History of Research at Salmon Pueblo
Salmon Pueblo
Salmon was excavated between 1970 and 1978 under the direction of Cynthia Irwin-Williams (Eastern New Mexico University) in partnership with the San Juan County Museum Association. The San Juan Valley Archaeological Program resulted in the excavation of approximately one-third of Salmon. More than 1.5 million artifacts and samples were recovered during the course of the project. In 1980, Irwin-Williams and co-principal investigator Phillip Shelley wrote, edited, and compiled a multi-volume, 1,500-page report. This document fulfilled the reporting requirements for the series of grants under which the project had been completed, but it was not intended for publication. Throughout the 1980s, Irwin-Williams and Shelley worked on a modified and greatly reduced manuscript, with the goal of producing a publishable report. This effort ended with Irwin-Williams’ death in 1990.
In 2000, Archaeology Southwest met with Salmon Executive Director Larry Baker, and forged a multi-year partnership. The partnership is part of Archaeology Southwest’s endeavor to build a preservation archaeology network across the Southwest. Archaeology Southwest’s effort at Salmon began in 2001 as the Salmon Reinvestment and Research Program, which Paul Reed was selected to direct. The research initiative comprised two primary tasks: first, to condense and edit the original 1980 Salmon report into a new, published technical report; and second, to conduct additional primary research in several targeted areas, with the goal of producing material for the detailed technical report, as well as a synthetic volume.
The three-volume report, entitled Thirty-Five Years of Archaeological Research at Salmon Ruins, New Mexico, was jointly published by Archaeology Southwest and Salmon Ruins Museum in 2006. The synthetic volume Chaco’s Northern Prodigies: Salmon, Aztec, and the Ascendancy of the Middle San Juan Region After AD 1100, which Reed edited, was published by the University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, in August 2008.
Another goal of the partnership with Salmon Ruins Museum developed soon after Reed came on board. The Museum was facing a serious challenge in housing and caring for those 1.5 million artifacts and samples. We successfully pursued a Save America’s Treasures grant in the amount of $175,000 that enabled the Museum to significantly upgrade collections care and management.” For more about that project, follow the link below to read about collections management at Salmon Pueblo.
