BRN 9-4 - Flipbook - Page 62
San Andres Mountains
Archeological Studies
The San Andres Mountains are rich in natural history. There
are also numerous archeological sites in the area, many of
which have been surveyed and thoroughly documented.
Others have likely yet to be discovered. See the following:
¥ Berrier, Margaret. 2010. ÒRock Art Recording at
Cottonwood Springs, New MexicoÓ. Advances in
Jornada Mogollon Archaeology: Proceedings from the
17th Jornada Mogollon Conference. 2013. The map
to the right shows the area of study.
¥ OfÞce of Contract Archeology (OCA), the University of
New Mexico, conducted an assessment of a large site
at the mouth of Cottonwood Canyon, Òone of few
natural routes across the rugged San Andres
Mountains between the Rio Grande Valley to the west
and the Tularosa Basin to the east. Throughout the
site, evidence of activity during the later Archaic and
early Formative periods indicates the procurement of
local cherts for the manufacture of bifacial tools.
However, two portions of the site received intense
occupation from the 11th to 13th centuries AD,
corresponding to the Do–a Ana and early El Paso
phases of the Jornada Mogollon sequence, based on
pottery styles and radiocarbon dates. From only two
test excavations in each of these areas, large
quantities of lithic refuse and processed faunal
remains, at least two specimens of maize, and
examples of an astonishing variety of pottery types
were recovered. Distinct from most contemporary
sites with faunal assemblages, a large portion of the
animal bone came from deer and similar sized
species, rather than primarily from rabbits and smaller
game. Perhaps reßecting the location along a natural
communication route, more than twenty pottery types
were identiÞed, including not only Jornada Mogollon
wares, but examples of other pottery traditions from
throughout southern and central New Mexico, and
even possibly into eastern Arizona and northern
Chihuahua. Finally, projectile points and a radiocarbon date indicate that the site was visited during
protohistoric times as well.Ó
¥ OCA conducted an evaluation of the Lee Canyon site
(east ßank of the San Andres Mountains) and found,
among other things, middens 3 to 4 feet deep which
dated from the mid 6th and mid 9th centuries.
¥ Post-European sites are found in the mountains
including evidence of Spanish travel associated with
salt harvesting in the Tularosa Basin and battle sites
like that documented by Karl Laumbach (see earlier
citation).
¥ Perhaps the most heavily publicized work in the area
is the excavation of human and other animal footprints from ~23,000 years ago at Lake Lucero. See
articles like Holliday et al. ÒPaleolake geochronology
supports Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) age for human
tracks at White Sands, New MexicoÓ. Science
Advances, 18 June 2025.
¥ Eidenbach, P. L., and B. Morgan, editors. 1994.
Homes on the Range: Oral Recollections of Early Ranch
Life on the U. S. Army White Sands Missile Range, New
Mexico. Eidenbach and others have documented the
ranching history of the San Andres Mountains. The
photograph directly above is from the work cited
here.
Sometimes archaeology (especially of more recent times)
and Òlocal colorÓ can be difÞcult to separate. As Jim Eckles
writes in Pocketful of Rockets (see earlier citation):
ÒDuring the 1930s, a solitary man roamed the
mountains on foot. He tried to avoid people but to
survive he needed the generosity of the ranch families
who often fed him. ...well, he was just like a little quail.
He could get out of sight faster than anybody. É If he
saw you Þrst, he went and hid in a ditch.Ó
Of course, Òthe bottom lineÓ is that the casual observer of
archaeology is likely to have a hard time seeing the Òcultural
historyÓ of the San Andres Mountains. There are, however,
occasional opportunities sponsored by organizations which
have been granted visitation rights by the military.
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