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I am dirty, ragged and sunburnt, but of best cheer.My life’s work has begun at last. — Adolph F. Bandelier, early September 1880,after his first days of fieldwork at Pecos Pueblo It was believed that the remains would there be found so stratified as to give a cross-section . . . of the development of Pueblo arts and . . .
Categories: Featured
J. MICHAEL BREMER WITH SHELLEY THOMPSON Once a month my husband and I grab daypacks, hiking sticks, and plenty of sunscreen, and head up to the Gallina area of the Santa Fe National Forest to monitor the archaeological sites assigned to us as volunteer site stewards. (more…)
Categories: Featured, Interviews
BY DODY FUGATE When I was very young my family and I used to travel from down south to visit a park in northern New Mexico. It was lovely then, with big trees and a mountain stream that we could wade in running right by the campsites. (more…)
Categories: Featured
BY CHRIS MERRIMAN The relationship between professional archaeologists and private collectors has been tumultuous. The main case against private collectors is that often they acquire artifacts illegally. (more…)
Categories: Featured, Visual art
BY JAKOB WILLIAM SEDIG Since 1971 the Museum of New Mexico (MNM) has owned one of the largest and best-preserved archaeological sites in the Mimbres region of southwest New Mexico, Woodrow Ruin. The New Mexico State Planning Office originally purchased Woodrow Ruin from the Woodrow family of Cliff, New Mexico, with plans to turn the site into a state monument, complete with a visitor’s center, interpretive signs, trails, and full-time archaeologists.
Categories: Featured
BY JASON S. SHAPIRO Sylvanus Griswold Morley (1882–1948) has been cited as a possible model for Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones. Whether or not that questionable claim stands, Morley remains a compelling, enigmatic, and controversial figure. (more…)
Categories: Featured, Visual art
BY SHELLEY THOMPSON In this issue of El Palacio, we present articles exploring archaeology, conservation, and preservation. The earliest issues of the magazine were heavily focused on these topics, so as we approach our 100th anniversary, it seems appropriate to honor and acknowledge our own past as a periodical with this special issue. (more…)
Categories: Editor's Letter
BY MAXINE MCBRINN Linda Cordell, the grande dame of Southwestern archaeology, died suddenly and peacefully at the beginning of April. Her death reflected her life: she was found, pen in hand, in the midst of preparing a paper about the archaeology of the Southwest. (more…)
Categories: Essays and memoir
BY MATTHEW J. BARBOUR AND DONALD E. TATUM Fort Sumner was established in 1862 to enforce the confinement of rebellious Indian populations at the newly minted Bosque Redondo Indian Reservation, on the Pecos River. (more…)
Categories: New Mexican cultures, New Mexican history, Southwestern history
The Diné baskets generally known as “wedding baskets” are actually woven for use in many different ceremonies, including those for weddings and healing. The overall design is always broken at one point, allowing a pathway from the center of the basket to the rim; the rim finish (always finished with a plaited herringbone pattern) ends at the pathway. In Diné ceremonies the pathway is pointed towards the east.
Categories: Visual art
