Evaluating Tree-Ring Interpretations at Walpi Pueblo, Arizona

Abstract

The availability both of documentary data on the history of the Hopi pueblo of Walpi and of tree-ring dates from the village provides a rare opportunity to evaluate tree-ring interpretations in the light of independent chronological evidence. Three major events in the history of the community are reflected in the village's overall tree-ring date distribution: the initial settlement around A.D. 1400 of the site of Koechaptevela, located on the flank of First Mesa, the movement of the community around A.D. 1690 to the present location of Walpi on top of First Mesa, and the reconstruction of much of the village between A.D. 1880 and 1940. Analysis of the overall date distribution and of dates from individual rooms shows that many timbers in the village have been reused, sometimes more than once. For this reason, interpretation must rely on date clusters, though even they can be misleading when beams procured at the same time have been reused as a group. The significance of beam reuse to the interpretation of Walpi's tree-ring dates is a function, first, of the relocation of the village over a short distance around 1690 and, second, of the village's survival for almost 600 years. Because of Walpi's size and longevity, patterning in the pueblo's tree-ring evidence is most relevant to the interpretation of large, long-lived prehistoric and protohistoric sites in the Southwest. Historical details provided by tree-ring evidence are also likely to be of special interest to Native Americans, such as the Hopi, who live in these pueblos still.