canyon Pueblo exhibited more intensive use wear than did manos from other parts of that village (Fratt 1997*1:248). Based on this latter finding, Fratt (1997*1) argues that inhabitants of the D-shaped structure at Sand Canyon Pueblo produced more cornmeal than the average household, perhaps for ceremonial consumption. The fact that discarded corn-grinding tools are associated with D-shaped structures in three different late Pueblo III villages may be evidence of organizational continuities across communities in the central Mesa Verde region. It is also interesting that there is no corresponding evidence of increased cooking activity in the rim complex at Woods Canyon, raising the possibility that the additional cornmeal produced in this area was used for ritual purposes.

Correspondence Analysis of Artifact Counts by Site Area

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Correspondence analysis is a multivariate analytical technique that produces the best possible projection of multivariate data onto two axes, so that the degree of relationship between cases and variables can be examined visually (Baxter 1994*1:Chp. 5). Figure 17 presents correspondence analysis results for the data in Table 54. Counts are appropriate input data for this type of analysis because the technique takes sample size into account in such a way that larger collections and more common categories exert a greater effect on the placement of variables and cases on the resultant axes. The first two axes produced account for almost 90 percent of the total variation or inertia in the input data.

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The results of correspondence analysis do not add significantly to our understanding of intrasite variation in artifact assemblages at Woods Canyon Pueblo. Areas 5 and 7 are plotted fairly close to ground-stone tools, peckingstones, cores, and chipped-stone debris. Areas 1, 2, 4, and 6 are placed close to the center of the plot, suggesting that they possess typical artifact assemblages. Area 3 is clearly distinguished from the other areas. Examination of the frequency data in Table 55 suggests that this distinctiveness is due to an anomalously high percentage of corrugated jars. It is unclear why corrugated jar sherds should be so anomalously abundant or other common artifacts so anomalously rare in this area.

Analysis of Artifact Densities in Kiva Fill and Roof-Fall Deposits

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This section examines the density of artifacts in the postabandonment fill and roof-fall deposits in the tested kivas at Woods Canyon Pueblo. Eight of the nine roofs of the tested kivas are interpreted to have been at least partly dismantled when their inhabitants moved out of the structures. When the roofs were dismantled, artifacts lying on the kiva courtyard surfaces would have fallen into the structures, along with unsalvaged roofing material. In addition, the collapse of roofs into subterranean kivas would have created natural sinks where postabandonment deposits could have accumulated. Finally, in some cases at other sites, kiva depressions were used as trash dumps or were filled intentionally. Each of these processes introduced artifacts into the deposits that filled abandoned kivas at the site. Analysis of artifact densities in these deposits may provide evidence of one or more of these processes.

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Elevations and profile maps were used were used to calculate the volume of excavated fill and roof-fall deposits in each tested kiva at Woods Canyon Pueblo, and the total number of artifacts in each of these deposits was also calculated. These data are presented in Table 56, along with information on the temporal component, roof treatment, test-pit locations, and depositional setting of each tested structure. Figure 18 compares the fill and roof-fall artifact densities from these structures and illustrates that there is little correlation between the two. This suggests that different processes were responsible for the accumulation of artifacts in these two kinds of deposits. In most cases, artifact densities in fill deposits were below 300 artifacts per cubic meter, in the range that Varien (1999*1:Chp. 6) interpreted as typical of naturally collapsing and filling pit structures. The artifact density in the fill of Structure 9-S, however, is much higher. The excavators identified occupational deposits (Nonstructure 1-N) directly overlying the fill of this early Pueblo III structure, and this might have been the source of these artifacts. In contrast, two categories are suggested by the densities of artifacts in roof-fall deposits: one group consists of structures with roof-fall artifact densities below 200 artifacts per cubic meter, and the second group consists of structures with densities of between 350 and 500 artifacts per cubic meter.

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Figure 19 examines the fill artifact data more closely by comparing the number of artifacts in fill with the volume of fill excavated in each structure. The points defined by these data are labeled according to the depositional setting of each structure, as reported in Table 56. The linear-regression line shows that there is a positive relationship between the volume of fill excavated and the number of artifacts recovered; however, it is also apparent that for a given volume of excavated fill, structures located in high-deposition environments, such as talus slope benches and bases, tend to have more artifacts than structures located in low-deposition environments, such as the canyon rim, the base of the cliff, and areas immediately downslope of large boulders. Depositional environment appears to be a more significant factor than time period in accounting for the density of fill artifacts, since early Structures 1-S and 9-S are above the regression line while Structures 2-S and 3-S are below it.

