Bailey Ruin is one of the best-preserved Pueblo IV period sites in the Silver Creek area. This is largely due to the stewardship of the owners of the private ranch on which a portion of the site is located and the fact that most of it lies on U.S. Forest Service property. Jesse Walter Fewkes camped at the site in 1897 during one of the Smithsonian Bureau of Ethnology Expeditions he led to the Southwest. Fewkes referred to the site as the Stott Ranch Ruin. Emil W. Haury first visited the site in 1927 and recorded it as the Pope Ranch Site for the Gila Pueblo Foundation. He returned in 1929 for a short period of time to search for dendrochronological specimens as part of the Third Beam Expedition of the National Geographic Society and commended the new owner, George W. Bailey, for protecting the site. The changing name of the site parallels the changing ownership of the ranch. No archaeological excavations were conducted at the site between Haury's visit and the initiation of this project's excavation in 1993. However, surveys of the settlement patterns in the immediate surrounding areas were conducted in the 1980's.

Bailey Ruin is located in the present day ponderosa forest at an elevation of 2075 m, 2.5 km from the Mogollon Rim. It is likely that there was considerably more oak in the past, before modern fire suppression policies were in place. After a forest fire nearby in the 1970s, the recovering vegetation is largely comprised of oak and a variety of shrubs. The site is located close to several springs and a cienega, or marshy area, lies just 200 m west of the site. Both of these sources feed ephemeral washes. On the adjacent private land, there are shallow historic wells and a stock tank fed in part by the water table.

The site's size is estimated to be at least 200 ground story rooms. Two story rooms have been identified in two areas, so an estimate of 200 to 250 rooms would be a conservative estimate. The pueblo is likely to have begun as several disparate room blocks along the top and sides of a low ridge. The architectural configuration suggests that the site experienced gradual and accumulative growth. There is little evidence for larger construction episodes of contiguous rooms, which have been documented at other Pueblo IV sites in the area like Fourmile Ruin. The plaza was probably enclosed in the early AD 1300's. As the pueblo grew, rooms were added to the east and west edges of the plaza, decreasing public space. Corridors may have allowed access to the plaza in the northeast and southeast corners.

The site dates from about AD 1275 to 1325, or the late Pueblo III to early Pueblo IV periods. These dates are based upon the large decorated ceramic assemblage recovered through the SCARP excavations. These dates are based on the nearly 78,000 ceramic specimens analyzed. Unfortunately, no absolute dates help us support or refine this date range. No dates were gleaned from dendrochronological specimens encountered during the excavations. An archaeomagnetic date from a clay lined hearth provided a wide range of dates, which did not add to the chronological understanding of the site. However, the ceramic chronology in this area and this period is exceptionally fine-grained. Trace amounts of Roosevelt Red Ware (Pinto Black-on-red) and late Puerco Valley Red Ware (Show Low Black-on-red) recovered in sub-floor contexts suggest a late Pueblo III component to the site. These same deposits also contained St. Johns Polychrome, which dates prior to AD 1275. Only a few sherds of Fourmile Polychrome were found at the site, which suggests the end date of the pueblo's occupation was AD 1325. The absence of later 14^th century ceramic types suggests that the pueblo was not reoccupied. The short occupation of this site is supported by a lack of large, deep midden deposits. The large number of Pinedale style ceramics, which include Pinedale Black-on-white, Pinedale Black-on-red, Pinedale Polychrome, and Pinto Polychrome, confirm the AD 1275-1325 span of occupation.

