Pinnacle Ruin Glaze Phase

A midden is the archaeological term for a trash or garbage dump. Southern Pueblo (Mogollon) people disposed of their trash in thin scatters across the site while the Ancestral Pueblo people in northern New Mexico would designate a midden area to deposit their trash in great piles. As each episode of dumping was placed on the pile, it created a discernible layer of material. As the older material is deposited at the bottom of the midden, the sequence of dumping can be seen by the archaeologist. Excavation of a midden found on the Pinnacle Ruin revealed that the organic painted ceramics of the migrants are found in the lowest levels and glaze ware ceramics of a post-migrant occupation are in the upper levels. Demolished rooms and evidence of remodeling suggest abandonment by the northern migrants and reoccupation by people using glaze wares sometime in the early 1300s.

The final occupation at the Pinnacle Ruin is characterized by the early Zuni and Rio Grande Glaze Ware traditions. The Glaze Ware occupation at Pinnacle Ruin and two sites near the Ojo Caliente appear to be the last pueblo occupation in the Cañada Alamosa. These sites were abandoned around A.D. 1400.

The sites discussed in this website are on private land and there is no public access.