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Figure 20 examines the roof-fall artifact data more closely by comparing the number of roof-fall artifacts with the volume of roof-fall excavated in each structure. The points defined by these data are labeled according to the location of the test pit within each structure, as reported in Table 56 (specifically, the test pits in which structure walls were discovered are distinguished from those in which walls were not found). The linear-regression analysis shows that, once again, there is a positive relationship between the volume of roof fall excavated and the number of artifacts recovered. However, in this case, roof-fall deposits located close to walls contain more artifacts per cubic meter than do roof-fall deposits in the centers of structures: all the test pits in which structure walls were exposed fall above the regression line; all the test pits in which walls were not exposed fall below this line. The density of roof-fall artifacts appears to relate more to the placement of test pits within structures than to time period, since early Structures 2-S and 3-S are below the regression line and late Structures 1-S and 9-S are above it. Roof-fall artifacts also appear to be more strongly correlated with test-pit placement than with depositional setting, since Structure 8-S, in a low-deposition setting, is above the regression line, whereas Structure 5-S, in a high-deposition setting, is below it.

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Table 57 uses t-tests to examine the likelihood that sampling error accounts for the differences in fill and roof-fall artifact densities across the tested kivas under several different models that could account for these differences. The results of these tests suggest that depositional setting better accounts for variation in fill artifact density than does period of occupation, and that the location of the test pit within each structure better accounts for roof-fall artifact density than does period of occupation or depositional setting. Figure 21 separates the densities of pottery sherds, chipped-stone debris, and other artifacts across the tested-structure fills and illustrates that kiva depressions in high-deposition environments tended to accumulate more of all three kinds of artifacts than did structures in low-deposition environments. Figure 22 presents these same data for roof-fall deposits, which clearly show the effect of test-pit placement on roof-fall artifact densities.

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One possible explanation for the increased artifact density of roof-fall deposits close to structure walls relates to the effects of kiva-courtyard maintenance. Ethnographic studies of the ways village agriculturalists maintain their houses suggest that work areas were periodically swept to remove debris and keep the area safe and clean (Arnold 1990*1; Hayden and Cannon 1983*1). Varien (1999*2:Chp. 22) has observed that, when the pattern is not obscured by natural post-depositional processes, a "toft" zone exhibiting a relatively high density of artifacts can be seen on the modern ground surface around the kiva depressions of Mesa Verde Pueblo sites. This suggests that kiva roof–courtyards were maintained work areas. If so, the elevated artifact density of roof-fall deposits close to walls in abandoned kivas with dismantled roofs could have resulted from artifacts accumulating around the edges of kiva courtyards during the Puebloan occupation, and then falling or eroding into these structures as the roofs were dismantled.

Summary

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The artifacts recovered from excavations at Woods Canyon Pueblo indicate that this site was occupied throughout the Pueblo III period (A.D. 1140–1280) and grew into a community center during the A.D. 1200s. Pottery sherds classified as Basketmaker III and Pueblo I period types were too rare to suggest habitation of the site area during these periods. Sherds classified as Mancos Black-on-white were recovered in sufficient quantity to suggest some use of the site area during the late Pueblo II period, but for a number of reasons outlined in the discussion of site components (paragraphs 9–23), it is argued that these sherds do not indicate significant occupation. Tree-ring, structure location, pottery, architecture, and structure-abandonment data all support the identification of early and late Pueblo III components at the site (see "Chronology," this report).

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Division of the site collections into two temporal components made possible an examination of changes in artifacts associated with the development of Woods Canyon Pueblo as a community center during the final decades of Pueblo occupation in the central Mesa Verde region. Most of the significant findings presented in this report relate to differences noted between the early and late Pueblo III components. Each of these findings is discussed in further detail in the relevant previous sections.

