Site Overview

Site Number

5MT3890

History of the Site Name

The site was named by Woods Canyon Archaeological Consultants in 1993 for the historic windrows of chained trees piled in east-west swaths across the site.

Other Names

Name Comment
ICR-64 Indian Camp Ranch Archaeological Survey

Site Type

Habitation site with possible public architecture.

Site Boundary Description

Boundary defined by the extent of artifacts and architectural debris.

Site Size

5.0 acres

Site Composition and Layout

Windrow Ruin covers five acres of a low lying ridge 200 m west of the Dillard site. Like the Dillard site, Windrow Ruin is an intensive Basketmaker III occupation. The entire site is covered with an extremely dense Basketmaker III era midden. Linear concentrations of burned adobe suggest that there are at least three burned roomblocks on site, the northern most being unusually large at 40 m long. In addition, electrical resistivity imaging and soil auger probes confirmed that there are four double chambered pithouses and at least one pitroom on the site. The pithouse associated with the robust northern roomblock is very large (9-x-16-m) putting it into the category of oversized pithouse.

Cultural Affiliation and Date Range of Occupation

Mesa Verde ancestral Pueblo; late Basketmaker III period. Occupied between A.D. 605-720. Prior to A.D. 655 the site was a small hamlet with one or two contemporaneous pithouse households. Sometime after A.D. 655, the oversized pithouse and roomblock were constructed increasing the activity and prominence of the site.

General Location

Approximately 5.8 miles west of Cortez, Colorado, south of County Road K.

Ownership, Stewardship

Private Property, Indian Camp Ranch Lot 7, Sue Anschutz}

Years of Crow Canyon Excavation

2012

Percent Excavated by Crow Canyon

Less than .01 percent.

Permits

State of Colorado Archaeological Permits were obtained for the 2012 field season to conduct archaeological surface documentation and testing.

Permits Comment
2013-48 State of Colorado Survey and Testing Permit