Joe Ben Wheat Site Complex facts for kids

The Joe Ben Wheat Site Complex is a group of ancient archaeological sites found near Yellow Jacket, Colorado in Montezuma County, Colorado. These sites show us how people lived between the years AD 600 and 1300. The whole complex is also known by its special ID number, 5MT16722. In 2004, the Joe Ben Wheat Site Complex was added to the National Register of Historic Places, which means it's an important historical place in the United States.

How These Ancient Sites Were Found

Imagine a farmer named Mr. Stevenson in Yellow Jacket, Colorado. One day, he found a piece of old pottery at the spot where a house had once burned down. This was in 1953. He decided to send the pottery to Joe Ben Wheat, who was a Curator at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History.

Joe Ben Wheat was an expert. He looked at the pottery and realized it was very old, probably from around AD 500-750. Mr. Stevenson then invited Wheat to explore his land in the Mesa Verde region of southwestern Colorado. This is how the discovery of these important sites began!

Digging Up the Past: Excavations

Joe Ben Wheat spent many years digging and studying at the Joe Ben Wheat Site Complex. This process is called excavation. He performed eight excavations at the three main sites that make up this complex. These sites are known as Stevenson Site (5MT1), Porter Pueblo (5MT2), and Site 5MT3.

Exploring the Stevenson Site (5MT1)

The Stevenson Site, also called 5MT1, was a small village from the Basketmaker III Era (around AD 675–700). It had four semi-underground homes. These homes were arranged in two half-circles. There were also 28 pit-rooms. These pit-rooms were used for working and storing things.

In the middle of these half-circles were open areas, like plazas. There was also a large open-air shelter called a ramada. Joe Ben Wheat changed the site's name from "Stevenson Site" to 5MT1. This name follows a system used by the Smithsonian. The "5" means Colorado, "MT" stands for Montezuma County, and "1" means it was the first site excavated there.

Discovering Porter Pueblo (5MT2)

Porter Pueblo, or Site 5MT2, shows us how people lived during the Pueblo II Period and Pueblo III Period. This was between AD 1060 and 1280. This site had three or four groups of homes. It gives us clues about how communities grew and changed over time.

Uncovering Site 5MT3

Site 5MT3 was the largest of the three sites that Joe Ben Wheat excavated. It's a special place because people lived there at different times between AD 600 and 1300. This site had four pit-house structures. These were homes built partly underground. They also had rooms nearby for storage.

What's interesting is that the site was left empty for about 300 years. Then, people came back and lived there again!

Joe Ben Wheat worked at Yellow Jacket for over 30 years, from 1954 to 1991. These three sites (5MT1, 5MT2, and 5MT3) had unique features that had never been seen before. They were a very important discovery for understanding the history of the Mesa Verde region.