2010 University of New Mexico
Southwestern Archaeological Field School

Plains, Playas, and Paleoindians

Anth. 375/575

Overview of Deann's site, located at the base
of the volcanic hill in the center.

The 2010 UNM Southwestern Field School will be held from June 1-July 9.  One of the oldest field school programs in the Southwest, it offers students the opportunity to learn basic field and laboratory skills within the context of a particular research problem.  This summer, the field school will be held at Deann’s Site (LA 134644), a small Folsom bison kill and short-term campsite located on the Llano de Albuquerque (“West Mesa”) west of the Albuquerque Volcanoes.  This site was discovered in 2001, tested between 2002 and 2004, and was the scene of the 2006 Southwestern Field School.  The work accomplished thus far has shown it to contain flaked stone artifacts and poorly preserved bison remains in a shallow wind-blown sand deposit adjacent to a small playa (dry lake) basin.

Research at Deann’s Site is an important component of a long-term project investigating Folsom land use and paleoecology in the Middle Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico.  As participants in the field school, students will learn:

Paleoindian prehistory of New Mexico

Research approaches to hunter-gatherer land use

Archaeological excavation techniques to recover artifacts and faunal remains

Geoarchaeological methods of identifying, recording, and sampling Quaternary deposits

Site survey techniques

Basic lithic artifact analytical techniques

While the main focus will be excavation at Deann’s Site and the playa adjacent to it, students will also learn archaeological survey techniques on parcels of land on the Llano de Albuquerque west of Deann’s Site.  Day-long trips will be made to important sites such as Blackwater Draw in east-central New Mexico and a chert source in the northeastern Zuni Mountains.

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Folsom

The Folsom cultural complex derives its name from the small town of Folsom in northeastern New Mexico, where the distinctively grooved or fluted Folsom points were first discovered in association with the remains of more than 30 bison in 1926.  The bison are a late Pleistocene-early Holocene species known as Bison antiquus, which is related to today’s bison (Bison bison) but approximately 15-20 percent larger.  Excavation of the Folsom site was of critical importance to North American archaeology, inasmuch as it was the first site to demonstrate that humans were contemporary with extinct animal species, thereby implying an age of at least 10,000 years before present.  Renewed investigation of the Folsom site in the late 1990s produced radiocarbon dates of approximately 10,500 years before present.  In the past 80 years, numerous other Folsom sites and artifacts have been found and investigated from southern Canada south into Chihuahua, and from the Rocky Mountains east to Iowa.  Radiocarbon dating conducted at several sites suggests that Folsom dates to between 10,200 and 10,900 radiocarbon years before present.  In addition to points, Folsom sites typically produce retouched flake tools for butchering, hide processing, and wood working, as well as waste flakes from tool manufacture.  At sites where preservation is good, bone tools and ornaments may be recovered.

Bison seem to have been central to Folsom subsistence; if any faunal remains are preserved at Folsom sites, bison is almost always present and usually most abundant.  Other species have been found in small numbers at Folsom sites as well, including antelope, cottontail and jackrabbits, wolf, coyote, as well as rodents. Folsom lifeways seem to have been organized around the hunting of bison, which often seems to have entailed a fully nomadic existence following bison herds.  Evidence of such high mobility is seen in the presence of flaked stone tools made of lithic materials several tens to a few hundred kilometers distant from bison kill sites or campsites, and by the relative paucity of artifacts left at such sites.

Folsom in the Middle Rio Grande Valley

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Artifacts from Deann's site.  Top row, left to right: biface
fragment; two butchering tools.  Lower row, left to right:
Folsom point midsection;Folsom point distal preform
fragment; small fragment ofa tool made of chert from a
source 300 km to the west;and fragment of a tool made
of
chert from a source 100 km to the west.

Folsom sites were discovered in central New Mexico in the 1940s and 1950s; the University of New Mexico has a long tradition of Paleoindian research in the Middle Rio Grande Valley.  Within the area from Bernalillo on the north to the Rio Grande-Rio Puerco confluence on the south, there exists a surprisingly rich record of occupation by these ancient hunters.  Previous research by UNM graduate students and faculty within this region began with W. James Judge’s survey in the late1960s through early 1970s.  His work, done in collaboration with a small number of amateur archaeologists and fellow graduate students, resulted in the identification of nearly 60 Paleoindian sites (Judge 1973).  Half of them were Folsom sites.  He was the first to demonstrate the strong relationship between playas (dry lake beds) and Paleoindian sites (Judge and Dawson 1972).  He recorded Deann’s site in 1971, although his work there was limited to surface collection of a few artifacts.

In the late 1960s, Jerry Dawson, another UNM graduate student, conducted excavations at the Rio Rancho Folsom site, which, until 2000, was the only Paleoindian site in the Middle Rio Grande Valley to have been excavated (Dawson and Judge 1969).  Renewed work at this important site took place in 1999 and 2000 (Huckell and Kilby 2002).

