Document Type

Report

Publication Date

1995

Abstract

This document is the final technical report of cultural resources investigations in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park, southeastern Utah. These investigations were part of the multiyear Canyonlands Archeological Project. Inventory of 878 acres in the Squaw Butte Area revealed 80 sites which were occupied by Archaic people during all phases of the Archaic period, aborigines of unknown cultural affiliation during the Early Formative period, Mesa Verde Anasazi during Pueblo III or late Pueblo II-III, and the Navajo during historic or modern times. Paleoindians may have also been in the general area, if not the actual project area. Limited testing of hearths and cultural deposits at six sites documented occupation during the poorly known Middle Archaic period and during two periods not represented by the inventory data--the Terminal Archaic and Early Formative. Flotation samples from these sites show a hunting and gathering subsistence strategy for the pre-A.D. 1100 period. Continuing research on lithic raw materials allowed refinement of the preliminary classification presented after the first year's work. The final aspect of the project was dating the Barrier Canyon rock art style. Though somewhat preliminary, available information suggests this distinctive style dates sometime between 1900 B.C. and A.D. 300.

Comments

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service Cultural Resource Series publication # 7. SuDocs call # I 29.86/3:7.

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