Extensive electronic artifact analysis information is available for most of the object collections curated at the Anasazi Heritage Center.

These artifacts are an integral part of the cultural heritage of the southwestern United States, both for Native Americans and the general public. With proper documentation, preservation, and storage, these collections can be used over and over to address research questions about the people who first occupied the Four Corners region.

With Native American concerns about protecting ancestral sites, higher excavation costs, and fewer dollars available, new excavations are limited and existing collections like these are increasingly valuable.

Student internships are periodically available in Curation, as well as in Education and Exhibits Development.

For more information, contact Curator Susan Thomas at susan_thomas@blm.gov.

PROJECT: Retrieval and Preservation of Southwest Colorado Collections

The BLM Anasazi Heritage Center has received two grants for this project to preserve and make accessible collections from projects conducted in Southwest Colorado.

 

A grant from the program Save America's Treasures (a White House initiative funded by Congress and co-sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation) has been matched by funding from the Colorado State Historical Fund, with additional support from the University of Colorado.

Save America's Treasures Interim Progress Reports are available in PDF

• Report #1
• Report #2
• Report #3
• Report #4
• Report #5

Collections included in this project came from excavated sites in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, the Uncompahgre Plateau, and sites scattered throughout Southwest Colorado. They represent remnants of the Ancestral Puebloan culture known for fine ceramics, early agricultural traditions, and masonry pueblos.

Electronic data sets have been incorporated into the AHC collection management system. The following accessions may be queried through a formal research request.

• Excavation projects from Sand Canyon Pueblo, Castle Rock Pueblo, Woods Canyon Pueblo, Duckfoot Site, Green Lizard Site, and the Small Site Testing Program. This data was originally generated by Crow Canyon Archaeological Center.
• Studies of Ridges Basin near Durango, Colorado within the Animas-La Plata Project area. This data was originally generated by Northern Arizona University, Department of Anthropology, for the Bureau of Reclamation.
• Ute Irrigated Lands Project. This data was originally generated by Soil Systems Inc. for the Bureau of Reclamation and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe.

Save America's Treasures and the Colorado State Historical Fund also provided for electronic analysis data generated by the AHC staff for the following projects:

• Ute Prehistory Project (University of Colorado dissertation research by William Buckles on the Uncompahgre Plateau during the1960s)
• Mockingbird Mesa Excavations (Fort Lewis College Field School programs from the 1960s and 1970s)
• Mockingbird Mesa Survey and the San Miguel River Survey (sponsored by the Bureau of Land Management)
• Ansel Hall Pueblo 5DL27 (Excavated in the late 1940s and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997)
• Hovenweep Area (survey and limited testing of lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service, by San Jose State University 1974-1977)
• Cannonball Pueblo 5MT338 (excavated in 1908 by Sylvanus Morley, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997)
• Payne Site 5MT12205 (excavated by Wichita State University in the mid-1970s)
• Cow Mesa and Squaw Point, Montezuma and Dolores Counties (survey conducted in late 1970s by Southern Illinois University graduate student)
• Chimney Rock District 5AA83, 5AA84, 5AA86, 5AA88 and 5AA92 (listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and excavated by Dr. Frank Eddy, University of Colorado 1970-1972) 

PUBLICATION: Dolores Archaeological Program User Guide*

Also funded by the Colorado State Historical Fund in 1998-99 is the conversion of electronic data from the Dolores Archaeological Program into the AHC’s collections system. As part of this project, the University of Colorado Department of Anthropology generated The Dolores Legacy: A User’s Guide to the Dolores Archaeological Program Data compiled by Richard H. Wilshusen, with the assistance of Karin Burd, Jonathan Till, Christine G. Ward and Brian Yunker.

* NOTE: This .pdf file is 290 pages and over 8 mb in size. We recommend you right click on the file name above, save it to your computer, and then open the file.