In the 1990s, UNM graduate students Daniel Amick and Philippe LeTourneau utilized data from museum and amateur collections to investigate Folsom land use in the southern Plains and Southwest, including the Middle Rio Grande Valley (Amick 1994,1996; LeTourneau 2000).  Using artifact assemblage composition and lithic raw material sourcing, they were able to initiate study of how the Middle Rio Grande region fit within much larger-scale patterns of Folsom land use.

In 2001 and 2002, the UNM Southwestern Archaeological Field School conducted excavations at the Boca Negra Wash Folsom site, located on the east side of the Albuquerque Volcanoes.  This site consists of two spatially separate camp localities occupied for very short periods after one or more successful bison kills around the margin of a small playa.  Shallowly buried in eolian deposits, Boca Negra produced a few thousand artifacts and small fragments of bison tooth enamel and bone.  The lithic raw materials present at the site suggest that the occupants of the site obtained stone for tool-making from at least three sources in northwestern New Mexico.  Loading up with pink chalcedony from the Chuska Mountains on the Arizona-New Mexico border, they next moved east to the Zuni Mountains where they acquired a yellow chert with black spots.  They then traveled northeastward into the Jemez Mountains to obtain Pedernal chert and Valle Grande obsidian before reaching the Middle Rio Grande Valley (Huckell and Kilby 2000; Huckell et al. 2002, 2003).

Research at Deann’s site in the summer of 2006 help broaden understanding of Folsom land use in the Middle Rio Grande Valley, and showed a very different pattern of lithic material use and movement than that seen at Boca Negra Wash.  Preliminary indications are that its occupants did obtain pink chalcedony from the Chuskas, and then moved east to the Zuni Mountains where they procured the black-spotted yellow chert and a distinctive opaque white chert.  However, they avoided the Jemez Mountains and instead continued due east from the Zunis, loading up on chert and chalcedony from cobble sources along the western margin of the Llano de Albuquerque.   This suggests the existence of flexibility in the pattern of Folsom group movements across northwestern New Mexico.

Playas

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Overview of Deann's Site with playa in the background
(note backhoe trench backdirt)

Away from the river, the Middle Rio Grande Valley is largely a landscape of grasses, shrubs, and occasional junipers; this is particularly true for the plains area of Llano de Albuquerque.  In an arid environment dominated by wind-blown sand deposits, small closed basins that hold water for a few days or a few months can be of critical importance.  These basins are known as playas, a Spanish word referring to dry lake beds that also means “beach.”  Not only do playas offer sources of water and nutritious plants for grazing animals such as bison, but may be attractive to humans as well.  This certainly seems to have been the case for Paleoindians, who focused a considerable portion of their energies on hunting bison.  In turn, playas are important to archaeologists today, not just because of the sites that may be nearby but because the deposits contained within these playa basins can hold records of past climatic conditions and plant communities

As part of investigations at the Boca Negra Wash Folsom site in 2001-2004, both coring and backhoe trenching were used to reveal a stratigraphic record of the playa at that site.  Nearly 2 m thick near the center of the playa, the deposits span most of the last 14,000 years (Holliday et al. 2006).  The playa at Deann’s site was also studied, and will be investigated further this summer using coring; students will learn how to recognize and describe the deposits it contains.

References

Amick, Daniel S.

1994  Folsom Diet Breadth and Land Use in the American Southwest.  Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.

1996    Regional Patterns of Folsom Mobility and Land Use in the American Southwest.         World Archaeology 27: 411-426.

Dawson, Jerry and W. James Judge

1969        Paleo-Indian Sites and Topography in the Middle Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico.  Plains Anthropologist 14: 149-163.

Holliday, Vance T., Bruce B. Huckell, James H. Mayer, Steven L. Forman, and Leslie D. McFadden

2006    Geoarchaeology of the Boca Negra Wash Area, Albuquerque Basin, New Mexico, USA.  Geoarchaeology 21: 765-802.

Huckell, Bruce B. and J. David Kilby

2000        Boca Negra Wash, A New Folsom Site in the Middle Rio Grande Valley, New Mexico.  Current Research in the Pleistocene 17:45-47.

2002   Folsom Point Production at the Rio Rancho Site, New Mexico.  In Folsom Technology and Lifeways, edited by John E. Clark and Michael B. Collins, pp. 11-29.  Special Publication No. 4, Lithic Technology, University of Tulsa.

Huckell, Bruce B., J. David Kilby, Briggs Buchanan, Marcus J. Hamilton, and Susan Ruth

2002    2001 Excavations at the Boca Negra Wash Folsom Site, North-Central New Mexico.  Current Research in the Pleistocene 19: 39-40.

2003    2002 Investigations at the Boca Negra Wash Folsom Site, North-Central New Mexico.  Current Research in the Pleistocene 20: 33-35.

Judge, W. James

1973        Paleoindian Occupation of the Central Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico.  University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.

