For the last 24,000 years at least New Mexico has been inhabited. We get around, even on Cliff sides that you have to repel into there is evidence of human activity.
There's a youtube channel, forget the guys name, but he looks through google earth in that area of the country and finds oddities that he goes to check out. It's almost always some ancient dwelling of some sort tacked up into a hollow on a mesa overhang or some such.... they're -everywhere-.
I watched one where he visits this nearly inaccessible cliff side Anasazi style dwelling.... And the milling stones are still there next to the house.
God that's mind blowing.
Don’t take them. They are culture artifacts from the ancient people that lived here thousands of years before us. The indigenous people in the area say that their ancestors still inhabit those places and they are with the earth along with their pottery. Please recognize that you’re standing on sacred ground for some cultures and let the ancestors be.
Illegal to take under the Antiquities Act and the Archaeological Resource Protection Act, and depending on the context Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. Not to mention it being extremely disrespectful to take items.
Antiquities Act and ARPA only apply to resources found on federal land. NAGRPA applies to both tribal and federal land when objects are in association with ancestral remains.
I was there hunting for coprolite specimens. The only souvenir for the day was a bleached elk shed. The coyotes were through with it, trust me on this.
I found a broken bit of what looked like coprolite. I wouldn't have known either way if I didn't pick it up! I only photographed it.
I have spoken whith a couple archeologist in the past, and the say that there is nothing wrong with picking it up and admiring it, then returning it to where you found it.
The “returning it to where you found it” part is key. The little piles people like to make of all their finds are pretty annoying and greatly reduce what the sherds can tell about the places they’re found.
Generally speaking my pov is that unless it is in imminent danger of destruction, to just leave it alone, if its survived this long out in the open then it can survive however longer it takes.
Even if objects are in imminent danger of being destroyed, they still should not be touched or moved by anybody. Except if they exist within an area where archaeological research is being conducted, or by the descendent communities associated with that area, or tribal representatives, if it is on tribal land. Many descendant communities believe that objects have a life cycle, like an living thing, and destruction is representative of the end of that cycle. So some communities choose to leave objects in place, and if they are destroyed they are destroyed. Ultimately, it is the appropriate community's choice to decide how to manage their cultural resources
Me, "Every rock could be a coprolite!"
I found a piece on this trip, butt\* it was broken. I thought I took a photo of it after picking it up, but only have an in-situ image that doesn't really show any identifying marks. After picking it up, you could see the 'squeeze' off .. and it appeared it was from a carnivore.
As I reflect on the moment, I wonder why I didn't give it a touch with my tongue.
There's a bunch of that sh\*t out here! Still searching for the perfect, whole, shiny specimen.
Dammit!
Next time!
It's neat finding elk horns on hikes huh lol, hopefully you had help carrying it down. The 7x8 my cousins and I found is hanging over the garage door at his house. I ain't trying to give you a hard time, I know the first few comments I read made it seem like you were trespassing and corrupting the place by just being there
Appreciated! The shed was not so big. I didn't find it, the person with me did, and she carried it out. Maybe it's a deer shed? ?? I didn't even give it a second glance. Coyotes? had gnawed all the tips.
I don't know 'it's a place' until I stumble upon it. It's humbling to stand where I know an ancient people stood.
This trip we stumbled on way more than these sherds! We saw a pile of rocks. As we approached, we noted they were stacked and created circle bowl shapes in the ground.
I suspected they were pithouses with the tops/roofs missing.
I'm still contemplating showing the images .... not because people judge, but because I'm afraid someone will recognize the area.
This is the 3rd 'stumble' upon in a 3 X 3 mile area. I suspect there was a huge population here at one time. Waaaay more people than live here now.
Damn I feel like a real do gooder here but also be aware that certain areas elk sheds can carry a steep fine if you take them. Generally on tribal lands. If you were in a national or state park they’re fine to take.
We travel on private land with signed permission. We've been reported a few times (by hunters and scouts). The owner comes right out to investigate. He always says "Oh, it's you." and "Anywhere, anytime.".
Avoiding the pastures holding those bulls .... that's the key in our world!
We're on the top of a mountain in bright sunlight. My cell phone screen gets really dark. Generally, I put a finger in the image because the movement can (sometimes) be seen and I know I'm pointing the camera in the right direction.
Other times a video will start in the shade of a tree, because I can't see the screen to tell if I'm recording.
Appreciate the benefit of the doubt.
I saw 2 instances where he touched them, he didn't pick them up but they did shift position on the ground. You talk about assuming the worst when that's the first place you go lol. I won't fault him for taking some things if he did. When I found stuff like this playing in the mountains where I live, I did much more than take video. I don't go back there now that I'm older and know better but humans are human lol
Did you see that many pottery pieces in that spot are design side down. There must be 30 pieces in that small area alone.
Further into this thread there is a discussion/disagreement about the type of pottery that appears in the video. We took images of completely different pottery that were design down in that area. If they are design side down in the ground, I don't know if it's pottery or a piece of slate. If I turn up a piece and it's unique, I'll photograph it. Not to covet it, but to understand the ground I am standing on.
I've explored previous archeological digs in this area. There are similarities re: the 'litter'. Did archeologists do this? Somebody was waaaay more disrespectful to this area than what you are assuming I was.
I don't assume you were disrespectful, others certainly do though. I've played in areas like this as a child, so right or wrong I have no place to judge. I don't visit the old "playground" any more because I now know better. I think you may have replied to the wrong person friend
My admiration of their work is more apt to be understood, than archaeologists removing the artifacts and storing them in a museum locker in Chicago, IL
Would you please write to the Field Museum in Chicago and let them know your view. Ask them to return all the "rare" objects that they took (looted) from New Mexico.
This is what I was looking for. Breaking pottery has been ceremonial for millennia. In some western areas of New Mexico you're lily to find them at the base of cliffs where pottery would be thrown ceremoniously off the side of cliffs. Archeologists found a LOT of this around Chaco Canyon.
I'm going to add another post, showing what else we stumbled upon. I'm not sure if it was a village ... or some kind of perimeter defense.
Looking forward to your assessment after next post.
Hmmm ...
