COST DISTANCE ANALYSIS OF PUEBLO III TRADE ROUTES WITHIN THE FOUR CORNERS REGION

Abstract

The research to trace the trading of goods between people in the American southwest for thousands of years is very well documented showing how goods have moved across the landscape and what was traded between various communities. However, the actual trade routes themselves remain unclear. This study uses archeological GIS data of Pueblo III sites in the Four Corners region and Digital Elevation Models to perform a GIS Optimal Path Analysis that determines the least cost path taken from ten separate known Pueblo III Sites to Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde National Monument. These sites are: Atsinna Pueblo in El Morro National Monument, Aztec Ruins, Bandelier National Monument, Horse Collar Ruin in Natural Bridges National Monument, Keet Seel Pueblo in Navajo National Monument, Little Canyon Ruin in Hovenweep National Monument, Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon, Sand Canyon Pueblo, White House Ruin in Canyon de Chelly National Monument, and Yucca House National Monument. The study concluded, that most travel done between the sites required the ability to cross the San Juan, Mancos, and Animas Rivers, sometimes more than once. Additionally, that routes were and did go straight over the canyon cliff faces. Finding ancient trade routes in the Four Corners region would not only increase the knowledge of how people were traversing the varied geography during a rainy season, but also potentially locate new sites to protect for the future.