Judge, W. James and Jerry Dawson

1972        Paleoindian Settlement Technology in New Mexico.  Science 176: 1210-1216.

LeTourneau, Philippe D.

2000        Folsom Toolstone Procurement in the Southwest and Southern Plains.  Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.

Stratigraphy in the playa as exposed in the
backhoe trench.  Grayish brown deposit represents
clay-rich playa sediments resting on wind-blown
reddish brown
sand at base of trench wall.



Basic Information

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Field School Dates: June 1-July 9

We will work a 5-day week, with weekends off.

Students attending universities whose schedules overlap with starting or ending dates of the UNM Field School may still participate.  However, written arrangements  must be made prior to enrollment in the Field School.

Student Eligibility

The Southwestern Archaeological Field School is an annual program of the University of New Mexico.  Students presently attending any college or university may apply to the Field School.  High school juniors and seniors in the concurrent enrollment program are also eligible.  Applications for concurrent enrollment may be obtained through the UNM Admissions Department (505-277-2446).  Out of state students will need to apply for UNM non-degree student status upon acceptance.

All Field School students are formally enrolled for 6 credit hours in the University of New Mexico for the duration of the Field School.  They receive UNM credits that, in most instances, are transferable to other colleges and universities.  Students should check with their university registrar or other official to determine transferability of UNM Field School credits.

Registration in the Field School does not constitute admission to any University of New Mexico degree program.  Students other than UNM degree candidates may petition to apply Field School credit toward a UNM degree only if they apply to UNM and are admitted as UNM degree candidates.  The Field School is sponsored by UNM and is supported largely by student tuitions.  Students are expected to comply with all federal, state, and local laws.  Noncompliance is grounds for dismissal from the Field School.

Accommodations

This summer the Field School will be based in Albuquerque, and students will commute daily from the UNM campus to and from the field site.  Students who are not Albuquerque-area residents will need to provide their own lodging and subsistence.  Non-resident students may stay on campus or find housing at a short-term location such as an apartment or motel.  If you are interested in assistance in finding housing, please contact field school director Bruce Huckell.

Transportation

Students are not required to provide their own transportation.  The field school will provide transportation to and from work locations and for all field trips.  Private cars will be necessary only for personal trips.

Financial Aid

Students at the University of New Mexico should follow the normal procedures and contact the Financial Aid Department.  No financial aid is available for non-UNM students, so visiting students should consult the Financial Aid Office at their own institutions.

Application and Registration

Application Deadline:  April 16, 2010 (Please call if your application will be delayed)

All students must complete and return an application (click here for application) along with one letter of recommendation and an unofficial transcript.  Send completed applications to:

Field School

Attn: Carla Sarracino

Department of Anthropology

MSC 01 1040

University of New Mexico

Albuquerque, NM  87131

Carla Sarracino can be reached at (505) 277-0194 or by email at ajls@unm.edu.

We will contact you once we have received your application.

Registration

Applicants accepted into the Field School will be sent further instructions on how to register.

Check-in and orientation will take place on June 1.  We will provide more detailed information on the time and place of orientation with the mailing sent to accepted Field School participants.  Students arriving by airplane, train, or bus from outside Albuquerque will need to provide transportation information prior to arrival.

Tuition

$212.55* per credit hour for undergraduates ($1,275.30 for 6 units)

$233.20* per credit hour for graduates ($1,399.20 for 6 units)

*  Tuition is subject to slight increases each year, beginning with the summer semester, and various other adjustments in cost are possible.  See UNM student handbook for details.

Insurance

All participants must provide their own health insurance, and documentation of coverage is required before attending the Field School.  Summer health insurance can be obtained through the University of New Mexico, Student Health Center (call 505-277-3136).

Any University of New Mexico student who was enrolled in the University Student Health Insurance Plan for the full academic year will also be covered during the summer at no additional charge.

If a student does not have health insurance, accident insurance can be purchased for $19.00 from the Department of Anthropology and will cover students for the 41 days of the Field School.  This fee is in addition to tuition.  Please contact Carla Sarracino about this option if you do not have health insurance.

Faculty and Other Project Scholars

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Bruce B. Huckell
Research Associate Professor,
Department of Anthropology
Senior Research Coordinator,
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology
bhuckell@unm.edu
(505) 277-4491

Matthew Schmader
City of Albuquerque
Open Space Archaeologist

Leslie D. McFadden
Professor,
Earth and Planetary Sciences
University of New Mexico

Gary Smith
Professor,
Earth and Planetary Sciences
University of New Mexico

Vance T. Holliday
Professor,
Geosciences
University of Arizona

Chris Merriman
Graduate Student Teaching Assistant
Department of Anthropology
University of New Mexico

Matthew J. O’Brien
Graduate Student Teaching Assistant
Department of Anthropology
University of New Mexico

Basic Information

Student Eligibility

Accommodations

Transportation

Financial Aid

Application

Registration

Tuition

Insurance

Project Scholars

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