Dig Into the Collection of Site Records
The handful of sites discussed on the Notable Sites page exemplify the many different people, behaviors, cultures and time-periods represented in southeast New Mexico. However, there are thousands of other archaeological sites on the landscape that also represent past people and their behavior in southeast New Mexico.
Use this page to learn about some of these lesser known sites and what they can tell us about life in the past.
Merchant Site
Ancestral peoples established this village site in the 14th and early 15th centuries. During this time, the greater Southwest, northern Mexico, and the southern plains were experiencing a high rate…
Laguna Plata
When the weather was warm and the water plentiful, residents at this site enjoyed life in the Laguna Plata basin. The La Plata site is perched on a ridge overlooking…
Hermit’s Cave
Nestled in a canyon wall, deep in the heart of the Guadalupe Mountains, sits the Hermit’s Cave site. Today, the Guadalupe Mountains are one of four sacred peaks in Mescalero…
Fox Place
During the Late Formative period peoples in southeast New Mexico were adopting a more sedentary way of life. At Fox Place residents lived in one of 12 pithouses, which they…
Burro Tanks
Settlement at the Burro Tanks site spanned from the Paleoindian period to the Late Formative period, making this one of the longest occupied sites in southeastern New Mexico. During the…
Bloom Mound
During the Late Formative period several communities in the Middle Pecos River Valley adopted a semi-sedentary lifestyle and established permanent settlements. At the Bloom Mound site, residents may have acted…
Burnet Cave
Roughly 13,000-12,000 years ago peoples inhabited Burnet Cave during hunting trips. They hunted now extinct Pleistocene animals, like musk ox and caribou, high up in the Guadalupe Mountains and carried…
Boot Hill
The Boot Hill site was a hunting camp where generations of ancestors lived periodically for about 1,000 years. The camp is nestled among several water sources, creating an ideal location…