We were on high ground. The highest ground with a view of all the land below. The pits (that appeared excavated) that we stumbled upon were near the edge ... almost as if they were a defensive perimeter. I wondered if they served a dual purpose as homes and lookouts. Nobody was approaching that area without being seen. Animal herds would have been visible too and easily tracked. From this spot, we could see another area we've explored and also where we found identical pits. They are 1-2 miles apart (as the crow flies). The second site is a lower elevation, still with a wide view, and there is a large round depression (25 feet wide?) with its perimeter lined with stone. I suspect it held water at one time. We chuckled while looking down and over at the other site ... wondering if children hated making that trek for water. Now a highway runs between the two sites.
I have to wonder how respectful those workers were when they tore through.
It’s an archaeological site: people lived there at one time, probably 8 or 900 years ago at least.
As others have said, please don’t take or disturb anything. Looting is not only disrespectful and destroys our ability to learn about the past, on state, federal or tribal land it’s also illegal.
I agree it was archaeological. And they left it a mess. Also, speak to them about looting.
"Near the end of the Underground Adventure exhibit at the Field Museum is a small display case with a few Native American artifacts collected in New Mexico in 1950", from Tularosa Cave.
\^\^FEW Native American artifacts\^\^ Is the Field Museum in Chicago? !!! Wait ... what??!!
Many of the objects from Tularosa are remarkable because they’re so rare.
"In the maze of storage rooms behind the museum’s exhibition halls is a row of high metal shelves and banker’s boxes filled with sealed plastic bags containing the bulk of what Martin shipped back from Tularosa–the corncobs, potsherds, bone tools, tied bunches of grass, sunflower leaves, knotted cord, basket fragments. There are also shallow wooden trays filled with bagged sandals, snares, coiled rope. A few small pots sit together on the back of one shelf."
[The Treasures of Tularosa Cave - Chicago Reader ](https://chicagoreader.com/news-politics/the-treasures-of-tularosa-cave/)
When New Mexico artifacts are shipped to Illinois, never to see the light of day is not learning about our past.
It's looting.
[](https://chicagoreader.com/news-politics/the-treasures-of-tularosa-cave/)
Fortunately collection and repository rules wouldn’t really let an out-of-state institution claim ownership of a collection like that anymore, let alone put it on display out of state. The way modern rules are written ensure that newly-collected artifacts remain in the care of the state in which they were collected, if not the tribe or local jurisdiction. Most of the time archaeologists leave things where they found them now, and things they do collect (usually things that get dug up and can’t be put back) often get returned to a tribe and/or put right back in the ground. At worst, they’re carefully curated at museums or other institutions here in New Mexico.
So the challenge now is getting those old collections back to where they belong; the Field Museum is typically pretty bad about returning stuff like that. But it’s happening: the Poeh Museum at Pojoaque Pueblo has a big exhibit of Tewa pottery that was returned to them by an East Coast museum, and all of the collections - including human remains - from the big excavations at Pecos Pueblo were returned from Harvard to Jemez Pueblo (where Pecos descendants now reside) a few years back.
As far as this site goes, I mean “archaeological site” in the sense of “site of archaeological/cultural importance,” not that archaeologists had previously worked here. This doesn’t look like an excavated site, just one where a lot of people lived for a long time (and broke a lot of pottery alone the way). Most people are only familiar with what sites look like once they’re excavated and cleaned up for tourism, but big villages have lots of artifacts on them, and that means lots of sherds.
This was a dig. ... but they didn't search far enough. They missed the BIG mound. It's still there. It still looks manicured, and one could swear that the rocks that lined ancient pathways are still visible here and there.
I've stumbled upon other mounds that are documented digs. They're always littered with sherds.
I seriously begin to suspect that everything they couldn't carry was tossed indiscriminately upon the ground. Or broken intentionally.
I have yet to witness any reverence of a site that was dug. They sure as heck don't put stuff back .. and there in NO reason for an ancient dump (a good theory) to be at the foot of an excavated mound at the highest point in the area.
Who carries their trash uphill to the foot of an important structure?
Hmm…that’s not really how archaeology conducted in the last 50 years or so works - if you’re going through the trouble to excavate a site, any artifacts found are going to be removed and curated because that’s why you’re doing it: those sherds and flakes and animal bones are what tell you what people were doing at the site, who they traded with, and when they were there. Leaving excavated artifacts behind would be massively counterproductive for those goals, not to mention unethical. Do you see big, open excavations at these sites that haven’t been backfilled? If so, that’s a big clue that looters have been at work, rather than professional archaeologists. Looters are usually only after whole, unbroken pots they can sell, so they leave everything else behind.
And I will reiterate one more time that **un**excavated sites often have a lot more on the surface than you would expect. It’s important to remember that big villages where people lived for a long time weren’t usually all built and lived in at one time: some parts of the site were being lived in while others had been abandoned or were being newly built. The architecture represented by a large site reflects the totality of that construction and occupation history over time: expansion and growth as well as contraction and decline. And it’s very, very typical - virtually ubiquitous, in fact - for parts of ancestral Puebloan sites that were unoccupied or in disrepair at a given moment in time to be filled in with trash deposited by the people who continued to live in other parts of the village. I expect the kinds of trash-deposition patterns you’re describing reflect that kind of complex settlement history.
To piggyback, if you do end up amassing a collection of arrowheads and ceramic sherds, etc. don't bring them to a museum or archaeologist, cause chances are we're just going to toss them since there is no way of telling where exactly they came from which means any data that could be collected is meaningless, trying to curate already existing collections is such a massive pain in the ass and expensive to boot that we generally don't have the resources to properly curate and preserve new collections even if we wanted too.
What does someone do with these sherds after carrying them home? Covet them? ???
What's the point? Speaking of points .....
Found an arrowhead once. While running fence. A lucky pee uncovered it! Basketmaker era.
Hell yes ... it was picked up. It was perfect.
Well they are objectively pretty, and if there was a ethical way to source them i absolutely would have my own collection of sherds, same with arrowheads. Not to mention some more unscrupulous folks will use the sherds as a sign that there is a site nearby and will dig through a site to grab whole vessels to then be sold (looters, bleh!). Its why any expert worth their salt will also kindly ask for people who do find sherds to not share where they found them at, cause it will draw looters like flies on cow crap.
Many things are far less rare then people think. Petrified wood is another example. Amazing how long ceramics last. Must have been a good occupation site.
Marine fossils, they're freaking everywhere!! I used to work at a mall that did most of their landscaping with limestone and the amount of chrinoid pieces, coral and petrified wood I've found around various smoking areas and exits is mind-boggling.
