Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology

This paper reports the discovery and subsequent investigation of a buried channel in the alluvial flood plain of Gooseberry Valley in central Utah. The channel is located immediately east of Nawthis Village, a large Fremont habitation site which has been the focus of the University of Utah Archaeological Field School since 1978 (Jennings 1978; Metcalfe and O'Connell 1979; Jones and O'Connell 1981; Jones and Metcalfe 1981; Metcalfe 1983). Based on geomorphic and archaeological evidence, we argue that the buried channel is artificial and is, in all probability, the remains of a channel constructed and maintained by the inhabitants of Nawthis Village for the purpose of irrigating their crops.