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12 July 1999 Stephen E. Nash |
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Oak Springs Pueblo is a small, L-shaped, seven-room pueblo that the Southwest Archaeological Expedition of the Field Museum excavated in 1947 to examine problems "directly concerned with the origin and development of Mogollon culture" (Martin et al 1949:17). The site dates to approximately A.D. 1050 (Bluhm 1957:70) and delineates the beginning of the Reserve Phase (Martin et al 1949:221). |
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Figure 1: Map showing the location of Oak Springs Pueblo  |
There is some confusion with regard to the actual name of this site. A site card in the Department of Anthropology Archives at indicates that this site was once known as "Twin Bridges Pueblo". The name was changed in order to avoid confusion with the Twin Bridges Site, a small pithouse community of the Pine Lawn Phase that was also excavated in 1947. The site has also been designated LA 9725 and Reserve Survey No. 76. |
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EXCAVATION STRATEGY Figure 2: Negative number 92461 looking north. |
George Quimby (Martin et al. 1949:26-33) described the excavations at Oak Springs Pueblo (pp. 30-32) and other sites excavated in 1947. The northwest portion of the site was disturbed by the growth of a large ponderosa pine tree; this section was therefore avoided. After "superficial" boulders were removed, the pueblo walls were delineated and a central pit was excavated to discern stratigraphic relationships (Figure 2). Floors, if present, were identified in this pit; after which the pit was expanded to reach the walls. None of the rooms were excavated in either natural or arbitrary levels because of the homogenaity of the deposits. The only features discovered were the three burials in Room B: "These burials either were on the floor or were in pits that had been dug into the subsequent fill of the room." |
| Excavation Files Department of Anthropology Archives Box SW 3 Folder 1 "J.B. Rinaldo Southwest Expedition 1947" contains a bone tabulation sheet that includes Oak Springs Pueblo and indicates that two pieces of mule deer bone and one piece of jackrabbit (Lepis sp.) were recovered from the site. Folder 2 "Southwest Expedition 1947" contains burial excavation summary sheets for Burials 1, 2, and 3, sherd tabulations for the same burials. |
| Accession Files Accession File 2406 lists the following items recovered by the 1947 expedition: 369 Artifacts 30 whole or restorable pots 3 skeletons 6 bone tools 15000 sherds This list includes artifacts from Oak Springs Pueblo as well as the Promontory Site, Twin Bridges Site, and Turkey Foot Ridge Site; there is no way to discern which of the above come from which site, except for the skeletons, which all come from Oak Springs. Catalog Files Before the Martin Project, Museum Staff catalogued a total of 26 items, including 1 bowl, 16 chipped stone tools, 1 figurine, 1 mano, 1 polishing stone, 3 projectile points, 1 worked bone, and 2 worked sherds. Martin Project staff catalogued 3 faunal remains and 486 sherds from Oak Springs Pueblo. |
| Photograph Files Department of Anthropology Photo Album 35K Southwest Expedition 1947 contains the following photos: Negative No. 92461: Oak Springs Pueblo-- Looking north general view of site (Figure 46 in Martin, Rinaldo, and Antevs 1949). Negative No. 92462: Oak Springs Pueblo-- General view of excavations looking North. Negative No. 92463: Oak Springs Pueblo-- General view of Rooms A, B, and C. Negative No. 92464: Oak Springs Pueblo-- Room B north end showing east and North walls, floor, and burials 1, 2, and 3. Negative No. 92465: Oak Springs Pueblo-- Looking north into Room B from Room A. Masonry detail. (Figure 47 in Martin, Rinaldo, and Antevs 1949). Negative No. 92466: Oak Springs Pueblo-- General view of Room B with Burials 1, 2, and 3. Negative No. 92467: Oak Springs Pueblo-- Burial 1 and northeast corner of Room B. Negative No. 92468: Oak Springs Pueblo-- Burials 1 and 2 and northeast part of Room B. Negative No. 92469: Oak Springs Pueblo-- Burial 2 Room B. Negative No. 92470: Oak Springs Pueblo-- Burial 2 Room B. Negative No. 92471: Oak Springs Pueblo-- Burial 2 Room B. Negative No. 92472: Oak Springs Pueblo-- Burial 3 Room B (Figure 77 in Martin, Rinaldo, and Antevs 1949). Negative No. 92473: Oak Springs Pueblo-- Burial 3 Room B. Negative No. 92525: Reserve Smudged Bowl (Catalog No. 207303). Other artifacts from Oak Springs Pueblo may be included in photos by artifact class, but they are listed by catalog number not site. Searches will therefore have to be undertaken on a case-by-case basis. |
| NATURE AND INTEGRITY OF THE COLLECTION The Field Museum curates 515 items from Oak Springs Pueblo, including one bowl, 16 chipped stone tools, three faunal remains, one figurine, three sets of human remains, one mano, one polishing stone, three projectile points, 486 sherds, one worked bone, and two worked sherds. This is the same artifact assemblage returned to the museum, though some items (faunal remains and sherds) were not catalogued until recently. Martin et al (1949:204) note that 531 sherds were recovered from Oak Springs Pueblo; approximately 92% of this collection remains available for analysis. On a provenience basis, the following distribution obtains: |
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Martin et al (1949:204) Available for study Difference Room A 69 67 -2 (3%) Room B 238 167 -71 (30%) Room C 20 5 -15 (75%) Room D 3 2 -1 (33%) Room E 42 0 -42 (100%) Room F 112 25 -87 (78%) Trenches 50 3 -47 (94%) Unknown -- 185 +185 Total 534 454 -80 (15%) |
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The Oak Springs Pueblo sherd collection has been mitigated primarily by a loss of provenience information. The collection from Room A is the only one that remains relatively intact; all the rest have lost at least 30% of their sherds. Unfortunately, the number of sherds with no known provenience (185) is not the same as the number apparently missing (313) from the proveniences listed above. Obviously, there are discrepancies that cannot be reconciled at this juncture. |
| CONCLUSION The non-sherd portion of the Oak Springs Pueblo collection appears to be in good shape, and is available for further analysis. It is not clear how representative the sherd component is of the original variability found during excavation (see Martin et al 1949:194-195). This is unfortunate if Oak Springs Pueblo represents the beginnings of the Reserve Phase, as attested by Martin, Rinaldo, and Antevs (1949), though additional analysis is warranted to see if the published values are valid. REFERENCES Bluhm, Elaine Ann 1957 Patterns of Settlement in the Southwestern United States A.D. 500 - 1250. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Chicago Martin, Paul S., J.B. Rinaldo, and Ernst Antevs 1949 Cochise and Mogollon Sites, Pine Lawn Valley, Western New Mexico. Fieldiana 38(1):1-235. |
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