Archeological Survey and Testing at Petrified Forest National Park, 1987

This volume combines reports from two projects conducted at
Petrified Forest National Park in 1987. Part I deals with project PEFO
87A which is the test excavation and surface collection at AZ
Q:1:101(ASM), a lithic scatter adjacent to Puerco Ruin. Part II reports
on project PEFO 87B which is the third season of the park boundary
survey.
Part I -PEFO 87 A. From April 20 to May 1, 1987, prior to realignment of
the park's Mainline Road (Pkg. No. 140, Phase IV), AZ Q:1:101(ASM) was
tested to determine significance of the artifact scatter and its
relationship to Puerco Ruin. A fifty percent surface collection of the
entire site was made and test units were placed within the proposed
right-of-way. Ninety-four percent of the surface collection was chipped
stone, most of it petrified wood. A few ceramics dating to the
occupation of Puerco Ruin were collected and a single mana fragment was noted.
The site, AZ Q:l:101 (ASM) , is a petrified wood quarry and chipped
stone reduction locus. Although probably used throughout the
prehistoric occupation of Petrified Forest, the site appears to have
been used most intensively during the occupation of Puerco Ruin, A.D.
1100 to 1200 and A.D. 1300 to 1400.
Part II-PEFO 87B. The third season of boundary survey at Petrified
Forest was undertaken from July 6 to July 24, 1987. The survey along
the 91 miles of fenceline surrounding the park was initiated in 1985 to
provide data for management, planning and interpretation as well as to
better afford archeological sites protection from vandalism.
Eighty-two archeological sites and 62 isolated finds were recorded
thin the 28.25 linear miles of quarter-mile-wide corridor surveyed
(4,520 acres). Survey was conducted along the western boundary south of the Puerco River, in the vicinity of Lithodendron Wash and northeast of
park headquarters. Sites were dated by the architecture and diagnostic
artifacts found on the surface. Archaic through Pueblo IV occcupation
was found in the survey area with the most substantial occupation
occurring during the Pueblo II to Pueblo III periods. Fourteen rock art
sites were recorded this season. It is postulated that the boundary of
Petrified Forest National Park lets us view a real boundary between
badlands and habitable grasslands. Selenite tempered pottery suggests
local ceramic production. A summary of site condition is included for
management.