Snowflake Passing Lanes Data Recovery

Prehistoric and historic sites along State Route 77 in Navajo County, Arizona

Desert Archaeology investigated seven prehistoric and historic sites along State Route 77 north of Snowflake, in Navajo County, Arizona. The goal of the research was to more fully understand the human history of the southern margins of the Colorado Plateau along the Silver Creek corridor. Archaeological, ethnographic, and historical methods were used to explore this dynamic cultural landscape. A federal Project of Opportunity grant partially funded data recovery at AZ P:8:65 (ASM), a substantial late Basketmaker III-early Pueblo I and Pueblo II settlement that overlapped the project area. A petroglyph study centered on a panel located where Fivemile Wash intersects the highway. The project also provided the opportunity to incorporate previous archaeological work from the 1973 and 1974 Snowflake Field School, an effort that added temporal depth to project data, and strengthened interpretations when consistent patterns were identified.