Site Stewards in Northwest New Mexico: Protecting Our Cultural Heritage via a Community-Supported Program

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In northwestern New Mexico, there are thousands of archaeological sites that span the complete cultural and temporal spectrum of human occupation in the region. Many of these cultural resources are located in remote areas and as backcountry sites, are often prey to looting and vandalism, particularly those exhibiting standing architecture and rock art. In many instances, these cultural sites are considered significant or "high value" as a result of their inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places and/or their potental for future scientific study. In order to preserve and protect our heritage sites, volunteer site stewards patrol and monitor these resources within the framework of a program designed to deter vandalism of cultural properties and the looting and subsequest trafficing of priceless antiquities. Collaborating with the Bureau of Land Management and State of New Mexico Site Watch, the Northwest New Mexico Site Steward's Program is an volunteer organization, which has been operating independently in its current capacity since 1999. This paper provides insights into the "first line of defense" in the protection of our shared past through engaging the public in a community-supported program. In this context, examples of site types and respective impacts are discussed.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22954