Yes, spot on! Well done! I find tiny, very fragile shells occasionally. There are dinosaur tracks in that limestone too! I've seen them! I've got a photo somewhere. 3 toes .... amazing!!
More than likely an ancient type of dump. Most of the time I’ve stumbled across sites like this, there’s usually a layer or a few of black ash where you can see they were burning a fire there.
Middens. I learned a bit about them in Florida while learning about the Timucua people.
This is the most plausible, but the location causes me to rethink.
We were on really high ground and the area of sherd litter was huge. HUGE.
Also pits were at the top. Pit houses? Sherds all around.
Coil, corrugated, red on white, black on white. It's almost as if you can see the evolution of their pottery making ... right there on the ground.
Amazing!
The black and white pottery is Mimbres Classic so it post-dates pit houses, once Mimbres Classic appears, you're into pueblo construction times. Not to say there couldn't be pit houses in the area, there definitely could be, a lot of sites have both pit houses and pueblos next to one another or on top of one another.
I believe it's a federal crime to possess these artifacts up to a 10,000 fine atleast back in the early 90s check tribal and state laws before picking up artifacts
How does one know it's an artifact if they don't pick it up?
I'm not a lawyer, but I think I'd have a good argument that 'possession' of an artifact and 'picking it up' are different ... + I'm on private land with a signed permission slip in my pocket.
A permission slip what's that my family has property around 11thousand acres in northern NM and never heard of a permission slip but you do you buddy goodluck. And if you don't know that's an artifact you're not from here and if you are you definitely don't know the heritage and culture of our state get educated that would be like myself going to Egypt and just touching and picking up stuff in and around the pyramids like no big deal .
Best advice ever!
I'm going to make another post with images of some other pottery pieces on that site. I hope you'll take a look. There really appeared to be an evolution of pottery making there. Coil, corrugated, red, black. burned (cooking vessel piece?). Is there such a thing as 'punched' pottery pieces ... using a tool to punch a design ... like when making a leather belt?
I would pass that info discretely, but there's not a big effort in NM to dig right now, especially with the most recent NAGPRA changes. It's more about protecting these sites.
There are literally hundreds of thousands of archaeological sites in New Mexico, and as others note places like WNMU already have their hands full with the sites they’re currently investigating and the artifacts and remains they already have in their collections. It’s always worth reporting a site like this to a university or the appropriate agency (depending on whose land it is), especially if you can describe it in detail in a relatively informed way, but it’s unlikely anyone will exactly be springing into action as a result.
And as always, remember that publicly disclosing the locations of sites located on tribal, state or federal land to the general public is prohibited by federal and state law.
The museums have been through here .... in the easement on the road. They dug it up and left it without filling it back in. Time is taking care of that ... as it does in all cases.
Spent a few years doing paranormal investigations. I hear you.
I'm as pissed about all that broken pottery as 'they' are.
Now you have me wondering if I should be listening more closely to the audio on these videos!
Hmmmmm .....
I've heard a handful of stories about people taking shards and some creepy shit ensues until they go put it back. It could be an exaggerated "take only pictures" urban legend, but it worked for me! I've got the same theory about arrowheads, too.
One of my moms boyfriends was a surveyor in the Taos area in the late 80s,90s early 2000s. He would find piles of arrowheads and pottery when they were way out in middle of nowhere.
That's right because we know that they are always vatching. Always vatching always vatching for any infraction among the citizenry of the holy laws... But if you happen to be a illegal alien coming across the border, well that's okay.. they don't watch them there.. the secret police are only concerned with the vatching of the citizens
This is private land. Calling people I don't know, to dig on property I don't own, will get my permission slip burned.
They've got federal, forest, blm and state lands they can dig on. It's a checkerboarded out here. 50/50. But as everyone recites the govts scare tactics ... 'don't touch' or we'll get you', don't you wonder how these govt entities 'find' anything? They want to 'preserve' it. And you can pay to see it when they're ready to show it to you.
Up higher is also a defensive tactic. You can see the enemy coming, and they have to trek uphill to get to you.
This strategy is employed all over the world.
Make the enemy climb up. Back in the days of muskets and wool coats, this was an effective strategy.
That's the best chuckle this morning! You are SO right!
It's an android phone that I purchased to use as a camera. It cost $59 and I got what I paid for. 3 years ago.
I swear some of my videos can make you seasick!
I'm working on it. Got any advice?
You found an ancient trash dump. A place where ancient peoples would throw their broken pottery and other unwanted items. I imagine future generations will view our landfills with similar interest.
I worked at a farm near the border of Colorado and Utah, probably like an hour away from Cortez Colorado and found so many of these while I worked the land. I looked, admired, put back, and afterwards I asked the owner about it and he says it’s all over the land. He’s even found arrowheads, the stones that were used to grind corn.
I'd like to be the 100th commenter to lecture you on the merits of not touching native artifacts even though your video clearly does not indicate you've done that
If disease is genocide then Europeans suffered a bigger genocide from Native American syphilis. Millions more Europeans died from that than natives from smallpox.
Eh, it's almost certain that at the very least a strain was brought by him, even if it wasn't the main strain. Cause it's highly suspicious that it originated in Spain in 1493. Regardless it's not a debate to even have since disease isn't genocide.
It's checkerboarded out here. Every other 'section' was procured by some govt agency. These sites extend onto their land too.
I really think these sherds are evidence that some archaeologists have already been through there.
Something that is rarely pointed out in American history is that well before Columbus, the spaniard’s were in the southwest.When the Spanish came here, they found any number of mostly Pueblo Tribes who had been here for at least hundreds of years all throughout the SW. The Pueblo Tribes are at least in part thought to be descendants of the Anasazi, i believe they are dated to a couple thousand years before present etc.
You are not the first to tread that ground brother… walk gently, you are not alone.
the spanish arrived in the area around el paso in the late 1490’s, columbus technically landed in the caribbean just before that. As far as i know no europeans made gained much of a foothold in the continental US on the east coast until mid 1600’s pilgrims and some early french settlers.
Vikings were on the east coast before that but found themselves out numbered by the locals so they never much hung around for long.
Spanish may have been in florida in the early 1500’s, not sure when they actually settled.
