It was with the Museum that Pilles excavated several Sinagua cultural sites near Winona and Angell, Arizona. The sites are located twenty miles east of Flagstaff at an elevation of 6,000 feet. He worked on a pithouse as well as two field houses. The three sites dated back to A.D. 1075 as evidenced by pottery and tree-ring dates. The pithouse (NA9814) was heavily excavated and was found to be usual for its time period. The pithouse (NA9814) was a seven-meter diameter masonry mound constructed with limestone boulders. The boulders were set in mud mortar and the walls were probably no higher than two meters. Several postholes were dug inside the room, and the postholes were either fourteen centimeters or five centimeters in diameter. Pilles believes that the larger holes supported the roof and that the five-centimeter postholes were for a ladder or ladder support. There is no evidence of a doorway, which indicates entry from the roof. There is also a hearth, which was located in the north wall of the site. It was found to be in poor condition.

The field houses (NA9816/NA9817) are located six miles east of the pithouse. Pilles’ research has shown that these field houses were temporary shelters and storage areas in conjunction with agricultural activities. Pottery found at both the pithouse and the field houses indicate that the field houses belonged to the inhabitants of the pithouse (NA9814).

In 1975, Peter Pilles moved on to join the staff at the Coconino National Forest. With this post, he became the first full-time Forest Archaeologist in the southwest region. Peter Pilles now heads the Elden Pueblo Archaeological Project at the Coconino National Forest.

Elden Pueblo is a sixty-five-room pueblo that consists of thrash mounds, several pit houses, a kiva, and a large community room. The peublo housed between 200 and 300 people from about 1150 to 1275 C.E. Elden Pueblo is located at the base of Mount Elden and is the largest site within the Coconino National Forest.

The first excavation at the site took place in 1926 and was directed by Dr. Jesse Walter Fewkes of the Smithsonian Institution. Roger Kelly from Northern Arizona Univeristy was next to work at the site from 1967-68 where he trained students in the use of correct archaeological techniques. In the early 1970s, the National Forest Service took over the site and Peter Pilles took charge of the archaeological work at Elden Pueblo.

Since then, the work done at the site has garnered many awards including the National Trust Historic Preservation Award and an award from the Governor of Arizona in 1983 - Achievement in Historic Preservation. Peter Pilles Jr. was awarded both the United States Department of Agriculture's Award for intergrating Archaeology and Public Involvement as well as the Windows of the Past National Award from the US Forest Service. The majority of these awards spawn from the great success this site has seen because of solid archaeological research that is coupled with community volunteerism at the site.

Also of great importance, the Elden Pueblo is the type site for the Elden Phase of the Northern Sinagua tradition (A.D. 1150-1250). Archaeology.org actually featured the dig online in an interactive setting.

Found here: Interactive Dig Elden Pueblo

Bibliographic Sources:

Pilles, Peter J. “Habitation and field houses near Winona and Angell, Arizona.” Kiva. 34(2). 1969, pp. 90-102.

Internet: Interactive Dig At Elden Pueblo
Archaeology.org

Internet: Field Work At Elden Pueblo
Archaeological Institute of America

Internet: Coconino National Forest – Elden Pueblo
USDA Forest Service

Internet: 4.3 Case Study 2 at Elden Pueblo: Flagstaff, Arizona