Thirteenth Century Pueblo Aggregation and Organizational Change in Southwestern Colorado

The Green Lizard site (5MT 3901) is a small domestic habitation representing the dispersed community of small Pueblo III habitations dating from A.D. 1200 to 1250. The goal of this project was to investigate variability in site function and community organization in 13th century Anasazi sites in southwestern Colorado, and how these might have been affected by the shift from settlement in small dispersed hamlets to residence in large villages. Organizational and social stresses caused by aggregation may have necessitated changes in community organization. In this report, architectural features and excavated assemblages are compared to similar depositional contexts (secondary refuse deposits) and architectural units (kiva-suites) at two Late Pueblo III sites. The Green Lizard site may have been at least partially contemporaneous with that of Sand Canyon Pueblo (5MT 765), a large late Pueblo III site dating to about A.D. 1250–1280 that has been the focus of investigations by Crow Canyon Archaeological Center researchers since 1984.