With National Science Foundation support Dr. Thomas Rocek will conduct three seasons of archaeological excavation at the site of Dunlap-Salazar located in central New Mexico. Preliminary work by Dr. Rocek indicates that the site dates to approximately 500 to 700 A.D.and is marked by a ca. 300 by 400 meter square scatter of lithic and ceramics. Small scale excavation has demonstrated the presence of both semi-subterranean pit houses and storage pits. Through a multiyear program of excavation and analysis Dr. Rocek will collect additional information to test preliminary indications that inhabitants were dependent on agricultural rather than hunted and gathered food and to reconstruct social organization. To accomplish these goals he will locate and expose large enough areas of architectural features and their surroundings to examine the organization of domestic activities and to obtain increased chronological control over the deposits to allow identification of associations between dwellings and storage features and among the multiple dwellings on the site. Multiple radiocarbon samples will be dated and phytolith and macrobotanical analysis will provide detailed information on plants consumed. When Spanish explorers first entered the Southwestern United States in the early 1500s they found Native Americans living in large population aggregations in hierarchically organized societies and dependent on agriculture. Archaeologists wish to understand how this complex level of society developed and much of their research in the Southwest has focused on this issue. A crucial changed occurred in the mid first millennium AD when the typical semi-subterranean pithouse dwellings were abandoned in favor of multistory pueblo houses. Based on data from many excavations it appears that changes in dwelling type, settlement pattern, reliance on agriculture and the development of social complexity appear closely related and a number of models examine the interaction among these variables. In this context the Dunlap-Salazar site is particularly interesting because it challenges this assumption. The inhabitants of this pithouse village appear to have been highly dependent on agriculture but to evince none of the other supposedly related changes. Further work at the site will evaluate this hypothesis. This research is important for several reasons. It will shed new light on the variables which led to the rise of complex societies. It will provide data of interest to many archaeologists and because many undergraduates will participate in the field research the project will contribute to the education of potential young scientists.
