Preservation Archaeology is our blog and our holistic approach to the practice of archaeology. We explore what makes the places of our past special, share this knowledge with a global community, and work to safeguard these same places across the Southwest.
Paul F. Reed, Preservation Archaeologist (February 20, 2017)—DEADLINE TO COMMENT IS MIDNIGHT TONIGHT, MST, 2/20/17. (Original post dated 2/7/17 follows) First, thank you to everyone who has contacted me and Archaeology Southwest about taking action on behalf of the Greater Chaco Landscape. To review our overall goals regarding this effort, please visit the website of […]
Paul F. Reed, Preservation Archaeologist (October 21, 2016)—The Department of Interior has just announced that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and Farmington Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will be partnering on an expanded analysis of oil & gas leasing and management on public and tribal lands in the Greater Chaco Landscape. Read the press […]
Paul F. Reed, Preservation Archaeologist (August 23, 2016)—I’m overdue for an update on Archaeology Southwest’s efforts—with our partners—to protect the Greater Chaco Landscape. First, good news: we have produced a brochure highlighting the issues we face. This highly readable brochure explains why protecting the Greater Chaco Landscape is so important and describes how interested people […]
Paul F. Reed, Preservation Archaeologist (July 14, 2016)—Last month, I was in Lincoln, Nebraska, for a multi-day meeting with most of our Salmon Pueblo Archaeological Research Collection (SPARC) team. Carrie Heitman of University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) hosted the meeting. Worthy Martin of the University of Virginia-IATH was in attendance, bringing all his expertise from working […]
Paul F. Reed, Preservation Archaeologist (April 25, 2016)—The latest statistics show a dramatic increase in visitation to National Park Service (NPS) parks and monuments in New Mexico, for March 2016. Several factors may be responsible for the uptick, including a promotional push by the Park Service in conjunction with its 100-year anniversary. Given the threats […]
Paul F. Reed, Preservation Archaeologist (March 31, 2016)—Scott Michlin welcomed me back to his San Juan College KSJE Morning Show in February. We discussed the role of digital technology in archaeology. You can listen to our conversation here. The primary topic for my radio chat with Scott was Archaeology Southwest’s SPARC (Salmon Pueblo Archaeological Research […]
Between now and October 17, 2015, Archaeology Southwest is participating in the Archaeological Institute of America’s celebration of International Archaeology Day (10/17/15) by sharing blog posts about why—or how—we became archaeologists. Today we feature Paul Reed, Preservation Archaeologist and leader of Archaeology Southwest’s efforts to address oil and gas exploration in the Greater Chacoan Landscape. […]
By Paul F. Reed, Preservation Archaeologist May 21, 2015—Over the past few months, I have continued to advocate for protection of the Greater Chaco Landscape. This has included attending a number of meetings with Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and other officials, conducting a tour of the Chaco Landscape with several Pueblo leaders, and engaging […]
By Paul F. Reed, Preservation Archaeologist May 12, 2015—Scott Michlin welcomed me back to his morning radio program in March (listen here). We discussed the realm of public archaeology. “Public,” in this case, refers to the funding stream and to the nature of the work completed. The initiation of publicly funded archaeology on a large […]
By Paul F. Reed, Preservation Archaeologist On March 23, we were thrilled to learn that the Salmon Pueblo Archaeological Research Collection (SPARC) project would be funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The total project funding is $300,000. The project will preserve and make accessible incomparable legacy data from the important excavations […]
By Paul F. Reed, Preservation Archaeologist This week, I’m continuing to advocate for protection of the Greater Chaco Landscape. We’re pleased to announce the completion of a short film by EcoFlight, in cooperation with the Partnership for Responsible Business and Archaeology Southwest. The film chronicles several recent flights over the Greater Chaco Landscape and […]
By Paul F. Reed, Preservation Archaeologist Together with the Partnership for Responsible Business and EcoFlight, I was fortunate to be involved in two flights over the San Juan Basin and the Chacoan landscape. In October and again in November, I flew with Bruce Gordon (EcoFlight) and a number of other folks. The flights were […]
By Paul F. Reed, Preservation Archaeologist This past week I was fortunate to go along on a SiteWatch visit with folks from the Ojo Caliente vicinity in New Mexico. We visited several sites up and down the Ojo Caliente Valley. To orient readers, the area lies north of Española, New Mexico, along the route […]
By Paul F. Reed, Preservation Archaeologist I visited Scott Michlin at KSJE for my regular monthly show last month. You can listen to our conversation here. The agenda this time—ancient poop! Quite literally, we discussed the importance of ancient feces—coprolites, as they are known—for archaeological studies. We discussed a recent analysis of ancient excrement […]
Issue editor Paul F. Reed and contributors consider whether ancient Chacoans migrated to the Middle San Juan Basin, or the region’s residents emulated Chacoan culture, or both. Authors also discuss a new exhibit that shares this research interactively.
By Paul F. Reed, Preservation Archaeologist and Chaco Scholar at Salmon Ruins On January 20, Scott Michlin welcomed me back to his morning radio show on KSJE, the San Juan College radio station in Farmington, New Mexico. Continuing my chronological foray into ancient Pueblo history, I discussed the Pueblo I period (A.D. 750–900) in […]
By Paul F. Reed, Preservation Archaeologist and Chaco Scholar at Salmon Ruins Scott Michlin welcomed me back to his morning show morning radio show on KSJE, the San Juan College radio station in Farmington, New Mexico, this past Monday. For December, I spoke about the Basketmaker era in the northern Southwest. I framed it […]
By Paul F. Reed, Preservation Archaeologist and Chaco Scholar at Salmon Ruins Host Scott Michlin recently welcomed me to his morning radio show on KSJE, the San Juan College radio station in Farmington, New Mexico. I’ll be on the air with an archaeology update each month. For the month of October, I spoke about […]
By Paul F. Reed, Preservation Archaeologist and Chaco Scholar at Salmon Ruins The development and spread of bow technology across North America has sparked considerable archaeological debate for more than 100 years. Experts have proposed various ideas about how and why bow technology spread out of Asia between 4,000 and 2,000 years ago, including […]
By Paul F. Reed, Preservation Archaeologist and Chaco Scholar at Salmon Ruins The New Mexico Archaeological Council (NMAC) 2012 Fall Conference convened on Saturday, November 10. The theme was Chuska–Chaco relationships across the San Juan Basin. A series of papers summarized recent initial work by PaleoWest on the Pueblo archaeology of the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply […]
Early on a Friday morning, the students of the Mule Creek Field School dragged themselves from their tents and piled into the Suburban and the fifteen-passenger van. After an eventful drive in very close quarters—a trip that was supposed to take seven hours, but ended up taking ten due to a tire blowing out on […]
Tucson, AZ (August 4, 2011)—Center for Desert Archaeology Preservation Archaeologists Paul F. Reed and Doug Gann have been awarded a $150,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to digitally interpret recent archaeological findings from the Middle San Juan region of northwestern New Mexico. The funding comes through a special program at NSF, Communicating Research […]