Significance and Research Standards for Prehistoric Archaeological Sites at Fort Bliss: A Design for the Evaluation, Management, and Treatment of Cultural Resources

Summary

The 2009 revision of the Fort Bliss Significance and Research Standards was truly the product of a communal and cooperative effort among agency and consulting archaeologists from across New Mexico and Texas. First and foremost, the Environmental Division of Fort Bliss deserves credit for their vision in producing the original 1996 Significance Standards, and their continuing vision and support to see the document revised. This has resulted in a contemporary “living document” that reflects the immense amount of archaeological fieldwork and analysis supported by Fort Bliss during the past decade, as well as new and expanded perspectives on the archaeological record of the Jornada Mogollon region. Keith Landreth, Brian Knight, Sue Sitton, and Vicki Hamilton deserve credit; without their support it would never have been possible to research and produce this document. We also acknowledge the support of the staff of the Environmental Division who helped us obtain GIS and biotic data, maps, and other information: Martha Yduarte, Chris Lowry, and Belinda Mollard.

The revisions and additions comprising the 2009 version of the Significance and Research Standards represent the efforts of the authors listed on the cover page: Tim Church, Stephen Hall, Phil Dering, Trevor Kludt, David Kuehn, Brian Knight, Peter Condon, Paul Lukowski, Grant Smith, Belinda Mollard, Sue Sitton, Michael Quigg, Elia Perez, Russell Greaves, and Martin Goetz. The present incarnation of the Significance Standards, numbering over 780 pages with over 1,800 references, is a testament to the scholarship and knowledge of the contributors.

The authors of the 1996 edition of the Significance Standards are equally deserving of commendation: James T. Abbott, Raymond Mauldin, Patience Patterson, Nicholas Trierweiler, Robert Hard, Christopher Lintz, and Cynthia Tennis. The current version built upon the foundation established in the previous edition. It is noteworthy that the majority of the contributions from the 1996 volume remain in the present version. Furthermore, the fact that several of those discussions required little revision or updating after a period of 13 years is a testament to the thoroughness of the original contributions.

In addition to providing research standards for the Fort Bliss sites, this report contains a wide range of contextual and historical background information as well as previous research that has been conducted. The report covers the current natural environment of Fort Bliss and work done pertaining to the geomorphology, geoarchaeology, and paleoenvironment at Fort Bliss. The report also includes archaeological work done relating to the past human populations in the greater Fort Bliss area. This includes information on the subsistence and subsistence economy, site structure and formation, settlement pattern and land use, technology, ritual, social, political, and economic organization. Within each topic, research issues are included to provide additional context on the work that has been done.

Keywords

Temporal Coverage

Calendar Date: -6000 to 1450

Spatial Coverage

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