Merchant Site Southeast New Mexico

Summary

The Carlsbad Field Office contracted Versar, Inc. to conduct remedial archaeological data recovery excavations at the Merchant site (LA 43414), a complex village settlement in southeastern New Mexico. The Merchant site was excavated by the Lea County Archaeological Society (LCAS) from 1959 to 1965, but the results of the excavations were never fully reported. The site was fundamental to the definition of the Ochoa phase, but the nature of the phase had remained poorly known since the excavations in the 1960s. The 2015 fieldwork included a Transect Recording Unit survey, surface mapping and collections, remote sensing, hand and mechanical excavations, and geomorphic studies. The entire site of LA 43414 was surveyed and mapped, identifying several areas of prehistoric occupations including possible agricultural fields. The primary focus of the fieldwork was the village area excavated by the LCAS and the possible agricultural fields located 100 meters to the north.

The primary occupation of the Merchant site consists of a group of domestic rooms with stone foundation walls, two deep pit structures, and extensive trash middens located on an elevated escarpment overlooking the Mescalero Plain of southeastern New Mexico. The LCAS excavations revealed intriguing details on architecture, ceramics, projectile points, and flaked stone artifacts. The remedial excavations were able to clarify some of the architectural details, as well as providing a review of the material culture using contemporary perspectives.

Excavations in two large and deep pit structures excavated by the LCAS in 1959 and 1960 were able to clarify some details of the architecture and remodeling history of the structures, as well as obtaining chronometric dates. The backdirt deposits in and around those structures, as well as other refuse areas, contained thousands of animal bones, lithic flakes, and other items. Volumetric analyses of the bone and artifact densities in midden areas and the backdirt spoil piles found that the Merchant site ranks exceptionally high on the scale of occupational intensity.

One of the potentially most significant findings was the discovery of possible agricultural gridded fields to the north of the LCAS village. Geomorphological, archaeological, and botanical studies were conducted in two possible agricultural features but the results are equivocal. If future investigations confirm the presence of such features, they will represent the easternmost expression of Southwestern intensive farming practices.

The most significant finding of the reinvestigation of the site is that it truly reflects a hybrid of prehistoric Plains and Southwest architectural forms and technologies. The analysis of these details provides new insights into the nature of Late Prehistoric Ochoa phase settlements in southeastern New Mexico.

Cite this Record

Merchant Site Southeast New Mexico. ( tDAR id: 427192) ; doi:10.6067/XCV8348NF4

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

Keywords

Culture
Mogollon • Plains-Southwest • Plains Village

Material
Building Materials • Ceramic • Chipped Stone • Dating Sample • Fauna • Fire Cracked Rock • Ground Stone • Macrobotanical • Mineral • Pollen • Shell • Wood

Site Name
LA 43414 • Merchant Site

Site Type
Civic-Ceremonial • Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex • Hamlet / Village • House • Pit House / Earth Lodge

Investigation Types
Collections Research • Data Recovery / Excavation • Geophysical Survey • Remote Sensing • Site Stabilization

Geographic Keywords
US Southwest, Permian Basin, New Mexico

Temporal Keywords
Late Prehistoric

Temporal Coverage

Radiocarbon Date: 650 to 500

Spatial Coverage

min long: -104.37; min lat: 31.461 ; max long: -102.612; max lat: 33.573 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Principal Investigator(s): Myles Miller

Source Collections

Laboratory of Anthropology, Museum of New Mexico

Resources Inside this Project (Viewing 1-10 of 10)

  • Documents (10)

Documents

  1. Geomorphological and Geoarchaeological Investigations on the Mescalero Plain (2021)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Charles Frederick.

    This report presents a summary of the results of the Blanket Purchase Authority (BPA) 10 project sponsored by the Carlsbad Field Office (CFO) of the Bureau of Land Management and funded under the Permian Basin Programmatic Agreement. Geomorphological and geoarchaeological investigations were conducted at the Merchant site (LA 43414) and among suspected anthrosol deposits at LA 121668 and LA 171925. Analyses of soil chemistry and chronometric dates were completed.

  2. Investigating Morphological Variation of Ground Stone Bedrock Features at LA 43414 and LA 121668 on the Mescalero Plain, Southeastern New Mexico (2021)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Amanda Castaneda. Mark Willis.

