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Inthesecondhalfofthetwentiethcentury,large-scalearchaeologicalexcavationsoc-
curredatonlyafewsitessuchasLongHouse(Site5MV1200)andMugHouse(Site
5MV1229).Thisresearchwaspartofalargerproject,theWetherillMesaArchaeological
Project(Cattanach1980;Hayes1964;Rohn1971),whichwasconductedbetweenthe
late1950sandtheearly1960s.
However,theearliestscientificresearchintheMesaVerdeareawasassociatedwith
militaryandscientificexpeditionstotheSouthwestbeginninginthe1850s(theHayden
Expeditionof1874–1876,forexample),andtherstarchaeologicalandethnographic
worksoccurredattheendofthenineteenthandduringtheearlypartofthetwentieth
century.ArchaeologicalexcavationsconductedbyGustafNordenskiöld,theWetherill
family,JesseFewkes,orJesseNusbaumduringthisearlyperiodofresearchintheregion
focusedprimarilyonthespectacularcliffdwellingsinwhatistodayMesaVerdeNational
Park.Theparkitselfwasestablishedin1906toprotectarchaeologicalsitesinthearea,
althoughtherstarchaeologicalsiteintheMesaVerderegionsetasideforprotectionby
thefederalgovernmentwastheGoodmanPointUnit,in1889.Fewcommunitycenters
inthecentralMesaVerderegionoutsidetheparkareawereexcavatedduringthisinitial
periodofarchaeologicalresearch;CannonballRuin(Site5MT338)isoneexception
(Morley1908).Invaluabledescriptionsandphotographsfromthesecondhalfthenine-
teenthcenturyandtherstdecadesofthetwentiethcenturyareavailableforsomesites
outsidetheparkarea.However,theprimarysourceofinformationforsuchsitesresulted
fromeldworkconductedinthepastfewdecadesbytheCrowCanyonArchaeological
Center,aresearchandeducationinstitutionlocatednearCortezinsouthwesternColorado.
Someofthesereportsareavailableinprint,andotherscanbeaccessedthroughCrow
Canyon’swebsite.
ThemainsourcesofinformationforsmallsiteslocatedwithintheCastleRockcom-
munity(LowerSandCanyonlocality)arereportsfromsurveysconductedbydifferent
institutionsinthatareasincethe1960s.Afewsuchsitesexaminedthrougharchaeologi-
calexcavationsbyCrowCanyonarchaeologistshavebeenpublishedontheInternet.
NearlyallsitesintheLowerSandCanyonlocalityandthecentralMesaVerderegion
analyzedinthebookweresurveyedbytheauthorbetween2005and2009.
MorethanacenturyofresearchintheMesaVerderegionhasyieldedabundantdata
fromarchaeologicalexcavationsandsurveysaswellasotherscientificstudy.However,
sincetherstarchaeologicalresearchintheregion,duringthesecondhalfofthenine-
teenthcentury,someaspectsofancientPueblocultureremainpoorlyunderstood.Still
unresolvedarethecausesofthemigrationofPueblopeoplefromtheMesaVerderegion
tothesouthandsoutheastintowhatarenownorthernandcentralArizonaandNew
Mexico.
However,ever-increasingdatahaveenabledarchaeologiststoformulateseveralpos-
sibleexplanationsforthatmigration.Thetheoriesmostcitedandmostsupportedby
scientificdataincludeenvironmentalchanges,increasingconflictandviolence,social
changes,andtheattractionofanewcultorideologiesfromthesouth(seeforexample
Adleretal.1996;Cameron1995,2006;Lipe1995a).However,itseemsthatnoneof
thesetheoriescanfullyexplainthetotaldepopulationoftheregion.Itisprobablethatno
singlefactorwasresponsible,butpresumablysomecombinationoftheseandotherfac-
torscontributedtothedepopulation.