The Sand Canyon Pueblo Database

Block 1000, northeast quadrant of site.

North end of excavated portion of Block 1000, in "corner" defined by the northwest wall of Structure 1002 and the northeast wall of Structure 1003.

Not assigned.

There are few data on which to make an interpretation of use. Few artifacts were recovered from use of the room, and the only floor feature was a low dividing wall that appears to have been constructed for the purpose of raising the western portion of the floor above the level of the floor in the rest of the room. The absence of a hearth indicates that the room was not used for habitation. A possible doorway in the northwest wall (Feature 1) that was inferred from shaped stones in the room fill would have to have been a minmum of 90 cm above the prepared floor (Surface 3). If this doorway did indeed exist, its presence would suggest that use of the room might have originally been shared by the residents of Kiva Suite 1004 and the unexcavated kiva suite to the north. The blocking of the doorway in the southeast wall (Feature 2) could further indicate that, at some point, the residents of the unexcavated kiva suite to the north obtained exclusive use of the room.

Ambiguous. Few artifacts were found on the final prepared floor (Surface 3), which might indicate a leisurely abandonment. However, the partial remains of two individuals (designated "Human Remains Occurrences," or HROs) were found in this room. One of the individuals (Feature 5, HRO 20) died a violent death, and the mostly disarticulated bones of this person that were present were in roof fall approximately 15 to 35 cm above the latest prepared floor (Surface 3) in the western portion of the room (see "Postabandonment Processes"). The remains of the other individual (Feature 6, HRO 21) were resting on, or were within, a few centimeters of the latest prepared floor (Surface 3) in the eastern portion of the room; the bones were well articulated, but only the skull and thorax were present. Neither body was formally interred, and it is likely that both died violently. The best guess with the data at hand is that HRO 21 came to rest on or very near the structure floor around the time the kiva suite was abandoned. The rest of the bones from this body were not found during excavation of this room, so the fate of the rest of the body is unknown (although it is not unlikely that this absence was the result of foul play). Because HRO 20 was found in collapsed roofing material approximately 15-35 cm above the latest prepared floor (Surface 3), these remains appear to have been left on the structure roof and to have become disarticulated and deposited in room fill as the roof collapsed.The contexts and characteristics of the human remains suggest that the abandonment of the room (and the suite) was associated with the violent death of at least some of the residents (narrative continues under "Postabandonment Processes") and was thus catastrophic. Note: It is possible that the two individuals represented by HROs 20 and 21 were blood relatives, as they both suffered from premature fusion of a cranial suture. Also, HRO 20 exhibited a genetic anomaly of the sternum similar to that documented for HRO 12, found in Structure 1005 of this kiva suite. These defects could indicate relatedness.

(This narrative begins under "Abandonment") Human Remains Occurrence 20 appears to have come to rest in collapsed roofing material inside the room as the roof collapsed. When the vertebral column and both lower arms and hands came to rest in rooffall, enough soft tissue remained on the bones to keep much of the vertebral column, both lower arms and both hands in articulation. After the roof collapsed, the upper walls collapsed, and additional sediment was deposited naturally.

No excavation details recorded for this study unit.