Click here to watch the video "The Antler House Village." Under contract with the Arizona Department of Transportation, EcoPlan Associates, Inc. (EcoPlan) conducted data recovery efforts at prehistoric site AZ N:12:64 (ASM) – Antler House Village – in advance of the reconfiguration of the Interstate 17/State Route 69 traffic interchange at Cordes Junction. The fundamental research goals directing our efforts involved questions concerning intra-site and regional chronology, cultural affiliation, trade, resource procurement, subsistence, and environmental response. Archaeological investigations at Antler House Village were accomplished in two phases from mid-May through mid-December 2008. In total, our investigations at Antler House Village resulted in the discovery of 87 features, including 38 habitation structures, one possible ramada/occupation surface, an horno, 14 thermal and 10 non-thermal pits, three rock concentrations, one rock alignment, two large borrow/trash-filled pits, two occupation surfaces, 13 human burials, and two extensive, very dense trash deposits. |
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Essentially all habitation structures at Antler House Village appear to have been houses-in-pits rather than “true” pit houses, Roughly half of these were houses that had been constructed inside the excavated pits of very large, antecedent houses. The largest pit house excavated - dubbed “The Big Lebowski” by excavators - measured 11.3 meters long at floor level, while the second largest house (referred to as “Antler House”) measured 9.1 meters long at floor level. Most house floors were unplastered, consisting of either the natural sandy clay paleosol horizon, or, in the deeper houses, the caliche substrate. A few houses contained remnants of a thin plaster on the floor, while one house exhibited remnants of a poured adobe floor We recovered tens of thousands of sherds from Antler House Village. Early analysis reveals an abundance of plainware varieties, with schist- and arkosic sand-tempered varieties dominating the assemblage; phyllite-tempered wares are also common. Decorated ceramics consist primarily of Hohokam buffware varieties including abundant Gila Butte Red-on-buff and relatively sparse Santa Cruz Red-on-buff, in addition to a few earlier types, including Sweetwater Red-on-gray and Snaketown Red-on-gray. Kayenta series imported types include a few Lino Black-on-gray sherds, and a greater number of Kana-a Black-on-white, Wepo Black-on-white, and Black Mesa Black-on-white. Also, both Deadmans Black-on-red and Middleton Black-on-red varieties of San Juan Red Ware have been noted, along with a few White Mountain Red Ware sherds. There appears to be an utter absence of Tsegi Orange Ware within the recovered assemblage. Numerous figurine fragments also were recovered. The ceramic assemblage suggested to investigators a period of occupation at Antler House Village from perhaps as early as AD 600 to about AD 1000 or 1050. |
Several thousands of flaked stone artifacts were also collected from the site. Flaked stone materials appear to reflect a preference for expedient tool manufacture using readily available metamorphic and volcanic rocks; other materials include Perkinsville jasper and other cryptocrystalline siliceous materials as well as various obsidians. Approximately 1,000 ground stone artifacts were recovered. Most items are manos and metates, but axes, slate palettes, censers, a stone pipe, plummet stones, and pendants (including three that were fashioned into zoomorphic forms) also were collected. A few manos had been reshaped by the prehistoric inhabitants into paddle-like implements or exotic forms. To facilitate interpretation of the site and to help us address our research questions, a suite of analytical endeavors are being conducted, including micro- and macrobotanical analyses (pollen, phytolith, flotation, and starch grain), X-ray fluorescence analysis of obsidian samples, electron microprobe assays on the clay and temper fractions of phyllite-tempered plainware pottery, and laser Raman microspectroscopic analysis of hematite grains on Hohokam painted ceramics. Additionally, chronological understanding is being enhanced with analyses conducted on numerous radiocarbon, archaeomagnetic, and tree-ring samples. Early radiocarbon analysis results have confirmed that occupation of the site occurred from the early 8th century to the early-to-mid 11th century AD. |
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