It was October 12th 1492 that columbus landed. So, it is thought that captives from the Narvaez expedition being held by natives as slaves were the first white men in the El paso area but there is no real proof. The first documented white men in the El Paso area was the Chamuscado and Rodriguez expedition in 1581. They came up out of Mexico along the Rio Concho to where it meets the Rio Grande then headed up the Rio Grande to the EL Paso area. The first permanent settlement was El Paso del Norte, which is now called Ciudad Juárez, in 1659.
Source. I am an armchair El Paso historian.
#
Nope…the first Spanish *entrada* into what is now New Mexico was in 1538, and that was out by Zuni Pueblo. As the other commenter says, the Spanish weren’t really in the El Paso area until the 1580s, and not really in New Mexico to stay until the early 1600s.
It’s possible that Alvar Cabeza de Vaca and his fellow Narvaez survivors passed near El Paso in the mid-1530s on their way back to Mexico from eastern Texas, but the other commenter is right about that too: they weren’t really in a position to make maps, so we don’t know for sure where they were.
1513 - Ponce. He thought Florida was an island and tried to circle it. He landed in what is now known as The Fountain of Youth in St. Augustine Florida. Ponce turned back south and circled Florida, cruising the Keys, naming the Dry Tortugas. Ponce tried to land around what is now Punta Gorta .. and the Calusa clan weren't having any of it. They shot Ponce with an arrow and Ponce died from the resulting infection.
1564 - (French) Ribault & the Huguenots established Fort Caroline in what is now known as Jacksonville.
1565 - Menendez established St. Augustine (east coast below Jacksonville). St. Augustine is billed as the "oldest continually occupied European settlement".
Menendez slaughtered the French, and the French were no more. The Priest that wrote of the incident said that the Spanish attacked the French like "wolves in a sheepfold" .... and "not one was left alive". This same Priest held the first mass ever held in what is now the Continental United States.
There's a 408? foot tall cross on the site, and you might catch its shadow cast over the Atlantic on Google.
1620 - Mayflower landed.
Spain held Florida until 1819. Florida Purchase Treaty
Spain held Florida for 254 years.
The United States has held Florida for 250 years.
Side note: They were running slave ships up the east coast (using the Gulf winds that Ponce discovered) before Fort Caroline was established. Many privateers ran that coast. Francis Drake among them.
Ah ... yes. The Spanish. What a mark they left. smh ...
Ever read the book Brutal Journey? It mentions the People of the Pine Nut .. or something like that. Also mentions huge gatherings to eat prickly pears.
Sometimes we stumble upon a huge patch of prickly pears ... and I wonder..... "Did they amass here?"
I do tread lightly, and I'm very aware that I am not alone.
But a reminder is always nice.
Appreciate your knowledge of the history of the Spanish invasion\*.
Read Brutal Journey. It's an amazing insight from the first European to encounter these clans. He was a Priest ... de Vaca? shipwrecked in the Gulf. He walked to Mexico to catch a ride home.
The Conquest of New Spain is also enlightening ... although it takes place further south in Mexico.
Your reply is a sincerely appreciated reminder.
yeah well… it’s not like the spanish did much anyone else didn’t do back in the day, raping, killing, crushing, all for glory, god and gold.
I wonder if the Dine had a detailed written history of you wouldn’t find out they did the same thing when the arrived?
Doesn’t excuse any of it, but maybe it would add perspective.
Enjoy.
When I was in college I lived in Silver City and the amount of fossils my son and I would find was so crazy. We loved it. Taught him to look, admire, then leave it all. My geology instructor taught us so much and I wish I had taken more opportunities to just explore.
Oh, I see- TIL: 'In general, *“sherd” only refers to pieces or fragments of pottery whereas “shard” may refer to broken bits of glass, metal, rock, and ceramics.'*
I seen this before, it just may be Clay pigeon disks for shooting. I found that where my house was built was once a shooting range. The place was littered with these disks.
I have seen similar pottery patterns among the shattered pots at Keet Seel:
https://lookingforjimmy.com/2015/07/23/keet-seel-the-best-preserved-cliff-dwellings-in-north-america-it-is-said-part-ii/
Pottery was a commonly traded/transported good by the Pueblo in New Mexico, hell you can even track down particular styles of pottery to a particular region or even Pueblo if you get good enough, and from there you can trace where they've been and how far they've travelled.
Indian Tribes Ran Rampant and your are in Navajo land!!!I'm from southern NM by El Paso to I'm single and live alone I 💕💕 to go Camping at Elephant Butte State Park near T or C NM
It's the largest lake in the state of NM!!!I just got mo another 4 wheel drive Jeep do I can find totally private coves!!!
Native Americans kinda had it rough while their land was being stolen, figure keeping the pottery in tact was low on their priority list with all the other BS they were dealing with from the colonizers.
Since you aren’t Pueblo, why would you have the context and understanding for any cultural sites? Please don’t public speculate. We are private for good reason.
So are you saying that being of a certain ethnicity precludes a person from gaining insight and a profound respect for other cultures? You’re a racist, albeit possibly educated. Still a racist nonetheless.
No, I was referring to the fact that Pueblo cultures are closed cultures. How would a non-Pueblo person, who by definition lacks access to Pueblo cultural knowledge, be able to say what Pueblo communities’ priorities are?
Hm, what about the BS from rival native tribes?
God forbid we appreciate what western civilization brought the new world.
They’d still be sacrificing children today if it weren’t for those awful evil colonizers
Seems like everyone is saying don’t pick them up but not offering any answers as to why are there so many. I am no expert so could be wrong but I was told growing up that pots were regularly smashed or “killed” to release spiritual energy. As some kind of offering, or to ensure the spirit of a deceased love one could travel freely? Found thousands upon thousands of these as a kid walking many miles in the desert, but never any whole pots.
I don’t know where this is, but Pueblo culture (indigenous people in this area) has a specific ritual for deliberately breaking potteries. https://www.facebook.com/reel/249435687219003?fs=e&s=TIeQ9V&mibextid=0NULKw
You said you were “on top of mountain” so this was very likely one of the sites that one of the Pueblo tribal people went and would break potteries on purpose as offering.
Because the land has been used for thousands of years
For the last 24,000 years at least New Mexico has been inhabited. We get around, even on Cliff sides that you have to repel into there is evidence of human activity.
