Dolores Archaeological Program Technical Reports, DAP-005: Excavations at Sagehill Hamlet (Site 5MT2198), a Basketmaker III/Pueblo I habitation site.

Sagehill Hamlet (Site 5MT2198), a small Anasazi habitation located approximately 8 km northwest of Dolores, Colorado, was excavated during the summer of 1978 as part of the Dolores Project Cultural Resources Mitigation Program. Field operations were conducted during the months of August and September; a University of Colorado crew excavated and recorded a small pithouse and associated surface features. Site 5MT2198 was probably the domicile and home base of a single household group practicing limited agriculture and foraging in the Escalante Sector. Because of the scant nature of the material collection and the lack of any major architectural remodeling, it is assumed that the site was inhabited for a relatively short time span. While Site 5MT2198 is clearly associated with the Sagehen Phase AD 600-850), more precise dating of the site is problematic: tree-ring dates indicate that pithouse construction probably occurred during the last half of the seventh century AD while ceramic analysis suggests that the occupation occurred during the eighth century, terminating by AD 775.