Bc 57

Using this Map:

Click on the map image to launch full-size, interactive map.

When you select an individual room or kiva context on the larger map, a pop-up window will appear displaying information categories from our database available for that context (Artifacts, Burials, Tree-Ring Dates, and Features).

Each of the categories can be expanded by clicking the ‘+’ to reveal an abridged list of basic information. Selecting the category heading itself will open a separate window with complete details.

 
How it Works Interactive Map

Site Description

A small house site on the south side of the canyon along a natural hillside.  Bc 57 is adjacent to Bc 58 and approximately 400 feet (122 m.) northeast of Casa Rinconada. The site was excavated by the University of New Mexico and School of American Research field school under the direction of Paul Reiter and includes approximately nine masonry rooms, three enclosed kivas, one exterior kiva, and one pithouse.  Ceramic assemblages from the site’s refuse-filled rooms suggest that activity at and around the site likely spanned the 9th, 10th, and 11th centuries, but was not continuous throughout that period.

Unfortunately no report was published on the excavations, but photographs, records, and field notes are archived at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology and the Chaco Culture National Historical Park Museum Collection at the University of New Mexico.  Despite the small size of the site, several human burials were uncovered, particularly in rooms 1 and 9, and the excavations yielded one of the largest assemblages of animal remains yet recovered from a Chacoan small house site.  Also noteworthy at the site is the large frequency of faunal remains of hawks, ravens, eagles, and turkeys, some of which received formal burials.  The proximity of the site to Casa Rinconada suggests that the birds, particularly their feathers, were important in Chacoan ritual as they are today in Pueblo ceremonies.  Ceramic assemblages from the site’s refuse-filled rooms suggest that activity at and around the site likely spans Basketmaker III through early PIII periods.

Although the site has now been backfilled, it is adjacent to the Casa Rinconda trail.

Alternative site numbers are 29SJ397 and LA 40397.

Excavation History

  • 1942: Excavated by Paul Reiter and the University of New Mexico/School of American Research field schools.

Size and Dates

  • Approximately nine rooms, three enclosed kivas, one exterior kiva, and one pithouse.
  • Appears to have been occupied during some parts of the 9th, 10th, and 11th centuries.

Site-Level Data