SCARP excavated seven rooms at Bailey Ruin. Excavation data from these rooms point to a diverse set of functions, including multi-purpose habitation rooms, ceremonial spaces, and storage rooms. Two adjacent rooms (Rooms 2 and 7) and two unexcavated, contiguous rooms to the east were once part of a larger square kiva. Habitation activities were identified for Rooms 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Room 6 had all of the features of a classic habitation space, including a central slab-lined hearth and a double mealing bin. The presence of slab-lined hearths in Rooms 1, 3, 5, Room 2's ground story, and the upper floor of Room 7, points to their use as habitation spaces. Single households probably used these rooms for habitation, storage, and craft production. Room 5 started as a habitation room and was remodeled at some point during its use-life to form a storage room. Manufacturing activities clearly were conducted in this space in a small cleared area next to the hearth after the conversion to a storage space.

Rooms 2 and 7 have complex occupational histories that ended with ceremonial closings of the spaces. Additional rooms were not added to the plaza space in this part of the plaza, unlike the western side of the plaza in which public space was encroached upon to form rooms (Rooms 1, 3, and 6). Rooms 2 and 7 and the two adjacent rooms to the east were originally part of a large ceremonial room. This larger room had a long bench along its southern wall. Interior divisions were added to this large space, creating Rooms 2 and 7. In addition, a clay-lined hearth and ash box were added to Room 7, indicating continuing ceremonial functions. Later, sterile fill was added to cover the bench in Room 7 and a slab-lined hearth was constructed, indicating a shift to habitation functions. Room 2 seems to have continued as a ceremonial room, as a flagstone floor was added and the room received special treatment when it was closed. At abandonment, two rabbits and a partial ceramic vessel and turquoise chips were placed on the floor of Room 2 before the room was filled with sterile sediments. At the top of the sterile sediments, a Red-Tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) was buried, further suggesting ritual treatment during the closing the room.

Significant evidence for craft production activities was found in several room floor contexts, with tools and materials comprising the de facto refuse. Ceramics and shell ornaments were produced in this space. The ceramic manufacturing evidence consists of both the raw materials and compositionally similar ceramic sherds. Prepared clay with crushed sherd temper was found in a storage jar buried in Room 1. It is probable that this prepared clay was intended for the manufacture of a light-paste high-fired vessel like White Mountain Red Ware or Cibola White Ware, because compositional analysis has revealed that much of the Cibola White Ware and White Mountain Red Ware analyzed from the site are chemically similar (see ceramic analysis section). Room 7 was also the locus of ceramic manufacture. Tools for ceramic manufacture include a plate, used in the forming of the vessel, and two polishing stones that were found in association with the habitation (upper) surface. In addition, prepared (sherd-tempered) gray clay was found in association with the tools. Another significant manufacturing activity that was taking place in this room was shell ornament production. The evidence for shell manufacturing activity consists of both the raw material and tools used for making these shells into ornaments. The olivella shells found were saltwater shells from the Gulf of California. The quartz crystals found above these shells may have been used as tools to drill or bore holes in the shell.

The public areas of the site were also investigated, including two courtyards in the eastern room block and portions of the plaza. Courtyard 1 was used more intensively than Courtyard 2. Courtyard 2 was formed by the construction of a very large retaining wall. Courtyard 1 experienced a period of multi-purpose use, perhaps before it was fully enclosed as a courtyard space. This was followed by an episode of trash deposition and a reuse of the courtyard, with evidence of a roasting feature. In the upper levels of Courtyard 1, several whole vessels were found that appear to have been part of a closing ritual. These vessels are representative of some of the latest pottery styles present at the site. Several roasting features were also found in the course of excavations in the main plaza. In addition to the architectural information, the trenches excavated in the plaza showed that this space was leveled several times during the occupation of the site. In addition, a pigment encrusted basalt axe was found resting on bedrock. It is likely that the activities that occurred in Pueblo IV period plaza spaces required special treatment and that this axe marked the location of ritual activities. However, there is also evidence that the plaza was the site of secular activities, such as food preparation and consumption, based on the presence of a large roasting pit on the north end of the plaza. The location of this roasting pit in a public area indicates that communal cooking and probably feasting took place.

© 2002. Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona.
Bailey plan drawing by Douglas Gann (Mills et al. 1999)
Comments to Barbara Mills