The human ability to modify our landscape can be dramatic and even beautiful. A remarkable expression of this process can be seen in the development of extensive agricultural terraces and grid gardens in the hills above the Jemez River Valley on Zia Pueblo lands. Ulysses Reid, of Zia Pueblo, will lead a strenuous morning hike […]

The Lalo family from the village of Hotevilla on Third Mesa (Hopi Reservation, Arizona) will give an extended presentation on Hopi culture, farming, and art during this two-day event at the Center for New Mexico Archaeology. All four members of the Lalo family take part in their ceremonial duties at Hotevilla, continue to farm staple […]

A talk about the skeletal and dental evidence that document the health of past peoples in the Southwest, and some new approaches to interpreting these data to understand the lives of individuals and communities. The Brown Bag talks will take place at the Center for New Mexico Archaeology at 12:00 noon in the CNMA library. […]

Yucca fiber has been a staple of the Office of Archaeological Studies’ education outreach programs, and more recently we have explored its modern potential as part of an economic development exploration. This presentation reviews how yucca fiber and leaves were used in the past, based on archaeological materials from throughout the Southwest. It covers “old […]

Eric Blinman, Director, Office of Archaeological Studies Florescence and Crisis in the New Mexican Southwest: AD 900-1300 When agriculture is successful and reliable, it can fuel the development of social and economic complexity. Sustainability of cultural innovation, however, is dependent on the fit between climate variation and community needs. The tenth through thirteenth centuries of […]

Jeremy Sabloff, Past President and External Professor, Santa Fe Institute Introduction to the Lecture Series George T. Crawford, Director, Blackwater Draw, National Historic Landmark Early Peoples of New Mexico and the Southwest: First Peoples through the Initial Adoption of Maize Archaeological research is rapidly expanding our knowledge of the earliest human groups that occupied the […]

In July and August 2016, Dr. James E. Snead, California State University-Northridge, invited me to join a research project on the Island of Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia. Located 6500 miles west of Los Angeles, Yap covers only 34 square miles and is the administrative and chiefly center of the Western Caroline Islands […]

The Friends of Archaeology (FOA) is holding its annual Holiday Party and Silent Auction, Sunday, November 13, from 3 to 6 pm, at the Hotel Santa Fe. This festive and informative event provides a rare opportunity for the public to learn about how New Mexico’s first inhabitants lived, their not-so-primitive technologies, and some of the […]

The Office of Archaeological Studies, in collaboration with the Santa Fe Chapter of the Archaeological Institute of America and other organizations in northern New Mexico, will host an open house at the Center for New Mexico Archaeology on Saturday, October 15, 2016 from 10 am to 4 pm. Visitors will have the opportunity to tour […]

Come join us for a visit to the ancient town of Paquimé, heart of the Casas Grandes world. This unique center displays many elements associated with Mesoamerican societies to the south—ball courts, public platform mounds, effigy mounds, an advanced water delivery system, macaw breeding and a beautiful museum. A visit to Mata Ortiz, the famous […]

La Bajada Pueblo, a Rio Grande Classic period site, was occupied from the A.D. 1200’s up to A.D. 1700 (dates obtained in 2008 by BLM archeologist Peter McKenna). Both Cochiti and Santo Domingo Pueblos trace ancestry to this site.  The only excavation of La Bajada Pueblo was in 1915, when Nels Nelson excavated about 10% […]

For most of the public, and even for most archaeologists, the story of Northern Rio Grande archaeology begins with Bandelier National Monument and the Coalition period (AD 1175-1300). Well preserved sites on the Pajarito Plateau have attracted attention since the late 19th century due to their visibility, but the sites are almost exclusively post-AD 1175 […]