Shields Pueblo (Site 5MT3807) was home to dozens of families in the centuries between the late A.D. 700s and the depopulation of the Mesa Verde region by A.D. 1300, after which the lands remained largely untouched until homesteaded in the early twentieth century.

Research at Shields Pueblo was designed to provide detailed information about the occupational history of the site and to augment our understanding of community formation and development in the central Mesa Verde region. Work at Shields Pueblo compliments previous field work in Sand Canyon community, that included excavations at Sand Canyon Pueblo, Castle Rock Pueblo, and several smaller settlements located in the vicinity (Sand Canyon Small Site Testing Report Link). Shields Pueblo was part of the broader Goodman Point Community which was one of the largest ancestral communities in the Mesa Verde region. Research at Shields Pueblo provided the opportunity to evaluate models of community development suggested for the nearby Sand Canyon Community.