The Point Great House: A Ceremonial Center of the Middle San Juan Region in NM w/ Linda Wheelbarger

This webinar is brought to you by the Four Corners Lecture Series and the Hisatsinom Chapter of the Colorado Archaeological Society.
The Point Great House sits on an isolated terrace directly above the San Juan River and at the base of the Shannon Bluffs overlooking the city of Farmington with La Plata Mountains in the distance. The site is on property owned by B-Square Ranch owner and manager Tommy Bolack. San Juan College archaeological field school excavations have been conducted at the site since 2006. Those efforts have revealed occupation dating to the entire sequence of Ancestral Puebloan occupation of the Four Corners. Although much of the site was disturbed from activity during early oil and gas days, a large depression indicated the presence of a great kiva. Initially, field school excavations focused on the great kiva revealing it to be a large structure with walls of Chacoan construction marked by distinct floor sequences. The discovery of two separate encircling benches is evidence of a later construction event enlarging the structure. A multi-story great house with an associated arc of rooms is situated east of the great house and other architectural features include two small Pueblo III house units with associated kivas and a large pit structure which represents a late Basketmaker III/Early Pueblo I occupation. The presence of a Chacoan style great kiva and local style great house are evidence the site functioned as a ceremonial center in the Middle San Juan Region along with other well-known sites such as the Salmon and Aztec Chacoan great houses.