Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 January 2017
An archaeological survey of the areas along the river and the side canyons in upper Grand Canyon led to the location of 18 sites, five isolated and 13 in four clusters. The age of these sites is consistent with others found in the Grand Canyon north of the Colorado River and ranges generally around the period A.D. 1050-1150. It would appear that the occupants of these sites were struggling agriculturalists of the Anasazi pattern who were unable to adjust to this rigorous environment and abandoned the area. Evidence for a more or less continuous use of the Grand Canyon was found in the Little Colorado River Canyon, where the original Hopi sipapu was located. While prehistoric occupation may once have occurred to a minor degree near the mouth of the Little Colorado, its major function has been as a passage-way between the Hopi pueblos and the Hopi salt mine, with an intermediate stop at the sipapu (a geological formation). This paper is one of a series that attempts to outline archaeological developments in the Grand Canyon region.