Home / National Park Service Exhibits / Grand Canyon National Park (GRCA) / Archaeology / Contents of a House 21
In this exhibit you will find the remains of an eleventh century pit house excavated on the South Rim in Grand Canyon National Park. Although the artifacts displayed here are not spectacular by standard definitions, they are the pieces that when put together, tell the story of who, how, and when people lived here. Casual removal of such artifacts from the surfaces of sites alters the story, so please, leave artifacts where you find them.
- Medicine Black-on-red
Another type of imported ceramic found at the site was Tsegi Orange Ware, also manufactured in the Kayenta cultural area. Types represented include Medicine Black-on-red (shown here), which dates to A.D. 1050-1125, and Tusayan Black-on-red (A.D. 1065-1200). - Tsegi Orange Ware
The mend holes in these Tsegi Orange Ware sherds may indicate the value of traded wares, as holes like these were drilled on either side of a crack and then threaded with cotton or yucca thread or sinew to bind the crack and prolong the life of the vessel. - Floyd Black-on-gray, Close View
This photograph shows the broken edge of a piece of Floyd Black-on-gray pottery. The larger pieces that look like sand are called temper, which is used to strengthen ceramic vessels. Temper also helps archaeologists identify ceramic wares and types, and in some cases, can be used to determine where the vessel itself was made. - Floyd Black-on-gray
This type of pottery (Floyd Black-on-gray) was made between A.D. 800 and 1025 and is associated with the Cohonina archaeological culture. - Tusayan White Ware
Tusayan White Ware is a ceramic type associated with the Kayenta archaeological culture of northeastern Arizona. These likely arrived at the site through trade. - Corrugated Sherds
Tusayan Gray Ware, manufactured in the Kayenta cultural area of northeastern Arizona, was the most abundant of the imported ceramic wares found on site. The sherds shown here are all Tusayan Corrugated (A.D. 1050-1175), though several show a zoned pattern involving bands of pinched corrugations and unpinched bands. - Burned Daub
Two pieces of burned daub were recovered from the site. These are remnant pieces a secondary structure with a large shallow hearth, possibly used for cooking. The presence of the daub, as well as the configuration of the structure remains, indicate it was built of small poles and brush perhaps covered with a thin layer of mud or clay. - Impression, Close View
Detail of the maize cob impression. The fragment was likely part of a clay jar stopper. - Corn Impression
Excavations just outside the pit house produced a piece of fired clay with corn (maize) cob impressions. Just a fragment, this piece is thought to have been part of a clay stopper used to seal a jar in which corn was stored; it is likely it was unfired until the burning of the pit house. - Polishing Stone
This small, round stone found on the surface of the site may have been a smoothing or polishing stone, tools used most commonly in pottery manufacture. Other ground stone artifacts recovered from the site include grinding tools, such as manos and metates, used to process seeds, corn, and other foods, and abrading tools used in stone tool manufacture and perhaps hide processing. - Mammal Bone
This is an ulnar carpal from a medium to large mammal, one of the few identifiable bones found on the site. Like the other faunal remains recovered during excavation, this bone was burned. - Animal Bone
This is a burned piece of animal bone found at the site. The size and condition of the bone suggests it came from a medium to large mammal that was consumed as food. Other bones were made into tools, including the awl found within the hearth. - Awl, Close View
A detailed view of the worn or polished ridges on the side of the awl recovered from the pit house hearth. - Awl
This image shows the two sides of a bone awl recovered from the hearth of the pit house. The awl, blackened from burning, was broken during excavation, but could be refit, as shown here. Made from the metapodial of an artiodactyl (deer species), the awl measured 105 mm long and was decorated with a series of worn and polished ridges on one edge. Awls served a variety of purposes and were used prehistorically the manufacture of clothing, baskets, and sandals. - Projectile Points
Surprisingly, the projectile points (used to tip darts and arrows) recovered from the site are not typical of Cohonina-style points, and instead resemble styles used by earlier peoples (right) and Kayenta or Fremont hunters (left).