The office of contract archeology, university of new mexico (OCA UNM) proposes the initiation of research study consisting of two separate research goals

This Cooperative Agreement, awarded by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) under the Cultural and Paleontological Resources Management program (CFDA 15.224), provides $398,703.41 in funding to the University of New Mexico's Office of Contract Archeology (OCA UNM) for a two-part research project.

The first goal is to conduct an intensive archaeological survey of the Cornudas Mountains in southern New Mexico, which are known to contain a diversity of archaeological sites and petroglyphs. OCA UNM will survey approximately 780 acres across three mountain areas to document the cultural resources in this understudied region.

The second goal is to refine the chronometric patterns for the manufacture of perishable artifacts, such as sandals, basketry, cordage and matting, recovered from caves in southern New Mexico and west Texas. OCA UNM will analyze recently obtained radiocarbon dating data to improve the understanding of prehistoric production methods in the Jornada Mogollon cultural region. The results of this research are expected to have regional and national impacts on archaeological knowledge.

The first goal is to conduct an intensive survey in the cornudas mountains of southern new mexico. The project area is located in the southern new mexico region just north of the new mexico-texas border. The cornudas mountains are known for a diversity of archaeological sites with many thousand petroglyph features. Yet, limited number of professional archaeological surveys have so far been performed in this area. The results of this survey will provide new information about the nature of cultural resources found in the vicinity of cornudas mountains. OCA will survey a sample of the area in the vicinity of alamo mountain, flat top mountain and wind mountain. A 260-acre parcel will be survey along the slopes of each mountain. The second goal of this project is to refine the pattern for the manufacture of perishable artifacts recovered from the caves in southern new mexico and west texas. This pattern was recently defined by OCA researchers in the fall of 2023. A number of chronometric dates for this study were received by OCA after the completion of the final report. This happened due to residual effects of covid pandemic as well as the unexpected high degree of contamination of the perishable artifacts (such as sandal, basketry, cordage and matting) with chemical preservatives. The extra-long cleaning process performed by the specialists at the center for applied isotope studies at UNM caused delays in completing the radiocarbon dating. Therefore, OCA researchers plan to analyze the unpublished radiocarbon data and use to IT refine the chronometric patterns of manufacture of prehistoric sandals in the jornada mogollon region. Additionally, the unpublished radiocarbon dates also promise to refine chronometric patterns for the manufacture of basketry, cordage and matting. This proposal has the chance to significantly advance the understanding of the jornada mogollon sites in the cornudas mountains region, particularly the petroglyph sites which have been reported to be bountiful in the area. There is also a very high probability that the unpublished radiocarbon dates will refine the chronometric patterns for the manufacture of perishables to the extent that they will have impact on archaeology not only at a regional but even national level.following the completion of this research, OCA will prepare a public report detailing the results of the reined perishable artifacts study. Laboratory of anthropology site forms will be prepared for all documented sites. This research promises that both the archaeological community, native american tribes as well as the general public will benefit from the results of this study.