    This report presents the results of a comprehensive documentation and analysis of ground stone bedrock features at LA 43414 (the Merchant site) and LA 121668. The bedrock features are located on lands administered by the Carlsbad Field Office (CFO) of the Bureau of Land Management and the New Mexico State Land Office. This project was funded under the Permian Basin Programmatic Agreement (PBPA) administered by the CFO. This investigation recorded and examined 359 ground stone bedrock features...

  3. The Merchant Site: A 14th Century Village in Southeast New Mexico (2016)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Myles Miller.

    Public outreach brochure for investigations at the Merchant site.

  4. The Merchant Site: A Late Prehistoric Ochoa Phase Settlement in Southeastern New Mexico (2016)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Myles Miller.

    The Carlsbad Field Office contracted Versar, Inc. to conduct remedial archaeological data recovery excavations at the Merchant site (LA 43414), a complex village settlement in southeastern New Mexico. The Merchant site was excavated by the Lea County Archaeological Society (LCAS) from 1959 to 1965, but the results of the excavations were never fully reported. The site was fundamental to the definition of the Ochoa phase, but the nature of the phase had remained poorly known since the excavations...

  5. OCHOA PHASE INVESTIGATIONS ON THE MESCALERO PLAIN (2021)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Myles Miller. Timothy B. Graves. Charles Frederick. Mark Willis. John D Speth. J. Phillip Dering. Susan J. Smith. Crystal Dozier. John G. Jones. Jeremy Loven. Genevieve Woodhead. Jeffery Ferguson. Mary Ownby. Amanda Castañeda.

    This report presents a summary of the results of the Blanket Purchase Authority (BPA) 10 project sponsored by the Carlsbad Field Office (CFO) of the Bureau of Land Management and funded under the Permian Basin Programmatic Agreement. The BPA 10 project included six cultural resource projects, including survey inventories, site evaluations, and excavations.

  6. Pueblo on the Plains: The 2019 Investigations at the Merchant Site of Southeastern New Mexico (2021)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Myles Miller.

    Poster presentation describing the 2019 investigations at the Merchant Site (LA 43414)

  7. Pueblo on the Plains: The Merchant Site (LA 43414) of Southeastern New Mexico (2021)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Myles Miller.

    Public education and outreach brochure describing the survey and excavation projects at the Merchant site and Mescalero Plain of southeastern New Mexico

  8. PUEBLO ON THE PLAINS: THE SECOND SEASON OF INVESTIGATIONS AT THE MERCHANT SITE IN SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO Volume 1 (2021)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Myles Miller. Timothy B. Graves. Charles Frederick. Mark Willis. John D Speth. J. Phillip Dering. Susan J. Smith. Crystal Dozier. John G. Jones. Jeremy Loven. Genevieve Woodhead. Jeffery Ferguson. Mary Ownby.

    This report presents the results of the second season of investigations at the Merchant village site (LA 43414) in southeastern New Mexico. The excavations and analyses were sponsored by the Carlsbad Field Office (CFO) of the Bureau of Land Management and funded under the Permian Basin Programmatic Agreement. Excavations focused on sections of room blocks in two areas of the main village, the agricultural fields, and midden deposits.

  9. PUEBLO ON THE PLAINS: THE SECOND SEASON OF INVESTIGATIONS AT THE MERCHANT SITE IN SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO Volume 2 (2021)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Myles Miller. Timothy B. Graves. Charles Frederick. Mark Willis. John D Speth. J. Phillip Dering. Susan J. Smith. Crystal Dozier. John G. Jones. Jeremy Loven. Genevieve Woodhead. Jeffery Ferguson. Mary Ownby.

    This report presents the results of the second season of investigations at the Merchant village site (LA 43414) in southeastern New Mexico. The excavations and analyses were sponsored by the Carlsbad Field Office (CFO) of the Bureau of Land Management and funded under the Permian Basin Programmatic Agreement. Excavations focused on sections of room blocks in two areas of the main village, the agricultural fields, and midden deposits.

  10. Survey of the Merchant Site Vicinity in Lea County, Southeastern New Mexico (2021)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Timothy B. Graves. Juan Arias. Katherine Jones. Mark Willis. Myles Miller.

    This report presents the results of an intensive archaeological survey of 1,257 acres in the vicinity of the Merchant site (LA 43414), a prehistoric pueblo settlement in Lea County of southeastern New Mexico. The survey parcels are on lands administered by the Carlsbad Field Office (CFO) of the Bureau of Land Management and the New Mexico State Land Office. The survey was funded under the Permian Basin Programmatic Agreement (PBPA) administered by the CFO. The Merchant site was first...