Three years ago Gaylord Robb brought the Virgin River Village, a five-acre prehistoric site located in southwest Utah, to the Conservancy’s attention. At the time, the Conservancy was in the process of acquiring Paragonah Mounds in southwest Utah. The Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah was involved in that acquisition and Mr. Robb, the tribe’s director of economic development, was acting as its representative. Being a lifelong resident of the region, Robb knew of a number of archaeological sites in the area, including this ancient village near the town of Virgin.
The site is perched on a river terrace overlooking a calm stretch of the Virgin River just west of Saint George. Its location makes it attractive to developers, and consequently, it’s in imminent danger of destruction. During a surface survey, eight complete manos and multiple mano fragments were observed across the site, as well as ceramic sherds and debitage. The sherds appear to be North Creek Gray, a style that dates from A.D. 550 to 1300.
The site has numerous sandstone slabs, some of which stand upright and resemble tombstones, and as a result, it has been mistaken for a burial ground when in fact it’s a habitation site.
This remarkable preserve may give future researchers insight into the lives of the prehistoric inhabitants of the Virgin Anasazi, a group about which archaeologists don’t know much.
Summary. Read More in our American Archaeology, Fall 2016 | Vol. 19 No. 3.
