
Excavations at Los Gavilanes Cody site, spring 2008.
The 2011 UNM Southwestern Field School will be held from June 6-July 8. 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 two Paleoindian sites in the general vicinity of Albuquerque: Los Gavilanes (LA 122673), a small Cody Complex camp site located west of Bernalillo, and the Martin Site, a Folsom camp in the Estancia Basin a short distance northwest of Moriarty. Los Gavilanes was partly excavated in 2000, and saw limited additional excavation in 2007 and 2008. The Martin Site was discovered and partially surface-collected in 1955. Work accomplished thus far at both sites suggests that they are short-term camps with artifact assemblages consisting of flaked stone tools and waste flakes from tool manufacture.
Research at Los Gavilanes and the Martin Site is an important component of a long-term project investigating Paleoindian land use and paleoecology in central 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 Los Gavilanes and the Martin Site, students will also learn archaeological survey techniques on parcels of land on the Llano de Albuquerque. Day-long trips will be made to important sites such as the Valles Caldera National Preserve in the Jemez Mountains and potentially to other locales.
The Paleoindian Period
“Paleoindian” is a term used to classify several distinct archaeological complexes that represent the earliest occupants of North America. It roughly spans the period from approximately 11,500 to 8000 radiocarbon years ago, and includes groups whose subsistence economies consisted predominantly of hunting with some gathering of plant foods. Clovis, Folsom, Plainview/Goshen, Agate Basin, Hell Gap, Cody, and Allen/Frederick are among the Paleoindian cultural complexes that have been identified in the western US. Each is recognized by a distinctive projectile point style. By at least 8000 years ago, the Paleoindian Period is succeeded by the Archaic period, which consists of complexes that rely on plant foods to a greater degree, as evidenced by the appearance of manos and metates used for seed milling.
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Paleoindians and Bison
Western Paleoindian sites frequently contain the remains of bison (buffalo). This is perhaps not surprising in environments that are today or were formerly grasslands or shrub-grasslands, given that bison thrive in such environments. As the only large mammal to survive the terminal Pleistocene megafaunal extinction, bison offered human hunters meat, hide, and sinew in abundance. Bison seem to have been central to Paleoindian subsistence; if any faunal remains are preserved at Paleoindian sites, bison is almost always present and usually most abundant. The bison are a late Pleistocene-early Holocene species known as Bison antiquus, which is related to but approximately 15-20 percent larger than modern bison (Bison bison). Other species have been found in small numbers at Paleoindian sites as well, including antelope, cottontail and jackrabbits, wolf, coyote, as well as rodents. Paleoindian subsistence appears 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 located several tens to a few hundred kilometers distant from bison kill sites or camp sites, and by the relative paucity of artifacts left at such sites, reflecting careful use of supplies of stone transported over such long distances.
The Folsom Complex
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 (Bison antiquus) in 1926. 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.
The Martin Folsom Site

Folsom point preforms from the Martin site.
Located only 40 miles east of Albuquerque, the Martin Site was the first Folsom site to be professionally investigated in the Estancia Basin. By the early 1950s, the Estancia Basin was shown to contain many Paleoindian sites representing multiple cultural complexes. UNM graduate student William Roosa learned of the Martin Site after Ken Martin (the current landowner) discovered a nearly complete Folsom point and numerous other artifacts in a wind-eroded dry farm field on the Martin Ranch. Roosa conducted surface collections of artifacts within the field, amassing some 1500 specimens. Among them were fragments of finished points broken in use, point preforms broken in manufacture and the distinctive channel flakes produced when preforms were fluted, sharp-pointed gravers, end scrapers used for hide or perhaps woodworking, and sharp-edged flake tools likely used for cutting tasks. The largest part of the assemblage consisted of a few thousand waste flakes from tool manufacture. He used the data from the site for a portion of his doctoral dissertation at the University of Michigan, but unfortunately no report on his investigations was ever published and no maps, notes, or photographs are known to exist. The collection is held at the University of Michigan. In 2002, we obtained the collection on loan and reanalyzed it. That same year William Reitze completed his UNM undergraduate honors thesis on the weaponry-related artifacts (points, preforms, channel flakes), and UNM graduate student Christina Sinkovec analyzed a large sample of the waste flakes in 2007. These analyses were modified to shorter manuscript that is currently being reviewed for publication. One important discovery of our re-analysis is that over 95 percent of the artifacts are made of a distinctive lithic material from sources in Texas that at least 600 km from the Martin site.

