No, they did not find a Tyrannosaurus Rex tooth. But, the ongoing dig off of Highway 180 has revealed another find for the archaeology team from the Museum of New Mexico.
Contrary to the ever-present rumor mill in Deming, the team did not find part of the "tyrant lizard," which was one of the largest carnivores to walk the Earth. The team has uncovered a number of tools and a structure believed to have been used by an ancient nomadic hunter/gatherer society.
"For thousands of years, our ancestors, the ancestors of this area, subsisted this way," Steve Lentz, project director, said as he crouched next to a section of earth a few feet deep that had been painstakingly excavated, first by machine and then by hand. He described the ancient people while pointing to the corner of an earthen building with corners protruding less than a foot out of the freshly-dug soil. "These were like base camps, very rudimentary sort of camps where they built fires."
He described the site, which sits north of Deming on just more than three acres, as "very ephemeral, very subtle" and hard to locate.
The unidentified groups roamed this area of the country well before the Mimbres Indians, he said, who lived in the Mimbres Valley about a thousand years ago.
"We don't know enough about them," he added.
According to research on the ancient people, they would travel in small groups of 11 to 25 people. Dr. Robert Dello-Russo, deputy director of the Office of Archaeological Studies for the museum, said larger groups might have been unstable or difficult to sustain.
"They might have had some limited agriculture, but they were basically processing all plants, like mesquite pods and agave and prickly pear fruit and various other seeds and grasses," Lentz added.
Typically, the groups would make camp, look for food, start fires and cook whatever provisions they might have had or found during their treks. A common method of cooking, he said, would be to heat rocks and use the hot stones to boil water. Evidence of that cooking method was found throughout the area in shards of rock that had broken apart from high heat.
The Santa Fe-based group plans to work in the area for another three weeks, then return to their labs to perform additional tests and research.
Evidence of the site was uncovered when work was being done to the state land just off of the highway. The crew's work is part of the environmental survey required before construction can take place.
Author: Matt Robinson | Source: The Deming Headlight [April 06, 2011]
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| Steve Lentz, project director with the Museum of New Mexico, explains the use of a sandstone mortar, used by an ancient hunter/gatherer group to grind plant material for food Credit: Matt Robinson/Headlight] |
"For thousands of years, our ancestors, the ancestors of this area, subsisted this way," Steve Lentz, project director, said as he crouched next to a section of earth a few feet deep that had been painstakingly excavated, first by machine and then by hand. He described the ancient people while pointing to the corner of an earthen building with corners protruding less than a foot out of the freshly-dug soil. "These were like base camps, very rudimentary sort of camps where they built fires."
He described the site, which sits north of Deming on just more than three acres, as "very ephemeral, very subtle" and hard to locate.
The unidentified groups roamed this area of the country well before the Mimbres Indians, he said, who lived in the Mimbres Valley about a thousand years ago.
"We don't know enough about them," he added.
According to research on the ancient people, they would travel in small groups of 11 to 25 people. Dr. Robert Dello-Russo, deputy director of the Office of Archaeological Studies for the museum, said larger groups might have been unstable or difficult to sustain.
"They might have had some limited agriculture, but they were basically processing all plants, like mesquite pods and agave and prickly pear fruit and various other seeds and grasses," Lentz added.
Typically, the groups would make camp, look for food, start fires and cook whatever provisions they might have had or found during their treks. A common method of cooking, he said, would be to heat rocks and use the hot stones to boil water. Evidence of that cooking method was found throughout the area in shards of rock that had broken apart from high heat.
The Santa Fe-based group plans to work in the area for another three weeks, then return to their labs to perform additional tests and research.
Evidence of the site was uncovered when work was being done to the state land just off of the highway. The crew's work is part of the environmental survey required before construction can take place.
Author: Matt Robinson | Source: The Deming Headlight [April 06, 2011]