Chronology and Cultural Activity in Johnson Canyon Cliff Dwellings: Interpretations from Tree-Ring Data

Abstract

Archaeological tree-ring samples were collected during the summer of 1974 from nine cliff dwellings in the tributaries of Johnson Canyon on the Ute Mountain Indian Reservation in SW Colorado. The cliff dwellings belong to the Mesa Verde branch of the Anasazi cultural tradition and on the basis of ceramics and architecture could be assigned to the McElmo phase (1050-1150 A.C.) and the Mesa Verde phase (1150-1300 A.C.). Of a total of 461 tree-ring samples, 352 could be dated. These dates and other observations made during the analysis are applied toward refinement of the dating of the sites as well as to interpretations about utilization of timber resources, environment, and demography. Two clusters of cutting dates consistently occur in most of the sites indicating two periods of construction activity, one in the middle 1100s and the other in the early 1200s. The existing architecture at these sites dates to the early 1200s while the earlier structures have apparently been dismantled and their materials reused. These data suggest an occupation of the area beginning in the 1140s, followed by an abandonment by the 1160s. The area was reoccupied in the early 1200s for only 30 to 40 years before final abandonment.