Site Overview

Site Number

5MT1825

History of the Site Name

Site was named for the butte on which, and around the base of which, the village was built.

Other Names

Name Comment
Battle Rock Holmes 1875*1:5; Jackson 1875*1:July 30 entry, 1981*1:Plate 5. National Archives Trust Fund photo no. 57-541
Fortified Rock Colorado Historical Society photos no. WHJ163, WHJ164
Sentinel House, Sentinel Pueblo Arrington 1986*1:6, 58-59

Site Type

Habitation (with public architecture)

Site Boundary Description

Site is bounded by exposed bedrock to the south, by a stream channel to the north. To the east and west the site is defined by the absence of artifacts and features.

Site Size

1.88 acres (.76 hectares)

Site Composition and Layout

The site is composed of rubble mounds, kiva depressions, midden areas, standing structure walls and site-enclosing walls, a preserved log floor, possible plaza areas, and petroglyphs. The remains of two stone-and-earth dams are located 40 m north of the s

Cultural Affiliation and Date Range of Occupation

Mesa Verde ancestral Pueblo Indian, approximately A.D. 1256 to 1285 (late Pueblo III)

General Location

McElmo Canyon, 12 miles west of State Highway 491 (formerly Highway 666) on County Road G (McElmo Road), Cortez, Colorado (Montezuma County)

Ownership, Stewardship

U.S. Government, Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Canyon of the Ancients National Monument}

Years of Crow Canyon Excavation

1990-1994

Percent Excavated by Crow Canyon

Permits to conduct excavations and to place a temporary laboratory trailer and portable toilet near the site were issued to Crow Canyon Archaeological Center by the Bureau of Land Management, San Juan Resource Area Office, Durango, Colorado. Excavation wa

Permits Comment
C-39466g 1990-1992; Bureau of Land Management: excavation
C-39466i 1993-1994; Bureau of Land Management: excavation
CO-038 1993-1994; Bureau of Land Management Land Use Permit to park trailer and toilet