Bryant Ranch pueblo (AZ P:11:133 ASU) was discovered by Kent Lightfoot's Arizona State University archaeological survey team in the 1970's. It was relocated by SCARP survey crews in 1996, and was the focus of the 1999 and 2000 field schools. The major questions guiding the research at Bryant Ranch were threefold. (1) What was the spatial structure of Pueblo IV communities? (2) What was the relationship between labor reorganization and community aggregation? (3) What were the social contexts of Pueblo IV food consumption?

This site's short occupation between ca. AD 1270 to 1285 falls between the occupation dates of Pottery Hill (AD 1200-1275) and Bailey Ruin (AD 1275-1325). Consequently, it helps us articulate the changes occurring during the transition from the Pueblo III to Pueblo IV periods in the Silver Creek area. This site's tight occupation dates were reconstructed by dating burned construction beams and cross dating of archaeological ceramics. The site was quite a bit smaller than both Pottery Hill and Bailey Ruin, which preceded and followed the occupation of this site, respectively.

The previous estimate of 40-50 rooms at the site was quickly revised at the beginning work on this site. The size may have been overestimated because of the dense pine stands at the site and thick pine duff layer on the surface, obscuring alignments of architectural masonry and the site's bedrock outcrops. After clearing, it became apparent that the site was comprised of only about six rooms, three of which are removed at the top of the hill (Area 1). These rooms may have been constructed slightly earlier than those down slope (Area 2), and stone may have been robbed in the construction of the lower rooms. The architectural information does not fit the trend of increasing aggregation, but rather, is smaller than both the earlier and later sites excavated by SCARP.

The lower portion of the site shows extensive evidence of burning. It is likely that the kiva and the two nearby rooms were burned intentionally just prior to the abandonment of the site. Usable artifacts, including the metates, were removed from Room 2 before a jacal wall in the room burned and collapsed. The adjacent Room 4 was also burned late in its occupational history, after the selective removal of certain artifacts. The site may have been burned intentionally as a means of ritual closure, and/or preventing others from occupying the site after abandonment.

Room 3 proved to be a semi-subterranean kiva, which may have burned at the same time as Rooms 2 and 4. This semi-subterranean structure has many of the features of a kiva, including a ventilator shaft and a deep platform or bench along the east wall of the structure. In addition, the walls and bench were covered in a layer of plaster.

The excavations in the plaza revealed the presence of several thermal features, which appear to be unusually large for the size of the settlement. These features were probably used for cooking, and their size suggests multi-household cooking and feasting. These activities may have involved households from surrounding areas, not just the residents of the site.

The three rooms at the top of the hill were not burned like the lower rooms. One room in this cluster was excavated (Room 1). This single-story room was built directly on bedrock, and probably served as a habitation room, used for a limited duration and intensity. It was hypothesized that this hilltop portion of the site comprised an earlier Pueblo III occupation, because of the regional pattern of hilltop Pueblo III sites. However, the ceramics found in the upper portion of the site were contemporaneous with those from the lower area. Although the temporal relationship between the areas is not defined, the lack of burnt materials in Room 1 suggest that the room was unroofed and unoccupied when the other rooms were burnt.

The spatial structure of the site provides a glimpse of how the larger Pueblo IV period pueblos were configured when first occupied. The rooms and kiva may have been laid out similarly to the initial constructions at larger sites in the drainage, like Bailey Ruin. This architectural cluster may have only housed one to two households at one time, despite the extremely large footprint of Room 4 (6 x 8 m). Perhaps the plaza would have been fully enclosed had the site continued to grow as others did.

Rebecca Dean investigated the relationship between labor organization and population aggregation by comparing the evidence for large game hunting at Bryant Ranch with the earlier site of Pottery Hill and the later site of Bailey Ruin. The analysis of animal bone from this site indicates increased large game hunting. This casts doubt on the theory that this hunting strategy is solely related to population aggregation. The higher proportion of large mammal bones and the quantity and size of the thermal features at the site suggest that there may have been social causes of this behavior, possibly including the accrual of prestige and social power through feasting. The presence of a quantity of large thermal features and large mammal remains point to a communal context for food consumption. The size and quantity of the thermal features was large enough to accommodate the preparation of larger meals. The rim diameters of bowls from this site indicate a marked increase in vessel size, which provides complementary evidence for the increasing scale of the feasts.

© 2002. Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona.
Plan drawing by Kyle Bohnenstiehl, The Hopi Tribe.
Comments to Barbara Mills