Archaeological Investigations Along U.S. 191 Near Wide Ruins, Apache County, Arizona

The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT), through its contractor, HDR Engineering, Inc., requested that Desert Archaeology, Inc., conduct Phase 1 and Phase 2 archaeological data recovery investigations at seven prehistoric sites along U.S. 191, approximately 1 mile west of the Navajo community of Wide Ruins, Apache County, Arizona (Elson and Herr 2005; Herr 2006b). The investigations were conducted in the Area of Potential Effects (APE) for construction of a northbound passing lane and turn lanes at the future intersection of Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Road N9345. Between 19 June and 6 July 2006, Phase 1 exploratory investigations were conducted at six sites; a seventh site was examined because human bone had been reported eroding from the road-cut (Benallie 1993). After these intial investigations, Phase 2 data recovery investigations were recommended for four sites: Red Ant, AZ-P-36-81 (NN)/ AZ K:10:28 (ASM); Black Ant, AZ-P-36-70 (NN)/AZ K:10:8 (ASM); Kanine, AZ-P-36-122 (NN)/ AZ K:10:9 (ASM); and Kin Ten Ten, AZ-P-36-125 (NN)/AZ K:10:10 (ASM). The research potential of AZ-P-36-115 (NN)/AZ K:10:12 (ASM) and AZ-P-36-116 (NN)/AZ K:10:13 (ASM) within the APE was exhausted by the exploratory investigations and no further work was conducted at those sites. No human bone was identified in the road-cut at AZ-P- 36-66 (NN)/K:10:11 (ASM), so no work was conducted there. After an on-site review of the Phase 1 work held on 5 July 2006, with Mark Brodbeck (HDR Engineering), William Doelle (Desert Archaeology), Sarah Herr (Desert Archaeology), Ron Maldonado (NNHPD), and David Zimmerman (ADOT), Desert Archaeology's recommendations for Phase 2 data recovery were reviewed and approved. The second phase of work was conducted between 10 July and 24 August 2006. A final tour for agency personnel was held on 14 August 2006. A total of 295 crew and 143 supervisor field person-days were spent on data recovery excavations. In this final report, the results of fieldwork and the analyses of artifacts and samples from the six sites investigated during the U.S. 191 Wide Ruins Archaeological project are presented. The current project provides a starting point from which to examine how this place has been used for centuries. Many layers of history are evoked by the landscape, from the shifting sand dunes and waterways measured in geologic time, the life history of houses and settlements explored in archaeological time, and the timeless history of the Navajo, Hopi, and Zuni groups who value and steward the land.