C O N S E R VA N C Y
Larry Braile
field notes
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SAGE student Justine Overacker conducts a magnetometer survey at Pueblo San Marcos.
Geophysical Studies Continue at Pueblo San Marcos SOUTHWEST—This July, the Summer of Applied Geophysical Experience (SAGE) program, sponsored by Los Alamos National Laboratory, conducted geophysical investigations at Pueblo San Marcos, an extensive, 2,000-room adobe pueblo south of Santa Fe, New Mexico. San Marcos, a Conservancy preserve, was occupied from the 13th century until the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 and contains the remains of a 17thcentury Franciscan mission complex.
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At its height, Pueblo San Marcos was one of the largest pre-Columbian settlements in the Galisteo Basin of northern New Mexico. It was a major producer of Rio Grande Glaze Ware ceramics and its occupants likely controlled the valuable turquoise and lead deposits in the nearby Cerrillos Hills. Geophysical studies at the site have used a variety of non-invasive methods, such as ground penetrating radar (GPR). These survey measurements were used to map and define the underlying geology, as well as delineate and locate sub-surface archaeological structures. “GPR data were used to delineate a number of linear and circular anomalies that, when overlain on an archeological
fall • 2011
