Coombs Village Site

The Coombs Site appears to have been the largest settlement along the southern slopes of the Aquarius Plateau; as such, it must have exerted considerable influence on peoples residing in its immediate environs. Large open sites are not common in this area or In the adjacent areas which have been subject to investigations (e.g., the Kaiparowits Plateau, the Escalante River drainage, the triangle area between the San Juan and Colorado Rivers, and the right bank tributaries of the Colorado). Excavated sites simply do not approach the Coombs Site in complexity of architectural form, wealth of artifacts, amount of refuse, or sheer size.

The Coombs Village Site is part of Anasazi State Park Museum at 460 North Highway 12 in Boulder, Utah and was listed on the National Historic Register on (#76001815) on January 1, 1976

The analysis of the large quantity of data recovered during excavation of the site is extremely significant, in that it shed considerable light on our understanding of various aspects of prehistoric lifeways, and the relationship of various groups over a wide geographic region. On the basis of pottery analysis, the site is believed to have been occupied for a relatively short period of time from A.D, 1075 to perhaps 1150, by a population of approximately 200 people.

The village is believed to have been established by people from the San Juan drainage to the southeast. The ceramic assemblage from the site is strongly affiliated with the Kayenta region. However, based on the amount of Fremont ceramics, there was also considerable contact with Fremont populations. There is also evidence for contact with the Virgin, Mesa Verde, and Chaco areas, based on ceramic as well as other kinds of evidence.

The reason for the abandonment of the site after a short period of time is not known. Ultimate cause may be associated with fire. It is postulated that a major holocaust spread through the village at its termination. “Whether it was a result of conflict, accident or intentional action we cannot state, although the latter seems most probable. The town was never reoccupied. The Coombs site is but one more example of the burning of Anasazi villages in the San Juan. Morris (1939, 41-2) has written of the great frequency of burning in archeological sites in the La Plata area.” (Lister and Lister 1961I:I0).

The Coombs Site (42GA34) is a 12* century Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi) habitation site located at Anasazi State Park Museum in Boulder, Utah. Cumulatively, excavations over the past half-century have yielded approximately 162,000 artifacts distributed across nearly 100 room structures. Dendrochronological data indicate that the site was constructed at latest by about A.D. 1160 (Marwitt and Fry 1973) and was occupied until approximately AD 1235.

Three types of architecture have been identified at this site: jacal, Kayenta masonry, and pit structures (Lister and Lister 1961). hi addition, one example of a four-post roofed shade, or ramada, was identified on the southern slope of the site (Lister 1960). A minimum of two distinct pueblo units, one L-shaped and one U-shaped, were also identified. These consist of both habitation and storage units, while additional isolated habitation and storage units are scattered across the site. In addition, ten pit structures have been excavated on the southern slope of the site. Features within the pithouses suggest they were likely used for habitation rather than ceremony, thus the reference to them as pithouses rather than kivas (Lister and Lister 1961). To date, no confirmed kivas have been identified at the Coombs Site.

Estimates suggest that although the major structures have been identified, only about 50 percent of the site has been investigated. In fact, outlines of unexcavated rooms are visible across the site. Excavations conducted since the Park opened in 1970 have modified our interpretation of the site structure and future excavations will undoubtedly modify it further. A full re-recording of the site is currently in progress.

Based on architectural forms, artifact types, and the ceramic assemblage retrieved from the site, the original interpretation of the site places it firmly within the Kayenta branch of the Anasazi (Lister 1959; Lister, Ambler, and Lister 1960; Lister and Lister 1961). The presence of intrusive ceramic wares, as demonstrated by design elements and temper type, indicate contact with neighboring Virgin Anasazi and Fremont peoples (Lister and Lister 1961). A small percentage of Mesa Verdean ceramics also suggests contact or trade with that distant center (Lister and Lister 1961).

In 1889, Sam Sheffield established a homestead just southeast of the prehistoric village and before long discovered the “Indian Mound” (LeFevre 1973). From the pottery, projectile points, and grinding stones he found on the surface, Sheffield believed the site to be a burial ground of a more ancient group than those he had previously encountered in Utah.

The site attracted little attention from the early residents of Boulder, although they sometimes collected “arrow heads” and other stone tools, metates, manos, and pottery sherds. As Boulder developed, so did construction activities and the resulting knowledge of the presence of an “Indian Mound.” Morss (1931) reported that some burials had been uncovered when the southern slope of the site was being used as a “sand pit.” Lister (1959) indicates that widening of a road along the base of the hill exposed additional burials and cultural material, thus stimulating local pot hunting activities at the site. Despite these non-archaeological collecting activities, the majority of the site deposits remained relatively undisturbed.

