A CULTURAL RESOURCES OVERVIEW of the SAN ANDRES NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, NEW MEXICO by Victor Gibbs, Principal Investigator
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A CULTURAL RESOURCES OVERVIEW of the SAN ANDRES NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, NEW MEXICO by Victor Gibbs, Principal Investigator prepared for: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 2 – Albuquerque, NM Report of Investigations No. 662EP Geo-Marine, Inc. 3945 Doniphan Park Circle, Suite C El Paso, Texas 79922 March 2003 A CULTURAL RESOURCES OVERVIEW OF THE SAN ANDRES NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, NEW MEXICO by Victor Gibbs Principal Investigator for United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 2 500 Gold Avenue, SW–Room 9116 Albuquerque, New Mexico 87103-1306 REPORT OF INVESTIGATIONS NO. 662EP Geo-Marine, Inc. 3945 Doniphan Park Circle, Suite C El Paso, Texas 79922 March 2003 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The San Andres National Wildlife Refuge encompasses 57,215 acres centered on the southern portion of the San Andres Mountains. The refuge was established in 1941 by Executive Order 8646, defining it as an area of “conservation and development of natural wildlife resources.” The current mission of the refuge is to restore a remnant population of desert bighorn sheep (Ovis Canadensis mexicana), a State-listed endangered species in New Mexico. The refuge is approximately 30 miles northeast of Las Cruces, New Mexico, and is surrounded by lands managed by White Sands Missile Range (WSMR). No missile impacts occur on the refuge, although it does serve as a buffer to the range. In the western portion of the San Andres National Wildlife Refuge, the Agricultural Research Service - Jornada Experimental Range has research rights. Near the southwestern border of the refuge is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) White Sands Test Facility. Because of restricted access, the refuge serves as a natural laboratory for the study of a variety of plant and animal species. Twenty-seven sites have been documented within the confines of the San Andres National Wildlife Refuge. Of those, 21 sites were documented during the Human Systems Research sample survey of the Southern San Andres Mountains (1991). Two sites were documented during a survey of springs in the area conducted by Human Systems Research (1994: site files only), two more were documented during the Human Systems Research Ranches and Mines survey (1996: site files only), and the remaining site was a ranch complex documented by private individuals (1996: site files only). Temporal components documented on the refuge include Middle Archaic, Late Archaic, early and late Formative (ceramic), Protohistoric, and Historic. Five of the sites (LA 72175, LA 72176, LA 72177, LA 72191, and LA 116345) are inholdings of White Sands Missile Range. Less than one percent of the San Andres National Wildlife Refuge has been surveyed for cultural resources. It is suggested that research questions regarding prehistoric occupation within the refuge should be more broad-based than in areas that are better documented. A research design developed for performing cultural resources assessments in the mountainous regions of southern New Mexico is provided, as well as an annotated bibliography of relevant research materials. iii iv TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................iii 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................1-1 Scope of Work ......................................................................................................................1-1 The Study Area .....................................................................................................................1-2 Report Organization..............................................................................................................1-5 2. ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING .............................................................................................2-1 3. CULTURE HISTORY OF THE SAN ANDRES REGION....................................................3-1 Pre-Clovis Period (35,000 B.C.–10,000 B.C.)......................................................................3-2 Paleoindian Period (10,000 B.C.–6000 B.C.) .......................................................................3-2 Clovis (10,000 B.C.–9000 B.C).........................................................................................3-2 Folsom (9000 B.C.–8200 B.C.).........................................................................................3-3 Plano/Cody (8200 B.C.–6000 B.C.) ..................................................................................3-4 Archaic Period (6000 B.C.–A.D. 200)..................................................................................3-4 Early Archaic (6000 B.C.–3000 B.C.)...............................................................................3-5 Middle Archaic (3000 B.C.–1800 B.C.)............................................................................3-5 Late Archaic (1200 B.C.–A.D. 200)..................................................................................3-5 Formative Period (A.D. 200–1450) ......................................................................................3-6 Jornada Mogollon ..............................................................................................................3-6 Mesilla Phase (A.D. 200–1100) .....................................................................................3-6 Doña Ana Phase (A.D. 1100–1200)...............................................................................3-7 El Paso Phase (A.D. 1200–1450) ...................................................................................3-7 Anasazi ..............................................................................................................................3-8 Protohistoric Period (A.D. 1450–1680) ................................................................................3-8 Historic Period (A.D. 1680–present) ..................................................................................3-10 4. PREVIOUS RESEARCH IN THE SAN ANDRES REGION ................................................4-1 5. SUMMARY OF KNOWN CULTURAL RESOURCES ON SAN ANDRES NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ..............................................................................................................5-1 Artifact Collections...............................................................................................................5-1 LA 72149...........................................................................................................................5-1 LA 72150...........................................................................................................................5-2 v Table of Contents (cont’d) LA 72151.........................................................................................................................5-13 LA 72152.........................................................................................................................5-13 LA 72153.........................................................................................................................5-14 LA 72154.........................................................................................................................5-14 LA 72155.........................................................................................................................5-15 LA 72156.........................................................................................................................5-15 LA 72168.........................................................................................................................5-16 LA 72169.........................................................................................................................5-16 LA 72170.........................................................................................................................5-17 LA 72174.........................................................................................................................5-17 LA 72175 (White Sands Missile Range Inholding).........................................................5-18 LA 72176 (White Sands Missile Range Inholding).........................................................5-18 LA 72177 (White Sands Missile Range Inholding).........................................................5-19 LA 72178.........................................................................................................................5-19 LA 72179.........................................................................................................................5-20 LA 72180.........................................................................................................................5-20 LA 72181.........................................................................................................................5-20 LA 72191 (White Sands Missile Range Inholding).........................................................5-21 LA 72198.........................................................................................................................5-21 LA 104030.......................................................................................................................5-22 LA 104036.......................................................................................................................5-23 LA 104051.......................................................................................................................5-24