Trip 3: The A.D. 1990s

Castle Rock Pueblo Excavated

 

The Mystery

The Mystery for Trip 3: Archaeologists dig to discover clues about ancient civilizations. As you learn about the excavations at Castle Rock Pueblo, try to answer this question: Why didn't Crow Canyon archaeologists excavate the entire site?

Crow Canyon participants excavating at Castle Rock

The Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, with the help of students like you, investigated Castle Rock Pueblo from 1990 through 1994. This picturesque pueblo had first caught our attention because of its prominent location on the landscape. Later, when we began to look at the site more closely, we discovered the remains of rooms, kivas, and towers around the base of the large sandstone butte. We also found structures on top of the butte, as well as some ancient pictures pecked into the rock face. From the pieces of pottery found on the ground, we could tell that the ancestral Puebloans had probably built and lived at Castle Rock in the A.D. 1200s.

Many of the large villages at nearby Mesa Verde National Park were also built during the 1200s. But by A.D. 1300, the entire region--hundreds of sites--had been abandoned by the Puebloan people. We hoped that by studying Castle Rock Pueblo and comparing it with other archaeological sites in the area, we might be able to answer a question that has puzzled archaeologists for more than 100 years: Why did the ancestral Puebloan people move from the Mesa Verde region in the late 1200s?

When archaeologists decide to work on a site, they don't just pick up their tools and start digging. First, they think carefully about the questions they hope to answer by digging the site. Then they decide the best way to dig to make sure they get the kinds of information they need to answer the questions. Click here to learn more about the archaeological research process.

In addition to the question above, some of the other questions that we hoped to answer at Castle Rock were

  • how big was the village?
  • what was daily life like for the villagers?
  • when did the people leave Castle Rock Pueblo?

How We Excavated

Excavation tools

Once we had a plan for excavation, the physical work began! We excavated Castle Rock Pueblo very carefully, but the tools we used were not always fancy or high-tech. You may be familiar with some of the tools that we used for excavating Castle Rock Pueblo, such as buckets, whisk brooms, paintbrushes, trowels, and tape measures.

We spent a lot of time photographing, mapping, and documenting what we found at Castle Rock Pueblo. Artifacts are important sources of information, but without the notes about where they were found and what other artifacts were near them, they are not of any value to an archaeologist. So it is vital to keep good records.

What Parts of Castle Rock Pueblo Did We Excavate?

Crow Canyon participants excavating at Castle Rock

Archaeological excavation requires digging in a precise way using scientific techniques. During the first two years of excavation at Castle Rock Pueblo, we dug in small, square pits to explore different parts of the pueblo. These test pits were like windows into the ground. For each test pit we excavated, we made detailed records, maps, and photographs of what we found.

What we found in the small test pits helped us decide where to dig next. Eventually we dug a whole kiva and several nearby rooms. We compared the kiva and rooms with other buildings at the pueblo and with buildings at other sites in the area.

Archaeological Ethics

When archaeologists dig a site, they destroy parts of it. Even though archaeologists are careful not to damage the walls of buildings as they uncover them, they do disturb another important source of clues--the dirt! Believe it or not, dirt can tell archaeologists a lot about what happened at a site. But once the dirt has been disturbed, no one else can go back and make the same kinds of observations. That is why at Crow Canyon we try to answer our research questions without digging too much of a site. How can you protect the archaeological sites you visit?

Crow Canyon students visiting Castle Rock

Because archaeologists believe that everyone should be able to learn about the past, we never keep what we find for ourselves. After we study the artifacts in the laboratory, we send them and our notes to a museum called the Anasazi Heritage Center. Also, we publish reports on our excavations. These field trips are an example of how we share what we learn.

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Trip 1
A.D. 1200s

Trip 1

Trip 2
A.D. 1800s

Trip 2

Trip 3
A.D. 1990s

Trip 3