Site Overview

Site Number

5MT5

History of the Site Name

Site is named for one of the canyons that bound the site. The canyon was named for the yellow jacket wasps that frequent its springs.

Other Names

Name Comment
Sourouaro Prudden 1900*1:3
Square Mug House Hurst and Lotrich 1932*1:195; this name referred only to the architectural block that Crow Canyon called the "great tower compex."
Surouara Holmes 1981*1:401
Surouaro Newberry 1876*1:88-89
Yellow Jacket Ruin Lange et al. 1986*1:14-15
Yellow Jacket Ruins Prudden 1900*1:3
Yellow Jacket Spring Ruin Fewkes 1919*1:16-17
Yellowjacket Pueblo The Archaeological Conservancy The Archaeological Conservancy
Yellowjacket Ruin Wheat 1984*1:61

Site Type

Habitation (with public architecture)

Site Boundary Description

The east boundary is the bottom of an adjacent canyon. The west boundary is formed by the bottom of a separate drainage. The south boundary is formed by the confluence of the creeks in those two drainages. The north boundary is formed by a concentration o

Site Size

Approximately 100 acres

Site Composition and Layout

Site is composed of one- and two-story rubble mounds, kiva depressions, a great kiva depression, midden areas, dams, canyon-rim features, a possible Chacoan great house and roads, and petroglyphs. Mapping and testing of the site resulted in the following

Cultural Affiliation and Date Range of Occupation

Mesa Verde ancestral Pueblo Indian, approximately A.D. 1060 to 1280 (late Pueblo II and Pueblo III)

General Location

14 miles northwest of Cortez, along Colorado Highway 491 (formerly Highway 666), Montezuma County

Ownership, Stewardship

Large portion owned by The Archaeological Conservancy; remainder owned by other private landowners}

Years of Crow Canyon Excavation

April 1995 through October 1997

Percent Excavated by Crow Canyon

State of Colorado Archaeological Permits were obtained to conduct archaeological excavations

Permits Comment
95-42 State of Colorado Permit to conduct archaeological excavations
96-1 State of Colorado Permit to conduct archaeological excavations
97-20 State of Colorado Permit to conduct archaeological excavations