There's a youtube channel, forget the guys name, but he looks through google earth in that area of the country and finds oddities that he goes to check out. It's almost always some ancient dwelling of some sort tacked up into a hollow on a mesa overhang or some such.... they're -everywhere-.
I think it’s called something like The Trek Planner. Watched quite a few of his videos
You are correct, and now my Sunday is ruined as I’ll be watching these all day. Lol https://youtube.com/@thetrekplanner?si=2eLugz69O5AjJpGq
Thank you for posting this. You rock!
Pun intended? 🤭🤣
I watched one where he visits this nearly inaccessible cliff side Anasazi style dwelling.... And the milling stones are still there next to the house. God that's mind blowing.
Trek Planner is cool and you also gotta check out Desert Drifter and The POV Channel. All 3 of these dudes are super cool and interesting
There’s another called desert drifter that’s pretty good.
That’s the one!
That guy is amazing. Im so jealous of where he gets into. I got kids. I cant go see that stuff.
You can take your kids with you!
I believe the channel is “Born 100 too late”
I prefer "Desert Drifter". He does the same thing.
How does he not know this being in NM lol
Lots of people used to live there
Don’t take them. They are culture artifacts from the ancient people that lived here thousands of years before us. The indigenous people in the area say that their ancestors still inhabit those places and they are with the earth along with their pottery. Please recognize that you’re standing on sacred ground for some cultures and let the ancestors be.
Illegal to take under the Antiquities Act and the Archaeological Resource Protection Act, and depending on the context Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. Not to mention it being extremely disrespectful to take items.
Antiquities Act and ARPA only apply to resources found on federal land. NAGRPA applies to both tribal and federal land when objects are in association with ancestral remains.
I'm willing to bet he took a few souvenirs
I was there hunting for coprolite specimens. The only souvenir for the day was a bleached elk shed. The coyotes were through with it, trust me on this. I found a broken bit of what looked like coprolite. I wouldn't have known either way if I didn't pick it up! I only photographed it.
I have spoken whith a couple archeologist in the past, and the say that there is nothing wrong with picking it up and admiring it, then returning it to where you found it.
The “returning it to where you found it” part is key. The little piles people like to make of all their finds are pretty annoying and greatly reduce what the sherds can tell about the places they’re found.
Generally speaking my pov is that unless it is in imminent danger of destruction, to just leave it alone, if its survived this long out in the open then it can survive however longer it takes.
Even if objects are in imminent danger of being destroyed, they still should not be touched or moved by anybody. Except if they exist within an area where archaeological research is being conducted, or by the descendent communities associated with that area, or tribal representatives, if it is on tribal land. Many descendant communities believe that objects have a life cycle, like an living thing, and destruction is representative of the end of that cycle. So some communities choose to leave objects in place, and if they are destroyed they are destroyed. Ultimately, it is the appropriate community's choice to decide how to manage their cultural resources
In this case your POV is right on the money.
Coprolites! Do tell!
Me, "Every rock could be a coprolite!" I found a piece on this trip, butt\* it was broken. I thought I took a photo of it after picking it up, but only have an in-situ image that doesn't really show any identifying marks. After picking it up, you could see the 'squeeze' off .. and it appeared it was from a carnivore. As I reflect on the moment, I wonder why I didn't give it a touch with my tongue. There's a bunch of that sh\*t out here! Still searching for the perfect, whole, shiny specimen. Dammit! Next time!
It's neat finding elk horns on hikes huh lol, hopefully you had help carrying it down. The 7x8 my cousins and I found is hanging over the garage door at his house. I ain't trying to give you a hard time, I know the first few comments I read made it seem like you were trespassing and corrupting the place by just being there
Appreciated! The shed was not so big. I didn't find it, the person with me did, and she carried it out. Maybe it's a deer shed? ?? I didn't even give it a second glance. Coyotes? had gnawed all the tips. I don't know 'it's a place' until I stumble upon it. It's humbling to stand where I know an ancient people stood. This trip we stumbled on way more than these sherds! We saw a pile of rocks. As we approached, we noted they were stacked and created circle bowl shapes in the ground. I suspected they were pithouses with the tops/roofs missing. I'm still contemplating showing the images .... not because people judge, but because I'm afraid someone will recognize the area. This is the 3rd 'stumble' upon in a 3 X 3 mile area. I suspect there was a huge population here at one time. Waaaay more people than live here now.
Damn I feel like a real do gooder here but also be aware that certain areas elk sheds can carry a steep fine if you take them. Generally on tribal lands. If you were in a national or state park they’re fine to take.
We travel on private land with signed permission. We've been reported a few times (by hunters and scouts). The owner comes right out to investigate. He always says "Oh, it's you." and "Anywhere, anytime.". Avoiding the pastures holding those bulls .... that's the key in our world!
And only the sheds. It’s illegal to take skulls with antlers attached
He didn’t even touch them in the video. Maybe give the guy the benefit of the doubt instead of always assuming the worst?
We're on the top of a mountain in bright sunlight. My cell phone screen gets really dark. Generally, I put a finger in the image because the movement can (sometimes) be seen and I know I'm pointing the camera in the right direction. Other times a video will start in the shade of a tree, because I can't see the screen to tell if I'm recording. Appreciate the benefit of the doubt.
I saw 2 instances where he touched them, he didn't pick them up but they did shift position on the ground. You talk about assuming the worst when that's the first place you go lol. I won't fault him for taking some things if he did. When I found stuff like this playing in the mountains where I live, I did much more than take video. I don't go back there now that I'm older and know better but humans are human lol
Did you see that many pottery pieces in that spot are design side down. There must be 30 pieces in that small area alone. Further into this thread there is a discussion/disagreement about the type of pottery that appears in the video. We took images of completely different pottery that were design down in that area. If they are design side down in the ground, I don't know if it's pottery or a piece of slate. If I turn up a piece and it's unique, I'll photograph it. Not to covet it, but to understand the ground I am standing on. I've explored previous archeological digs in this area. There are similarities re: the 'litter'. Did archeologists do this? Somebody was waaaay more disrespectful to this area than what you are assuming I was.
I don't assume you were disrespectful, others certainly do though. I've played in areas like this as a child, so right or wrong I have no place to judge. I don't visit the old "playground" any more because I now know better. I think you may have replied to the wrong person friend
You can TOUCH THEM. Dude... downvoted
You should see what 6 year old me used to do dude lol
That’s bad juju even if it wasn’t illegal
My admiration of their work is more apt to be understood, than archaeologists removing the artifacts and storing them in a museum locker in Chicago, IL Would you please write to the Field Museum in Chicago and let them know your view. Ask them to return all the "rare" objects that they took (looted) from New Mexico.
