Recreation, Rockshelters, and Resource Management

Summary

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

In the summer of 2018, New Mexico State University (NMSU) staff and students surveyed 120 acres on the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. The New Mexico Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which manages this monument, provided funding for this project. The survey occurred in seven high-priority parcels near Bishop’s Cap, where frequent recreational visitation poses threats to cultural resources. Previous investigations identified rockshelter occupations dating to the Archaic and Formative period, and collections from those projects included very early maize varieties. This survey re-visited and recorded 10 sites and recorded 15 new sites, ranging in date from 1500 BC to AD 1954. Many of the sites were negatively impacted by modern visitors. NMSU has made recommendations to the BLM about how best to manage these sites, and what kinds of research opportunities can be pursued in the future.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23603