From June 1983 until April 1, 1984, the Socorro Resource Area in the Las Cruces District of the Bureau of Land Management conducted an archeological survey and reconnaissance within the San Augustine Coal Area (SACA) in west-central New Mexico. The work was done in conjunction with analyses of the impacts that would occur as a result of the selection of alternatives for public lands that would be acceptable for inclusion in the federal coal leasing program.
This report describes the cultural and historical resources lying primarily within three cultural resource inventory areas within the SACA. A total of 303 archeological and historical site proveniences reflecting a very intensive and complex history of use of the region were recorded. The archeaological survey data comprise a six percent sample of cultural resource inventory areas as well as a record of all known large architectural sites within the SACA.
In this volume, data are presented in studies of ceramic, lithic, and architectural variation among prehistoric site locations and evaluated with models outlining several occupational histories that could be applied to archeological sites.