Two pieces of incised brownware pottery, possibly from the same vessel, were found at the site.
Photo Credit: Mandy Woods / TAC
SOUTHWEST—Archaeologist Kris Nitsche visited the Conservancy’s Tijeras Preserve (LA 580) to assist Southwest Field Representative Mandy Woods to begin the process of recording and documenting the site as a step toward nominating it for the National Registry of Historic Places. The site has not been properly documented, so the survey will update the archaeological record and prepare the site for future research.
Upon completion of a Phase 1 survey, which primarily consists of a pedestrian survey of the immediate ground surface and is completely non-invasive, diagnostic pottery sherds, ground stone fragments, and flaked tools were found, along with both locally sourced and potentially traded melted adobe and stone materials. More than 500 ceramic artifacts were observed, including some glazeware.
If the site was occupied around the same time as Tijeras Pueblo, possibly as a satellite community, a theoretical time frame of occupation is between A.D. 1300 and 1500. The archaeological record shows a trend of the population dispersing to large pueblos in the area by about A.D. 1300, Tijeras Pueblo among them. All positively identified pottery on the site and the known movement of population in the canyon aligns with these dates; the pottery has a broader possible date range of A.D. 1100 and 1500.
Related:
A virtual lecture about LA 580 recorded in July 2023.
