Galisteo Basin Archaeological Sites

The Galisteo Basin and the Cerrillos Hills, an ancient seabed ringed by ancient volcanic upheavals, are located in Central New Mexico. The region has been occupied for thousands of years. The oldest known turquoise mines in North America, as well as the earliest significant gold strike in North America, can be found in this region. The town of Galisteo was founded in 1617, while Los Cerrillos got its start as a railroad stop and regional center in 1880. Archaeological work on eight major Pueblo ruins was initiated in 1912 by Nels Nelson of the American Museum of Natural History. Many photographs from his expedition are found in this book, with several of them never having been published before. Also included are images of Cerrillos Hills mining in 1880; again, some of these photographs have never been previously published.

The greatness of America is right under our feet. The American past—the people, battles, industry and homes—can be found not only in libraries and museums, but also in hundreds of archaeological sites that scientists investigate with great care. These sites are not in distant lands, accessible only by research scientists, but nearby—almost every locale possesses a parcel of land worthy of archaeological exploration. Archaeology in America is the first resource that provides students, researchers, and anyone interested in their local history with a survey of the most important archaeological discoveries in North America. Leading scholars, most with an intimate knowledge of the area, have written in-depth essays on over 300 of the most important archaeological sites that explain the importance of the site, the history of the people who left the artifacts, and the nature of the ongoing research. Archaeology in America divides it coverage into 8 regions: the Arctic and Subarctic, the Great Basin and Plateau, the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains, the Midwest, the Northeast, the Southeast, the Southwest, and the West Coast. Each entry provides readers with an accessible overview of the archaeological site as well as books and articles for further research.