UNM 2013 Fall Field School- Day 1

Note: The 2013 UNM Field School was planned for Chaco Canyon, including testing at the Wetherill Homestead.  However, due to the government shutdown, we had to relocate and were delayed in going into the field.  

San Luis de Cabezon – Day 1 (10/14/2013)- blog entry by Katherine Shaum

            Today was the first day of our class’s time working at San Luis de Cabezon, a site about 1.5 hours from the University of New Mexico. The site is located in the Rio Puerco Valley northwest of the Rio Puerco on a flat plain dominated by Cabezon Peak. There are small cactui on the site and gold and green cottonwoods along the river. The only wildlife we saw today were lizards and a horned caterpillar. Weather-wise, we battled the wind – sometimes unsuccessfully – with copious amounts of rubber bands.

            Our archaeological site is close to a construction site where construction workers are installing a new pipeline. This site is an example of CRM (cultural resource management) archaeology in which archaeologists help construction companies follow the law by finding and researching archaeological sites before construction changes or damages the site.

            This site (and others along the river) date to what is called the Archaic period, about 3000 or 2000 years ago. This was a time when people were transitioning from the hunting of animals and the gathering of wild plants to farming, including growing corn. People likely only lived at the site seasonally. In modern times, the site was again used for farming and cattle grazing.

            Before excavating, we had to first get an idea of the layout of the site. The class started the day by flagging artifacts lying on the surface of the ground with orange pin-flags. The oldest things we found were fire-cracked rock and pieces of chipped stone. We also found glass, metal, and pottery sherds from historic times. We also found animal bones, such as a baby cow leg bone! We also found corncobs, evidence for the past farming on the site.

            After flagging the artifacts, we could see where artifacts were concentrated. This helped us decide where we wanted to place our test pits for excavation. Using a Total Station, tape measures, twine, wooden stakes, and a mallet, we measured distances and placed six 1 meter x 1 meter squares in promising locations across the site. We are ready to start excavation tomorrow morning.

            My partner Holly and I also went around logging, organizing, and bagging some of the surface artifacts. They were mostly pieces of chipped stone made of materials such as quartzite and petrified wood. We did this together with the help of the Total Station so we could record the exact location on the surface of each artifact. We then bagged each artifact and brought them back to UNM for further analysis.

            In sum, there is a lot of important mapping and paperwork to be done before excavation can start. But we have ensured that we will start on a good footing.