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A much higher percentage of the white ware pottery found at Woods Canyon Pueblo was decorated using mineral paint than is common in contemporaneous sites to the south and east. It appears that during the Pueblo III period there was a gradient along which the use of mineral paint increased as one traveled north and west from Mesa Verde proper. It is possible that analysts accustomed to the near-absence of mineral-painted sherds in Pueblo III sites in the Sand Canyon locality introduced bias into the analysis of sherds from Woods Canyon, which led to the misidentification of some mineral-painted Pueblo III sherds as Pueblo II types.

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Pottery sherd and rim-arc data suggest that as Woods Canyon Pueblo became a community center, more and larger corrugated cooking pots were used in preparing meals. Two distinct sizes of serving bowl also developed, with large bowls becoming more common. Finally, larger white ware serving bowls appear to have been decorated more often on their exteriors, suggesting that they were viewed more often from the side. These data all suggest increased preparation and consumption of communal meals during the late Pueblo III occupation of the pueblo, a pattern that has also been noted at other late Pueblo III community centers (see Ortman 2000*2).

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There is abundant evidence that white ware pottery vessels were manufactured by many different inhabitants of Woods Canyon Pueblo, but no clear evidence of corrugated pottery manufacture was found. Also, more corrugated than white ware vessels deposited at Woods Canyon were tempered with igneous rock that is not available within an easy walking distance from the site. These igneous-tempered cooking pots may have functioned better or lasted longer than cooking pots tempered with locally available sedimentary materials. Taken together, these data raise the possibility of specialized production and exchange of corrugated cooking pots at sites located closer to sources of igneous rock, or at least trade in the rock itself. In contrast, it appears that white ware exchange was less structured and probably took the form of gift exchange between friends and relatives living in nearby settlements.

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Size distributions of chipped-stone debris suggest that primary-core reduction using locally available materials to make expedient core and flake tools was the primary mode of chipped-stone reduction at Woods Canyon Pueblo. It also appears that during the final decades of occupation local raw materials were reduced more intensively within the village than at locations outside the village. Resource depletion or an increasingly hostile social landscape may have been responsible for these changes.

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Objects made of nonlocal materials were even more rare at Woods Canyon Pueblo than at Castle Rock Pueblo, and the frequency of such objects decreased during the final decades of occupation. This evidence of minimal interaction with peoples living outside the central Mesa Verde region may be explained by the location of Woods Canyon Pueblo in the center of a dense cluster of Pueblo III villages and away from natural travel corridors to the south, east, and west. All objects of nonlocal material, with the exception of a single marine shell, are traceable to areas where other ancient Pueblo communities existed; there is no evidence of interaction with contemporaneous, non-Pueblo peoples to the north.

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Artifacts left on the floors of the tested kivas at Woods Canyon suggest that the late Pueblo III occupants moved far away and did not plan to return, as is believed to have occurred during the final emigrations of Pueblo people from the central Mesa Verde region. In contrast, it appears that the early Pueblo III occupants moved close by and returned often enough to take usable artifacts to their new homes, which in some cases were probably built just upslope, within the boundaries of the village.

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Differences in the relative percentages of common artifact types across the seven excavated areas of the pueblo may indicate increasing specialization of tasks over the course of the Pueblo III period, although sampling error may also be responsible for this variation. For example, the clustering of worked bone tools in Area 5 may indicate that a specialist weaver or basketmaker lived in the village during the late Pueblo III period. Also, despite clear evidence that basic, domestic activities occurred throughout the village, the relative abundance of corn-grinding tools in the rim complex suggests that more cornmeal was prepared in this area than in other parts of the village. The two kiva suites (or houses) identified in the rim complex are associated with a D-shaped structure. Kiva suites associated with D-shaped structures at Sand Canyon and Castle Rock pueblos also appear to be linked with increased corn grinding, suggesting that preparation of cornmeal was an important activity tied to whatever status was signaled by a D-shaped building.

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Finally, it appears that the density of artifacts in dismantled roof deposits in kivas is higher adjacent to structure walls than it is in more central areas. This pattern may have resulted from the routine sweeping of kiva courtyards during the occupation, which would have concentrated small artifacts around the perimeter of the kiva courtyard. These artifacts would have been incorporated into the roof-fall deposits when the roof and courtyard were dismantled at abandonment.

¹The "finish" field in the Crow Canyon pottery database is used to record paint type on white ware sherds and the presence or absence of slip on red ware sherds. Thus, when discussing white ware sherds, "finish" refers to paint type.

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