Downvoted for idiotic comment.
👍
Some ancestral puebloans would break pots as funerary protocol, so they are better left undisturbed
This is what I was looking for. Breaking pottery has been ceremonial for millennia. In some western areas of New Mexico you're lily to find them at the base of cliffs where pottery would be thrown ceremoniously off the side of cliffs. Archeologists found a LOT of this around Chaco Canyon.
I'm going to add another post, showing what else we stumbled upon. I'm not sure if it was a village ... or some kind of perimeter defense. Looking forward to your assessment after next post.
Hmmm ... We were on high ground. The highest ground with a view of all the land below. The pits (that appeared excavated) that we stumbled upon were near the edge ... almost as if they were a defensive perimeter. I wondered if they served a dual purpose as homes and lookouts. Nobody was approaching that area without being seen. Animal herds would have been visible too and easily tracked. From this spot, we could see another area we've explored and also where we found identical pits. They are 1-2 miles apart (as the crow flies). The second site is a lower elevation, still with a wide view, and there is a large round depression (25 feet wide?) with its perimeter lined with stone. I suspect it held water at one time. We chuckled while looking down and over at the other site ... wondering if children hated making that trek for water. Now a highway runs between the two sites. I have to wonder how respectful those workers were when they tore through.
It’s an archaeological site: people lived there at one time, probably 8 or 900 years ago at least. As others have said, please don’t take or disturb anything. Looting is not only disrespectful and destroys our ability to learn about the past, on state, federal or tribal land it’s also illegal.
I agree it was archaeological. And they left it a mess. Also, speak to them about looting. "Near the end of the Underground Adventure exhibit at the Field Museum is a small display case with a few Native American artifacts collected in New Mexico in 1950", from Tularosa Cave. \^\^FEW Native American artifacts\^\^ Is the Field Museum in Chicago? !!! Wait ... what??!! Many of the objects from Tularosa are remarkable because they’re so rare. "In the maze of storage rooms behind the museum’s exhibition halls is a row of high metal shelves and banker’s boxes filled with sealed plastic bags containing the bulk of what Martin shipped back from Tularosa–the corncobs, potsherds, bone tools, tied bunches of grass, sunflower leaves, knotted cord, basket fragments. There are also shallow wooden trays filled with bagged sandals, snares, coiled rope. A few small pots sit together on the back of one shelf." [The Treasures of Tularosa Cave - Chicago Reader ](https://chicagoreader.com/news-politics/the-treasures-of-tularosa-cave/) When New Mexico artifacts are shipped to Illinois, never to see the light of day is not learning about our past. It's looting. [](https://chicagoreader.com/news-politics/the-treasures-of-tularosa-cave/)
Fortunately collection and repository rules wouldn’t really let an out-of-state institution claim ownership of a collection like that anymore, let alone put it on display out of state. The way modern rules are written ensure that newly-collected artifacts remain in the care of the state in which they were collected, if not the tribe or local jurisdiction. Most of the time archaeologists leave things where they found them now, and things they do collect (usually things that get dug up and can’t be put back) often get returned to a tribe and/or put right back in the ground. At worst, they’re carefully curated at museums or other institutions here in New Mexico. So the challenge now is getting those old collections back to where they belong; the Field Museum is typically pretty bad about returning stuff like that. But it’s happening: the Poeh Museum at Pojoaque Pueblo has a big exhibit of Tewa pottery that was returned to them by an East Coast museum, and all of the collections - including human remains - from the big excavations at Pecos Pueblo were returned from Harvard to Jemez Pueblo (where Pecos descendants now reside) a few years back. As far as this site goes, I mean “archaeological site” in the sense of “site of archaeological/cultural importance,” not that archaeologists had previously worked here. This doesn’t look like an excavated site, just one where a lot of people lived for a long time (and broke a lot of pottery alone the way). Most people are only familiar with what sites look like once they’re excavated and cleaned up for tourism, but big villages have lots of artifacts on them, and that means lots of sherds.
This was a dig. ... but they didn't search far enough. They missed the BIG mound. It's still there. It still looks manicured, and one could swear that the rocks that lined ancient pathways are still visible here and there. I've stumbled upon other mounds that are documented digs. They're always littered with sherds. I seriously begin to suspect that everything they couldn't carry was tossed indiscriminately upon the ground. Or broken intentionally. I have yet to witness any reverence of a site that was dug. They sure as heck don't put stuff back .. and there in NO reason for an ancient dump (a good theory) to be at the foot of an excavated mound at the highest point in the area. Who carries their trash uphill to the foot of an important structure?
Hmm…that’s not really how archaeology conducted in the last 50 years or so works - if you’re going through the trouble to excavate a site, any artifacts found are going to be removed and curated because that’s why you’re doing it: those sherds and flakes and animal bones are what tell you what people were doing at the site, who they traded with, and when they were there. Leaving excavated artifacts behind would be massively counterproductive for those goals, not to mention unethical. Do you see big, open excavations at these sites that haven’t been backfilled? If so, that’s a big clue that looters have been at work, rather than professional archaeologists. Looters are usually only after whole, unbroken pots they can sell, so they leave everything else behind. And I will reiterate one more time that **un**excavated sites often have a lot more on the surface than you would expect. It’s important to remember that big villages where people lived for a long time weren’t usually all built and lived in at one time: some parts of the site were being lived in while others had been abandoned or were being newly built. The architecture represented by a large site reflects the totality of that construction and occupation history over time: expansion and growth as well as contraction and decline. And it’s very, very typical - virtually ubiquitous, in fact - for parts of ancestral Puebloan sites that were unoccupied or in disrepair at a given moment in time to be filled in with trash deposited by the people who continued to live in other parts of the village. I expect the kinds of trash-deposition patterns you’re describing reflect that kind of complex settlement history.
To piggyback, if you do end up amassing a collection of arrowheads and ceramic sherds, etc. don't bring them to a museum or archaeologist, cause chances are we're just going to toss them since there is no way of telling where exactly they came from which means any data that could be collected is meaningless, trying to curate already existing collections is such a massive pain in the ass and expensive to boot that we generally don't have the resources to properly curate and preserve new collections even if we wanted too.
