Rescuing Collections from Us: The Tijeras Pueblo Story

Abstract

Most of the archaeological collection from Tijeras Pueblo (LA 581) was curated at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico. As was typical of archaeological repositories in the mid- to late twentieth century, the collection was stored in a warehouse, using non-archival materials, with minimal curation records. Beginning in 2004, a massive volunteer effort led to the complete reorganization of the Tijeras Pueblo collection. This effort has resulted in renewed research on Tijeras Pueblo and other public benefits.

La mayor parte de la colección arqueológica de Tijeras Pueblo (LA 581) fue conservada en el Museo de Antropología Maxwell de la Universidad de Nuevo México. Como era típico de los repositorios arqueológicos de mediados a finales del siglo XX, la colección se alejó en un almacén, sin usar materiales de archivo, con un mínimo de registros de conservación. A partir de 2004, un esfuerzo voluntario masivo llevó a la reorganización completa de la colección de Tijeras Pueblo. Este esfuerzo ha resultado en una investigación renovada sobre Tijeras Pueblo y otros beneficios públicos.

KEYWORDS:

• Tijeras Pueblo
• archaeological repositories
• curation
• volunteers

Acknowledgments

The Maxwell Museum thanks the members of the archaeology collections volunteer crew, including Karen Armstrong (who organized and led the crew), Margery Barol, Trish Bolton, Nancy Bouillard, Tim Brown, Waynette Burnett, Ann Carson, Cindy Carson. Julian Chavez, Diane Courney, Barbara Daniels, Phyllis Davis, Sonya Dobberfuhl, Barbara Douglas, Cliff Evans, JoLynne Fenger, Ginger Foerster, Patricia Fordney, Hayward Franklin, Craig Frederickson, Gina Fredrickson, Janet Geohagen, John Geohagen, Neil and Joan Goldberg, Shad Goldstein, Bob Hildenbrand, Lionel Hutkoff, Sandy Hutkoff, Roger Houghton, Gail Jackson, Timothy James, Jeanice Jansen, Jacqueline Johnson, Maggie Knight, Richard and Tessa Krause, Emily Kvamme, Candace Lord, Joanne Magalis, Lee Mann, Audrey Murray, Ann Pineda, Libby Radcliffe, Doug Richardson, Eric Rinehart, Luther Rivera, Lawrence Sanchez, Lou Schuyler, Jon Steen, Linda Vogel, Judy Vredenberg, Rick Ward, Anne West, Ann White, Bob Willcox, Carry Wilcox, Nancy Woodworth, Ann Yeck, Diann Zentner, and any individual whose name we inadvertently omitted. Many of these volunteers joined the project from the ranks of the Friends of Tijeras Pueblo. Hayward Franklin provided training on ceramic recognition. Cibola National Forest and the Albuquerque Archaeological Society helped fund the curation supplies used by the volunteers. The authors thank Lucy Schuyler for providing the data in Tables 1 and 2.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).