Professional archaeological investigations at the Coombs Site were initiated in 1927 when members of the Claflin-Emerson Expedition of the Peabody Museum visited the site (Morss 1931). Although primarily a reconnaissance program, the Expedition prompted Peabody Museum personnel to initiate a program of survey and excavation a year later (Gunnerson 1969). Directing work in this geographic area was archaeologist Noel Morss, who tested the Coombs Site in 1928 and reported his findings in 1931. Morss (1931) identified the remnants of several masonry rooms at the top of the hill, and described the finding of three burials in a sandy drift along the southern slope of the site. Morss reported that the burials were in a flexed position and all skulls were occipitally deformed. He also described mortuary offerings found with the remains, primarily ceramic vessels (Morss 1931).

In addition to the vessels from the burials, Morss collected a sample of sherds for analytical purposes. The vast majority of pottery was corrugated, followed by black-on-white, red ware, polychrome, and plain gray sherds. He identified the pottery as “Proto-Kayenta,” or what is now called Tusayan ware, concluding that pueblo peoples occupied the Coombs Site, whose material culture resembled that of the Kayenta peoples in northern Arizona. Morss also noted that the material remains at Coombs differed from those of the Fremont culture to the north.

LeFevre (1973) indicated that a “Dr. Kerr, a Utah professor,” also conducted a small excavation in 1928 with the assistance of local residents. LeFevre reports that a skeleton was exhumed and put on display at the University of Utah.

In 1955, the Coombs Site was examined and recorded by James H. Gunnerson as part of a reconnaissance conducted by the Utah Statewide Archaeological Survey for the Department of Anthropology of the University of Utah. Because Gunnerson’s primary research concern at that time was the Fremont culture, little was said about the site except to note that the artifacts from the site did not resemble those of the Fremont. Gunnerson recommended that no further work be conducted at the site (Gunnerson 1955).

Despite Gunnerson’s recommendation, extensive excavations would begin three years later as an adjunct to the 1957 Upper Colorado River Basin Archaeological Salvage Project. Participants in the project failed to locate any sites in the Glen Canyon area that would compare with the Coombs Site either in size or in volume of cultural remains. Additional importance was assigned the site because of its intermediate position between the Anasazi in the south and the Fremont to the north (Lister 1959). The 1958 excavation succeeded in uncovering three distinct structures, a borrow pit, three burials, and thousands of artifacts. The excavations verified the importance of the site to the prehistory of the area. Subsequently, plans were formulated-even before the 1958 excavation was completed-to return during the summer of 1959 to continue investigations (Lister et al. 1960).

The 1959 season revealed a much larger portion of the site than had been exposed in 1958. Excavations continued in those areas explored in 1958 and expanded into other portions of the site. Twelve additional exploratory trenches were opened, which identified 12 surface structures, 10 pit houses, 11 burials, and several miscellaneous structures. As with the 1958 excavation, thousands of artifacts were recovered and analyzed (Lister, Ambler, and Lister 1960).

Following the 1959 season, all structures were covered with plastic and backfilled in anticipation of including the site in the Utah State Park system. The results of the University of Utah excavations have been published in three volumes that comprise the original Coombs Site Report (Lister 1959; Lister et al. 1960; Lister and Lister 1961). In all, the University of Utah excavations identified 77 masonry or jacal rooms, 10 pit houses, one ramada, and 14 burials.

The site was designated a State Park in 1960 after the State, the town of Boulder, and Garfield County purchased the private lands containing the ruins. Prior to the construction of the Visitors Center, the University of Utah conducted a magnetometer survey and limited test excavations in 1969 (Hammond and Marwitt 1970). As a result of these investigations, the location of the Visitors Center was moved to avoid a pit house and extramural activity areas. The visitor center opened in 1970 and the Coombs Site became the first State Park featuring archaeology and archaeological ruins. Subsequently, the site was placed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

Small-scale excavations were conducted intermittently between 1970 and 2002 under the supervision of Anasazi State Park staff. These investigations, in conjunction with laboratory analyses of the collections (Morgenstein and Latady 1997; Prince et al. 1997; Roberts 1997), identified several additional structures and a number of burials. A more thorough discussion of the site history is provided in a number of sources, listed in the bibliography below.