Archaeological Investigations Along the Navajo-McCullough Transmission Line, Southern Utah and Northern Arizona

Since the Glen Canyon Project, eastern stretches of the Utah-Arizona border have become increasingly well known. From the Glen Canyon Dam west, however, few sites have been excavated. During 1972-73, the Museum of Northern Arizona surveyed a 500 kV transmission line transect from the Navajo Generating Station at Page, Arizona, to the Nevada border southwest of St. George, Utah. The line continues from the Nevada border to the McCullough Switching Station south of Boulder City, Nevada. This latter portion of the line was surveyed by Richard Brooks of the Nevada Archaeological Survey, Southern Branch. Sixty-two sites were recorded on the Museum of Northern Arizona portion of the survey, 32 of which were excavated. Few sites were totally excavated; most were extensively (though non-randomly) sampled. The objective of the survey was to extract as much information as possible concerning the aboriginal population in the transect. Cultural traditions identified for the area include the Desert Archaic, Virgin and Kayenta Anasazi, Fremont, and Southern Paiute. On this survey little concrete evidence of the Fremont culture was isolated, although a few artifacts were located. This lack of Fremont throughout most sites is probably due to the southerly nature of the transect. The project had several research objectives, among which was an evaluation of the validity of the Virgin-Kayenta differentiation. Our material did not, however, lend itself to this investigation. Second, a study of the presence of the Southern Paiute and their significance within the area was undertaken. This objective has been realized to a great extent. A third research objective was the delineation of periods of occupation and cultural influence within each region. Due to the lack of accurately datable material, most of the dating offered is inferential. A fourth research objective was a study of subsistence patterns. It appears that hunting and gathering was the dominant pattern over the entire area. Consequently, this research was reformulated to consist of a site usage study based on analysis of tool assemblages, and of the environmental niches and variables available for exploitation.