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Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Home Builder Uncovers Puebloan Artifacts

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez
Journal Staff Writer
       David Waszak's backhoe turned up more than just dirt and rocks as he was clearing space for the pad of his new home on an open field in Los Ranchos.
    Waszak uncovered burial urns, pottery shards and other artifacts from a valley Pueblo that dates from at least the 1300s.
    "I noticed some pottery shards on the surface of the ground," said Waszak, who is building a home for his family. "When we got down about 18-20 inches, we noticed a black staining of the soil, it looked suspicious. The first thing we discovered was some human remains."
    University of New Mexico archeologist Scott Worman said the discoloration of the soil is an easy sign to spot a midden, or a place where people would have dumped garbage.
    The remains are of "ancestral Puebloans," state Historic Preservation Division archeologist Glenna Dean said, referring to the ancestors of Pueblos in the general Rio Grande area today.
    "As to which pueblo might claim it as an ancestral site we don't know, because we haven't gone to consultation," Dean said, referring to the process by which a Pueblo is notified of a discovery of human remains.