Finished Folsom point fragments from the Martin site.
In 2005 we were relocated the site and met Ken Martin, who allowed us to visit it. During our visit we found the tip of a Folsom point and perhaps two dozen waste flakes in the old field, which has not been cultivated for 50 years. While much of the site was exposed by wind erosion, a portion of it may still lie undisturbed between the edge of the old field and a county road; this is the area that the field school will explore. The site is located on a relatively level surface a kilometer or so northwest of the shoreline of a huge lake that filled much of the Estancia Basin during the height of the last Pleistocene glacial period. A small dry lake or playa is located approximately 500 m to the northeast of the site, and may have provided water for the site’s occupants and the animals that lived in the area at the time.
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The Cody Complex
The Cody Complex takes its name from the town of Cody in northwestern Wyoming, and is recognized by distinctive stemmed projectile points discovered at surface sites exposed by erosion on the Great Plains during the Dust Bowl of the early 1930s. These points are typically long and narrow, and often display beautiful patterns of flaking produced by regular, well-controlled pressure flaking. First known “Yuma” points (named for Yuma County, Colorado), it was not until the late 1940s that individual types such as Scottsbluff and Eden were recognized as distinctive forms that were collectively recognized as the Cody Complex. Some sites produce only one of these types, while others may have both. In the 1970s, additional types such as San Jon and Firstview were identified from sites in Colorado, and the Firstview Complex was proposed as an earlier, Southern Plains variant of the Cody Complex. More recent work has shown the two to be of essentially identical age, and many archaeologists have suggested using Cody Complex to designate all such stemmed point sites across the western US. Radiocarbon dates suggest that the Cody Complex falls in the period between approximately 9800 and 8600 radiocarbon years before present; it certainly post-dates Folsom.
Cody Complex sites have been found from southern Canada to northern Mexico, and from Wisconsin and Iowa westward into Nevada and Utah. In New Mexico Cody projectile points and sites have been documented from virtually the entire state, although very few have been the subject of excavation. Like their Folsom predecessors, Cody Complex hunter-gatherers appear to have relied on bison for a considerable portion of their subsistence. Of interest is that excavated Cody sites on the Plains may contain larger numbers of bison than do Folsom sites. In addition to projectile points, Cody sites produce other tools used for butchering, woodworking, and other tasks similar to those of the Folsom Complex. However, they may also yield specialized tools known as Cody knives that look much like the blades on modern X-Acto knives; these may have served specialized butchering tasks like cutting thin strips of meat for jerky.
Los Gavilanes Cody Site

Two endscrapers flanking a biface fragment,
all from Los Gavilanes Cody site.
Los Gavilanes (Spanish for “the hawks”) was discovered during a survey in the late 1990s by a local contract archaeological firm, Rio Grande Consultants. It is located on a relatively level part of a long slope leading towards a wash; the wash in turn drains into a playa approximately half a mile away to the north. The site was excavated by RGC in 2000 in advance of development of houses in the area, and is the first Cody Complex site to be excavated in the Middle Rio Grande Valley. Despite its age, the site is shallow, with most artifacts coming from a loosely consolidated sand that is no more than 20 cm thick. From an area measuring approximately 20 m by 15 m, RGC recovered some 1700 artifacts, including one Cody point base, 20 scrapers, and parts of two drills; the majority of the artifacts were waste flakes from tool manufacture. The abundance of scrapers is unusual, and suggests that scraping tasks were one of the most frequent activities undertaken at the site. Also, the waste flakes appear to be the byproducts of biface manufacture, and most are of a distinctive volcanic raw material from an unknown source that may lie to the north in the Jemez Mountains.
Development of the area has proceeded slowly, which is fortunate because more of the site remains to be excavated. Limited additional excavation was undertaken by UNM in 2007 and 2008, and established that significant quantities of artifacts remain. Our work here will concentrate on the western and northeastern parts of the site, with the goal of establishing the edges of concentration and recovering as much material from the site as possible before development destroys the site.
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Playas
Sacttered throughout New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, and other Western states are numerous relatively small closed basins that hold water for a few days or a few months. These basins are known as playas, a Spanish word referring to dry lake beds that also means “beach.” Not only do playas serve as sources of water and nutritious plants for grazing animals such as bison, but they 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. The close relationship between playas and Paleoindian sites in central New Mexico was documented by W. James Judge. Playas are important to archaeologists today, not just because of the archaeological sites that may be nearby but because the sedimentary deposits contained within these playa basins can hold records of past climatic conditions and plant communities.
As part of investigations at the Martin Site, we will visit and hopefully sample the playa that is nearby.
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Basic Information
Field School Dates: June 6-July 8
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.
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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 sites. 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.
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Application and Registration
Application Deadline: April 15, 2011 (Please call if your application will be delayed)
All students must complete and return an Application, Click here to down load PDF ,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.
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Tuition
$229.40* per credit hour for undergraduates ($1,376.40 for 6 units)
$251.70* per credit hour for graduate students ($1,510.20 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.
Course Fee
All participants will also be required to pay a course fee of $600. The fee will cover the costs for vehicles, field equipment, artifact curation, supplies, and other expenses associated with the field school.
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.
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Faculty and Other Project Scholars
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
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Matthew J. O’Brien
Graduate Student Teaching Assistant
Department of Anthropology
University of New Mexico