State Land Office

State Land Office Projects

For several years, the Office of Archaeological Studies has been conducting archaeological surveys for the New Mexico State Land Office. The Land Office asks for the surveys in advance of brush and cholla clearing, removal of fire-fuel hazards, the construction of drinker tanks, and the reseeding of state grasslands. These surveys have taken our archaeologists to all areas of the state, including the Big Burro Mountains, Tatum, Chupadera Mesa, Fort Sumner, Ramah, Ocate, Taos, Datil, and Corona. Surveys in the Chupadera Mesa, Ramah, and Corona areas have been particularly rewarding because of the documentation of previously unrecorded Pueblo-period settlements.