EMAP Buckaroo – LA 70259 Unit 1, 1989-1990

85NM613 is located on the end of a ridge (running approximately north-south) that forms the first terrace of Palomas Creek (see Figure 1). Architectural remains and surface ceramics indicate a Late Classic, twelve (3X4) room pueblo with at least 4 extraneous pit structures. Unit 1 is an interior room located in the southwest corner of the pueblo. It is the westernmost of a tier of three rooms that may predate the construction of the rest of the structure. The southwest corner of the room, located on the edge of the terrace, has partially eroded downslope. A posthole, approximately 50cm deep, was noted slightly southwest of the center of the room when excavation began in 1989. 85NM613 is a multi-component site and the architectural remains visible on the surface of Unit 1 constitute the last in a succession of three structures that have been constructed on the southern section of the terrace (see Fiq. 1). The earliest occupation is represented by a plastered floor which is slightly depressed into bedrock and indicates a small, possibly three sided, jacal room. The second (intermediate) floor is associated with a three sided stone and adobe structure which is set into a slight depression in the sterile gravel. A hearth and several pits are excavated into the gravel bedrock area between the structure associated with the intermediate occupation and the rectangular pithouse in Unit 2. It is unclear whether the external features are associated with the intermediate or earliest occupation of the site. The architecture associated with the final occupation consists of full height. masonry walls, a plastered and beamed ceiling, which was burned prior to, or soon after, abandonment.