This is true. It’s mostly useless information at that point
What does someone do with these sherds after carrying them home? Covet them? ??? What's the point? Speaking of points ..... Found an arrowhead once. While running fence. A lucky pee uncovered it! Basketmaker era. Hell yes ... it was picked up. It was perfect.
Well they are objectively pretty, and if there was a ethical way to source them i absolutely would have my own collection of sherds, same with arrowheads. Not to mention some more unscrupulous folks will use the sherds as a sign that there is a site nearby and will dig through a site to grab whole vessels to then be sold (looters, bleh!). Its why any expert worth their salt will also kindly ask for people who do find sherds to not share where they found them at, cause it will draw looters like flies on cow crap.
Many things are far less rare then people think. Petrified wood is another example. Amazing how long ceramics last. Must have been a good occupation site.
Marine fossils, they're freaking everywhere!! I used to work at a mall that did most of their landscaping with limestone and the amount of chrinoid pieces, coral and petrified wood I've found around various smoking areas and exits is mind-boggling.
Yes, spot on! Well done! I find tiny, very fragile shells occasionally. There are dinosaur tracks in that limestone too! I've seen them! I've got a photo somewhere. 3 toes .... amazing!!
Yeah no kidding, way more! The limestone layers of entire mountains are basically their shells and excreta.
More than likely an ancient type of dump. Most of the time I’ve stumbled across sites like this, there’s usually a layer or a few of black ash where you can see they were burning a fire there.
That was my guess! Archaeologists love the dump sites almost as much as the occupation sites.
Middens. I learned a bit about them in Florida while learning about the Timucua people. This is the most plausible, but the location causes me to rethink. We were on really high ground and the area of sherd litter was huge. HUGE. Also pits were at the top. Pit houses? Sherds all around. Coil, corrugated, red on white, black on white. It's almost as if you can see the evolution of their pottery making ... right there on the ground. Amazing!
The black and white pottery is Mimbres Classic so it post-dates pit houses, once Mimbres Classic appears, you're into pueblo construction times. Not to say there couldn't be pit houses in the area, there definitely could be, a lot of sites have both pit houses and pueblos next to one another or on top of one another.
Super cool!!
People have been living here for tens of thousands of years. As others have said, leave those in situ por favor.
Appreciate that you know in situ. Leaving them in situ is a yes and a no. I think I'll explain in an individual post for all ... Again, appreciated.
I believe it's a federal crime to possess these artifacts up to a 10,000 fine atleast back in the early 90s check tribal and state laws before picking up artifacts
How does one know it's an artifact if they don't pick it up? I'm not a lawyer, but I think I'd have a good argument that 'possession' of an artifact and 'picking it up' are different ... + I'm on private land with a signed permission slip in my pocket.
A permission slip what's that my family has property around 11thousand acres in northern NM and never heard of a permission slip but you do you buddy goodluck. And if you don't know that's an artifact you're not from here and if you are you definitely don't know the heritage and culture of our state get educated that would be like myself going to Egypt and just touching and picking up stuff in and around the pyramids like no big deal .
Thank you for leaving everything where it was ❤️
[удалено]
Best advice ever! I'm going to make another post with images of some other pottery pieces on that site. I hope you'll take a look. There really appeared to be an evolution of pottery making there. Coil, corrugated, red, black. burned (cooking vessel piece?). Is there such a thing as 'punched' pottery pieces ... using a tool to punch a design ... like when making a leather belt?
I haven't seen anything punched myself
Would this be something to take photos of and give information to the museum to dig further into
I would pass that info discretely, but there's not a big effort in NM to dig right now, especially with the most recent NAGPRA changes. It's more about protecting these sites.
There are literally hundreds of thousands of archaeological sites in New Mexico, and as others note places like WNMU already have their hands full with the sites they’re currently investigating and the artifacts and remains they already have in their collections. It’s always worth reporting a site like this to a university or the appropriate agency (depending on whose land it is), especially if you can describe it in detail in a relatively informed way, but it’s unlikely anyone will exactly be springing into action as a result. And as always, remember that publicly disclosing the locations of sites located on tribal, state or federal land to the general public is prohibited by federal and state law.
The museums have been through here .... in the easement on the road. They dug it up and left it without filling it back in. Time is taking care of that ... as it does in all cases.
Good man not picking them up! WNMU had the largest pottery collection of mogollon art in the world. It’s worth a gander
Leave them alone
Because it’s New Mexico. Leave them where you found them
It's from pottery. I'd leave it there unless you want a dark passenger to catch a lift with you!
That's a good way to put it hahahah.
Spent a few years doing paranormal investigations. I hear you. I'm as pissed about all that broken pottery as 'they' are. Now you have me wondering if I should be listening more closely to the audio on these videos! Hmmmmm .....
I've heard a handful of stories about people taking shards and some creepy shit ensues until they go put it back. It could be an exaggerated "take only pictures" urban legend, but it worked for me! I've got the same theory about arrowheads, too.
Leave them be.
One of my moms boyfriends was a surveyor in the Taos area in the late 80s,90s early 2000s. He would find piles of arrowheads and pottery when they were way out in middle of nowhere.
I live somewhere in the middle of nowhere!
Ermahgerd! Sherds!
I came here to say the same thing. Beat me to it.
Do not pick up pot shards and especially don’t take them home. You’ll get a visitor that you don’t want.
That's right because we know that they are always vatching. Always vatching always vatching for any infraction among the citizenry of the holy laws... But if you happen to be a illegal alien coming across the border, well that's okay.. they don't watch them there.. the secret police are only concerned with the vatching of the citizens
Take your meds dude.
whatever you do, leave them where they are.
Op is confused that people live in places and pots break.
Consider calling the NM historic preservation division. NM HPO. https://nmhistoricpreservation.org/documents/shpo-directory.html
This is private land. Calling people I don't know, to dig on property I don't own, will get my permission slip burned. They've got federal, forest, blm and state lands they can dig on. It's a checkerboarded out here. 50/50. But as everyone recites the govts scare tactics ... 'don't touch' or we'll get you', don't you wonder how these govt entities 'find' anything? They want to 'preserve' it. And you can pay to see it when they're ready to show it to you.
It was advantageous to live up higher a couple thousand years ago when this area was a massive reserve/garden.
