043W

Room 43W is an original Chacoan room located on the back row of rooms in the northwest sector of Salmon Pueblo. The room measures 5.8 x 2.5 m and was not structurally modified in the San Juan period. It lies north of and is connected to Room 31W by a sealed doorway. In all, 29 strata were designated in Room 43W. The upper strata relate to the San Juan occupation. These include several fill layers, feature deposits associated with burials, and several layers of roof-fall. The remaining strata date to the Chacoan era. These included a floor unit, occupational and trash layers, and construction debris. Thirty-one features were associated with Room 43W: vigas, latillas, Chacoan doorways, a wooden feature (identified as a drying rack for food), a wood curtain, two pits, and burials. There was also a dense concentration of lithics with many unmodified sandstone fragments and quartzite cobbles. Tree ring dates indicate initial construction of 43W during the Chacoan era, around 1090. Given the stratigraphy, 43W seems to have seen activity throughout the San Juan period throughout the mid-1100s to the mid to late 1200s.