An Archeological Overview of Petrified Forest National Park

Although Petrified Forest National Park was set aside as a natural park, it is an archeological gold mine, with over 300 sites recorded in the southern half alone. The sites exhibit an unbroken culture history sequence from the Archaic period until shortly before the arrival of Europeans in that part of the Southwest. They contain information about the change from hunting and gathering to agriculture, relationships between the environment and settlement pattern, relationships between major cultural areas and traditions, prehistoric farming practices and prehistoric trade. The park is situated between three major prehistoric culture areas: the Anasazi to the north and east, the Mogollon to the south and the Sinagua to the west. It is situated between several subtraditions within these groups, such as Chaco Anasazi to the east, Kayenta Anasazi to the north and several regional variants of the Mogollon to the south and east. All of these traditions and areas have implications for the archeology of Petrified Forest, and repeated evidence of cultural blending is exhibited within
entire sites, architectural units and individual artifacts.