The Rio Bonito Archaeological Project was established in 1987 as a joint multiyear research and teaching project of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), New Mexico State Office, and Eastern New Mexico University. The cooperative agreement established an ongoing scientific research and training program to address questions of regional significance, to provide a variety of training experiences for graduate and undergraduate archaeology students, and to provide the BLM with information for planning and interpretive purposes (Shelley 1987, 1991). The project also provides research opportunities for graduate students (Aguila n.d.; Coleman 1991b; Salzer 1992a, 1992b). Collection of the preliminary information presented here is the first step toward the accomplishment of long-term research goals described briefly in the following section.