Archaeological Investigation of the San Marcos Pueblo, NM by the Summer of Applied Geophysical Experience

摘要

San Marcos Pueblo (LA98) is a Rio Grande Classical and Colonial periods archaeological site. Located south of Santa Fe and east of the Cerrillos Hills, it was possibly one of the largest communities in the southwest, but was abandoned in 1680 following the Pueblo Revolt. The original archaeological investigation took place in 1915 by Nelson. The most recent excavations were performed about 12 years ago by the University of New Mexico and the American Museum of Natural history. In order to study the site structure while maintaining the pueblo's archaeological features, the Summer of Applied Geophysical Experience (SAGE) surveyed the site with non-invasive geophysical methods. The investigation focused on ground penetrating radar, magnetics, and refraction seismology. The primary survey area, fondly referred to as El Mapa Grande, was divided into 30m × 30m grids. These grids were surveyed with Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), magnetics and electromagnetics (EM) over a dozen years to complete El Mapa Grande. Seismic refraction profiles were collected in targeted areas across the study area. After a dozen years of collecting geophysical data within La Mapa Grande, we completed our field studies in 2015.