Mesa top findings?

[Deadeye008]

Didn't know if this belongs in this forum or not but I figured since we were hiking at the time we found these I'd put it in here. A buddy and I were down in the Grand Gulch area las summer moving across the mesa top to get to the entrance of a canyon and along the way we came accross 3 or 4 different spots where we found a bunch of pottery sherds and flint points. At first I thought they might be middens but then we searched around and could not find any other trace of ruins. Any ideas on why/ how all these sherds and points where on the mesa top? Here's a pick of one of the spots.
41096

[gnwatts]

I have come across "trash" piles on the mesa before, parts of jars and parts of sandals sticking out of the ground. No ruin around.
Just keep the place a secret........

[Deadeye008]

Also forgot to mention we found 2 well used "manos" in the one place but no sign of "metates" or anyplace they would have been used.

gnwatts, the places would be very dificult to find. Even after having been there they would be very difficult to find without my GPS so I'm not to worried about anyone finding them unless they stumble accross them as we did :wink:

Since they are away from a ruin it was probably for ceremonious reasons. The Anasazi are known for smashing and breaking pots into sherds during these occasions. They did this near and away from ruins, but sherds near ruins could also be broken from natural causes or vandalism. So when sherds are floating away from any signs of shelter or habitation it suggests they were broken during a ceremony. As for the manos, maybe they are some sort of offering?
I really cannot answer this well without knowing the surrounding landscape, because they didn't need a ruin to have shelter or the ruin is no longer existent. Was there any blackened cliff faces?
Anyhow I still think that it was most likely ceremonial.

[denaliguide]

maybe a kiln site.

[Scott P]

Any ideas on why/ how all these sherds and points where on the mesa top?

It could also be for any of the above reasons, but often farming was done on the mesa tops and/or the canyon bottoms. At Grand Gulch, for example farming was done on both the mesa tops and canyon bottoms. In places like Fish Creek/Owl Creek, Slickhorn Canyon and other nearby canyons, all farming was done on the mesa top. Often around the farming sites you will find such artifacts.

It could also be for any of the above reasons, but often farming was done on the mesa tops and/or the canyon bottoms. At Grand Gulch, for example farming was done on both the mesa tops and canyon bottoms. In places like Fish Creek/Owl Creek, Slickhorn Canyon and other nearby canyons, all farming was done on the mesa top. Often around the farming sites you will find such artifacts.

Didn't think of that. The Anasazi isn't my best field.

[gnwatts]

Maybe they put them there to mess with our minds.

[Deadeye008]

There are no cliffs around the area for quite a ways. The areas are in the cedars on the mesa top.

[Deadeye008]

This is a good point. After researching a little more I am thinking it could be an earlier site from when the Anasazi lived on the mesa tops in pithouses before they made the move to the cliffs. Who knows...

[Brian in SLC]

This is a good point. After researching a little more I am thinking it could be an earlier site from when the Anasazi lived on the mesa tops in pithouses before they made the move to the cliffs. Who knows...

You can kinda date the pottery by its style, so, not necessarily earlier.

Could be from collecting pine nuts, or, farming. I found an entire very large pot that looked like someone had tripped and the thing busted into a bunch of pieces. Just out in the flats.

Neat to see. Unfortunately, that stuff is disappearing.

[Deadeye008]

Went and did a little more research on types of pottery and according to what I found the black on red pottery was only used up until the Pueblo II period in the Northern San Juan/ Mesa Verde region.

Here is a link to the timeline of types of pottery used in the Northern San Juan/Mesa Verde region that is posted in the Edge of the Cedars website. When you open the link click on the "timeline" header.
http://static.stateparks.utah.gov/visible_storage/visiblestorage.html

As you can see in the picture, there is black on red pottery. I am thinking that this is a Pueblo II site we came across which would be before the Anasazi moved to the cliffs. Might have to go back and check this site out again this year.

[gnwatts]

Leave it be. Going back will bring more footprints to it, more people. You were given a gift, IMO, to get to see an unmolested Anasazi site, as it is obviously unbelievably rare. Be happy that you saw it once. Like Brian in SLC said above, these things are disappearing. Just my $.02.

[Cosmic Kid]

Two thoughts on this:
1.) On the Pajarito Plateau where I live and many other areas of northern New Mexico, vast quantities of pottery sherds can be found on mesa tops. While the south-facing cliffs of just about every canyon here is lined with Anasazi caves, most pottery is found on the mesas. I supect this is because most of the pottery in the canyons has been washed away or covered over throughout the centuries. The mesa tops here were used by the Anasazi during the summer months for farming, and while literally thousands of ruins are found on the mesa tops, other than the Great Houses, the mesa ruins tend to be much smaller than the cave dwellings in the canyons.
2.) The accumulation of a small number of sherds in a small, localized area as shown in your photo is a common site along hiking trails on the Pajarito Plateau. Hikers who spot sherds will pick them up and place them into small piles along with obsidian flakes.

I don't know how experienced you are at spotting collapsed ruins, but it took me a while to do so when I first moved here. While you say that you looked around and couldn't spot one, I suspect there probably really was one nearby--perhaps they even collected there at the end of a tiny drainage. Or you may have hit upon a camping spot used by Anasazi hunters without any ruin.

[Cosmic Kid]

Per post 3 about finding the manos...I'm guessing this was not a camping spot for hunters afterall.

Per post 10 about the pithouses....this is purely off the top of my head with no real evidence, but I seem to recall that during the era of pithouses there was not much pottery in use, but I may be completely wrong about this.

[Deadeye008]

Per post 3 about finding the manos...I'm guessing this was not a camping spot for hunters afterall.

Per post 10 about the pithouses....this is purely off the top of my head with no real evidence, but I seem to recall that during the era of pithouses there was not much pottery in use, but I may be completely wrong about this.

According to the link I posted in my previous post, pottery was used from the Basketmaker III period(500 AD) on. It specifically lists that the black on red pottery was used from around 650 AD to 1000 AD in this region. It wasn't until the Pueblo III(1500 AD to 1300 AD) period that the Anasazi moved to cliff dwellings. According to the "experts" anyway...