FUNDED PROJECTS

Jana Valesca Meyer, University of New Mexico, Anthropology

Thatcher’s award will be used to fund AMS 14 C radiocarbon dating of four macrobotanical specimens from the Chamisal Site (LA 22765), a Classic period (A.D. 1300-1600) Middle Rio Grande village located in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque. The current understanding of patterns that define the Classic period within the Middle Rio Grande predominately come either from sites that are almost exclusively large sites and come with their own issues of partial data collection (e.g., Piedras Marcadas, Pottery Mound), problematic initial excavations resulting in missing artifacts (e.g., Pottery Mound, Kuaua), or limited excavations as part of modern development (e.g., Alameda School, Montaño Bridge).
 

The four selected macrobotanical specimens will come from separate strata within Area A between Levels 5 and 13. All specimens will be maize cupules or other non-wood, annual plant species to provide highly accurate dates that cannot be attributed to old wood or other issues. AMS 14 C radiocarbon dating will be undertaken by the Center for Applied Isotope Studies, a leading expert in processing of radiocarbon specimens at an affordable cost. Dates will be corrected for isotopic fractionization, providing more accurate dates than other radiocarbon labs and the full results will be provided for future researchers.
 

The analysis will be completed during the summer of 2022 and the complete project will
be finalized by December 2022. A report including the results of the radiocarbon dating and their significance will be curated at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology and with the Friends of Coronado Historic Site, who will also be afforded the opportunity for several presentations discussing the results for this project and for the analysis of the Chamisal Site as a whole. A report detailing the entire excavation results is anticipated by 2023 with a guaranteed copy provided to the Friends of Coronado Historic Site.

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Thatcher Rogers, University of New Mexico, Archeology

Thatcher is working on the radiocarbon dating of the Chamisal site, likely a U-shaped medium-sized village, located in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque. The site has had some previous excavations which determined that the site was in use from the late thirteenth to the nineteenth centuries, but no details from these excavations have ever been published. He hopes to identify, through his review of the strata, the exact occupation dates of the group that lived there. Dating of strata will be a significant aid to improving our understanding of the site as well as the late prehispanic through early historic periods in the Rio Grande valley. He will formally publish his findings. The analysis will be completed this summer and finalized by December 2021.

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Javier Eli Astorga Viliarroei, University of New Mexico, Historical Geography

Javier’s project focuses on the review of colonial fortifications – specifically Spanish Colonial presidios - for their historical and cultural uniqueness. He is interested in how the structure and representation (through the maps and drawings) of the presidios at different times demonstrated the progress of the society they protected. He has developed a coding structure for charting this progress and needs special programs to use this data to identify the changes. The project is expected to be complete by January 2022.