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Show o Swi& Ceeifao Utah Supplement To: Gunnison Valley News - The Salina Sun Garfield County News - The Richfield Reaper VOLUME NUMBER 20 3 WEDNESDAY, MAY 19, 1982 , Anasozi Indian Village Offers Look at Ancients By Nancy Bales Spotlight Writer Anasazi Indian Village just outside of Boulder on Utah Highway 12 offers the visitor to Garfield County a unique and unusual look at the past. BOULDER The state historical monument, open year around, encompasses the site of an Anasazi Indian village where life for about 200 people was sustained for a period of 75 years almost a thousand years ago. Anasazi is a Navajo term, adopted by archeologists to describe the ancient Indian peoples who inhabited the Four Corners area of Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico during the period of perhaps a few hundred years before Christ until the late 1500s. Navajos to describe the remains which were discovered when they entered the Southwest about 1500. The structures of todays modern Pueblo Indians are not at all unlike those unearthed at the various sites in the Four Corner area where some of the most extensive archaeologcial research in the world has taken place. Anasazi" translates roughly into Anasazi Indian Village, known to enemy ancestors and was used by archeologists as the Coombs site, is thought to have been one of the largest communities of Anasazi Indians west of the Colorado River. Occupied from about 1050 to about 1200, its inhabitants are believed to have come from northeastern Arizona. The everyday tasks of making a living and obtaining materials to be used for making pottery, tools and buildings must not have been too difficult for the Anasazi at the Coombs site. There was a an abundance of fertile soil around the village and streams from the magnificent Aquarius Plateau flowed nearby. A variety of wild animals and useful plants were available around the village and in the nearby mountains. Corn, beans, and squash were raised in garden plots near the community and small game such as rabbits, rodents and birds were hunted in the vicinity. Deer and mountain sheep, valued not only for food but also as providers of hides, horns and sinew, were obtained from the canyon country to the south and the plateau to the north. Various kinds of stone, wood, clay and vegetable fibers were available in the neighborhood. The resources at hand for the ancient occupants were equal to or better than those of many areas where the Anasazi lived. to this point of view, but the amount of pottery and other household goods argues against it. Yet, if the populace had been forced abandon the village under pressure from other people or environmental causes, they may have chosen to take their extra food with them rather than carry less important household goods. Whatever the reason for abandonment, the town was never reoccupied. to With the exception of the perishable artifacts (sandals, baskets, mats, and other wood and vegetable materials), the artifacts displayed in the museum at Anasazi Indian Village were found at the Coombs site. The diorama seen in the museum was constructed to scale using the map drawn by the archeolgosits and architectural evidence uncovered through excavation of the site. The Indian village was excavated during the summer seasons of 1958-5by the University of Utah as part of the Glen Canyon Salvage Project. At that time, because of the significance of the site, it was proposed that it be made a State Park. The site was designated such in 1960, and in February, 1970, Anasazi throughout construction of the present facilities Kayenta the duration of their stay at the Coombs was begun village archeology has revealed. Superintendent Larry Davis started his assignment at Anasazi one month The village may have been abanbefore the visitor center was dedicated doned due to a change in the rainfall pattern or possibly a change in the July 10, 1970, the first Utah State Park growing season, or perhaps a com- dealing with archeology or arbination of both. It is also possible that cheological ruins. there was pressure from outside Davis graduated from Brigham peoples, but archeologists have found Young University with a major in no real evidence to support that reasonarcheology and a minor in social aning. thropology. His assistant at the park is Shortly before or after abandonment, Dee Hardy. Since July of 1970, 130,103 the village was burned. The possibility visitors, an average of about 1,000 per of purposeful destruction of the setmonth, have seen the unusual tlement by its inhabitants should not be overlooked, archeologists say. Empty store units found at the site lend weight (Continued on Page 6) What ultimately happened to the inhabitants of the Coombs site is a puzzle. No sites of later age are known in the vicinity. It seems logical to surmise that they may have returned to the Kayenta area in northeastern Arizona from whence many believe they came. They had close ties with the Archeological diggings at Anasazi Indian Village, excavated by University of Utah archeologists during the 1958-5- 9 summer .season. One find, a teen-ag- e female skeleton dubbed the display in the museum. Indian Princess 9 by Kscalante residents, is on Dispatcher Heart of UHP Communication By Loren R. Webb Spotlight Writer When a highway patrolman goes on the road, his life can often depend on the dispatcher. drivers licenses, arrest warrants registrations and the U.S. and dispatch that message to the officer about to stop a suspicious vehicle. The officer then knows what to expect when in he approaches the car. dispatcher can run through a computer check of license plates, A Dispatching however, can easily cause stress. Those who cant take it, dont last long, says Suzy Averett, Utah Patrol secretary. Nila Burr and Bruce Brown are two who have mastered the dispatchers job. But as Burr says, Its not something you can just sit down and do. Highway Its a challenge Once learned to learn. however, there is a certain sense of accomplishment, she says. At times, there is nothing to do and you just sit there, and then so much goes on, it takes several to man com- traveler to Anasazi Indian Village the first Utah historical monument devoted to ar Sign welcomes cheology. A modern museum, trail programs and a picnic site make village attraction. self-guidi- munications. Communications is an important aspect of the Richfield District UHP office, set up so dispatchers can talk to any law enforcement base station in the state. The UHP office also monitors hospital, ambulance and fire depart-- . ment service and has one of five fire alarm phones in town. Burr says the office sometimes dispatches for UDOT and can order snow plows to a specific location. All told, the UHP dispatchers office dispatches for some 27 agencies. Dispatcher hours are on three shifts. Regular shift is 8 a m. to 4 p.m., swing runs p.m. and graveyard from 12 midnight to 8 a.m. 2 The district office is also a port of entry so dispatchers, Burr and Brown keep insurance records of truckers and trucking companies, before issuing oversize permits. .. Recording phone conversations is also done through use of a dictaphone tape system. Highway Patrol dispatchers Bruce Brown, left, and Nila Burr, check over equipment which pro video-comput- vides instant information about vehicles, licenses. Office is connected to state-wid- e system. The bottom tape is never stopped except to place a new one on and file the old one. The top tape however, can be played back and listened to, then be erased at the tapes end if desired. Both tapes have a seven second delay system. The master tape can if needed, be used in a court of law for evidence purposes. With such a challenging setup, it's no wonder. Burr and Brown like their jobs. Since dispatchers also communicate in 10 code, heres signing off wth a i 4- - f3 SL Food storage rooms at village near Boulder have been stabilized after excavation by archeaologists. The specialists have been stabilized rooms by adding some type of mortar used by inhabitants of village. |