They are believed to represent portions of a single large settlement area, subdivided into separate villages.

Given the complex's location, it is possible that this was a village site visited by Spanish explorer Francisco Vázquez de Coronado during his 1541 expedition to a place he called Quivira.

Typical features of these sites include the presence of a council circle, depressions consistent with known forms of period semi-subterranean living structures, and mounds representing food caches or refuse middens.

The 1965 excavation was particularly significant, because it uncovered evidence of a deeper habitation layer beneath that site's council circle.

Finds from these investigations include pottery fragments, stone and bone tools and projectile points, and human remains.