The Kaiparowits Puebloans: Kayentan or Virgin Branch Migrants?

Abstract

More than 50 years ago archaeologists identified a high-density of small Puebloan habitations on the Kaiparowits Plateau in southern Utah. Analysis of pottery from these habitations by James Gunnerson and Florence Lister resulted in conflicting interpretations of cultural affiliation. Gunnerson argued for a Virgin affiliation whereas Lister argued for a Kayentan affiliation. Lister’s interpretation triumphed and the Puebloan occupation of the Kaiparowits was attributed to a migration of Kayenta people from the south during the late Pueblo II period. A review of architectural and artifactual evidence fails to support a Kayentan migration. An expansion of Puebloan groups from the west and southwest better accords with the archaeological record on the Kaiparowits Plateau.

Hace más de 50 años, arqueólogos identificaron una alta densidad de pequeñas habitaciones Puebloan en la Meseta de Kaiparowits en el sur de Utah. La análisis de la cerámica de estas habitaciones por James Gunnerson y Florence Lister resultó en interpretaciones contradictorias de la afiliación cultural. Gunnerson abogó por una affilición Virgin mientras que Lister abogó por una affilición Kayentan. La interpretación de Lister triunfó y la ocupación Puebloan del Kaiparowits fue atribuyó a una migración de gente Kayenta desde el sur durante el periódo tarde Pueblo II. Una revisión de la evidencia sobre la arquitectónica y los artefactos no respalda una migración Kayentan. Una expansion de los grupos Puebloan desde el oeste y suroeste se adhiere mejor con el registro arqueológico en la Meseta de Kaiparowits.

KEYWORDS:

• Migration
• cultural affiliation
• Kayenta Branch
• Virgin Branch
• Fremont
• Kaiparowits Plateau
• Fiftymile Mountain

Acknowledgments

I thank Karen Harry and Sachiko Sakai for organizing an SAA symposium in honor of Margaret Lyneis and for inviting me to participate. It was my pleasure to have collaborated with Margaret on a study of Fremont pottery to better understand its production and exchange in south-central Utah. Margaret provided the petrographic expertise, a technical skill she picked up later in life. That study illustrates her scholarship outside the Virgin area, work that built upon her long standing interest in pottery. I also want to acknowledge the help of Jim Collette who worked on an earlier version of this paper with me and whom also accompanied me on a hike to Fiftymile Mountain in October of 2003 to explore this highland and visit the sites excavated by Fowler and Aikens. We would be more than happy to return the lost chaining pin found at Three Forks Pueblo to either Don Fowler or Mel Aikens if they can identify it. I also appreciate the helpful comments of two reviewers: Helen Fairley and one that remains anonymous. Thanks also to Danny Perez for translating the abstract into Spanish.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.