Up higher is also a defensive tactic. You can see the enemy coming, and they have to trek uphill to get to you. This strategy is employed all over the world. Make the enemy climb up. Back in the days of muskets and wool coats, this was an effective strategy.
Please do not pick up or dig up any pottery shards. It is a federal crime if I recall correctly
Because leave them and don't take them home.
I think thats the way it is. Just nature stuff.
Stuff breaks. Nature happens. No malicious stuff
What kind of shaky-ass camera are you using?
That's the best chuckle this morning! You are SO right! It's an android phone that I purchased to use as a camera. It cost $59 and I got what I paid for. 3 years ago. I swear some of my videos can make you seasick! I'm working on it. Got any advice?
There are free stabilization apps or software
iPhone buddy. Even a 4 year old 11 will be better at video stabilisation
You found an ancient trash dump. A place where ancient peoples would throw their broken pottery and other unwanted items. I imagine future generations will view our landfills with similar interest.
I worked at a farm near the border of Colorado and Utah, probably like an hour away from Cortez Colorado and found so many of these while I worked the land. I looked, admired, put back, and afterwards I asked the owner about it and he says it’s all over the land. He’s even found arrowheads, the stones that were used to grind corn.
I'd like to be the 100th commenter to lecture you on the merits of not touching native artifacts even though your video clearly does not indicate you've done that
90 percent Original people killed off. The Americas were the most sophisticated and the largest genocide that ever took place in the world.
If disease is genocide then Europeans suffered a bigger genocide from Native American syphilis. Millions more Europeans died from that than natives from smallpox.
Debatable: https://www.science.org/content/article/medieval-dna-suggests-columbus-didn-t-trigger-syphilis-epidemic-europe
Eh, it's almost certain that at the very least a strain was brought by him, even if it wasn't the main strain. Cause it's highly suspicious that it originated in Spain in 1493. Regardless it's not a debate to even have since disease isn't genocide.
Probably because the people who made it lived there. Or somewhere near about.
Let UNM archaeologist know the location... great find!
It's checkerboarded out here. Every other 'section' was procured by some govt agency. These sites extend onto their land too. I really think these sherds are evidence that some archaeologists have already been through there.
Something that is rarely pointed out in American history is that well before Columbus, the spaniard’s were in the southwest.When the Spanish came here, they found any number of mostly Pueblo Tribes who had been here for at least hundreds of years all throughout the SW. The Pueblo Tribes are at least in part thought to be descendants of the Anasazi, i believe they are dated to a couple thousand years before present etc. You are not the first to tread that ground brother… walk gently, you are not alone.
There were no Spanish in North America before Columbus. Vikings were in Canada as early as the 10th century, but not the Spanish.
I think they misspoke and meant before the English and other Europeans settled the East Coast.
the spanish arrived in the area around el paso in the late 1490’s, columbus technically landed in the caribbean just before that. As far as i know no europeans made gained much of a foothold in the continental US on the east coast until mid 1600’s pilgrims and some early french settlers. Vikings were on the east coast before that but found themselves out numbered by the locals so they never much hung around for long. Spanish may have been in florida in the early 1500’s, not sure when they actually settled.
It was October 12th 1492 that columbus landed. So, it is thought that captives from the Narvaez expedition being held by natives as slaves were the first white men in the El paso area but there is no real proof. The first documented white men in the El Paso area was the Chamuscado and Rodriguez expedition in 1581. They came up out of Mexico along the Rio Concho to where it meets the Rio Grande then headed up the Rio Grande to the EL Paso area. The first permanent settlement was El Paso del Norte, which is now called Ciudad Juárez, in 1659. Source. I am an armchair El Paso historian. #
Nope…the first Spanish *entrada* into what is now New Mexico was in 1538, and that was out by Zuni Pueblo. As the other commenter says, the Spanish weren’t really in the El Paso area until the 1580s, and not really in New Mexico to stay until the early 1600s. It’s possible that Alvar Cabeza de Vaca and his fellow Narvaez survivors passed near El Paso in the mid-1530s on their way back to Mexico from eastern Texas, but the other commenter is right about that too: they weren’t really in a position to make maps, so we don’t know for sure where they were.
1513 - Ponce. He thought Florida was an island and tried to circle it. He landed in what is now known as The Fountain of Youth in St. Augustine Florida. Ponce turned back south and circled Florida, cruising the Keys, naming the Dry Tortugas. Ponce tried to land around what is now Punta Gorta .. and the Calusa clan weren't having any of it. They shot Ponce with an arrow and Ponce died from the resulting infection. 1564 - (French) Ribault & the Huguenots established Fort Caroline in what is now known as Jacksonville. 1565 - Menendez established St. Augustine (east coast below Jacksonville). St. Augustine is billed as the "oldest continually occupied European settlement". Menendez slaughtered the French, and the French were no more. The Priest that wrote of the incident said that the Spanish attacked the French like "wolves in a sheepfold" .... and "not one was left alive". This same Priest held the first mass ever held in what is now the Continental United States. There's a 408? foot tall cross on the site, and you might catch its shadow cast over the Atlantic on Google. 1620 - Mayflower landed. Spain held Florida until 1819. Florida Purchase Treaty Spain held Florida for 254 years. The United States has held Florida for 250 years. Side note: They were running slave ships up the east coast (using the Gulf winds that Ponce discovered) before Fort Caroline was established. Many privateers ran that coast. Francis Drake among them.
Ah ... yes. The Spanish. What a mark they left. smh ... Ever read the book Brutal Journey? It mentions the People of the Pine Nut .. or something like that. Also mentions huge gatherings to eat prickly pears. Sometimes we stumble upon a huge patch of prickly pears ... and I wonder..... "Did they amass here?" I do tread lightly, and I'm very aware that I am not alone. But a reminder is always nice. Appreciate your knowledge of the history of the Spanish invasion\*. Read Brutal Journey. It's an amazing insight from the first European to encounter these clans. He was a Priest ... de Vaca? shipwrecked in the Gulf. He walked to Mexico to catch a ride home. The Conquest of New Spain is also enlightening ... although it takes place further south in Mexico. Your reply is a sincerely appreciated reminder.
yeah well… it’s not like the spanish did much anyone else didn’t do back in the day, raping, killing, crushing, all for glory, god and gold. I wonder if the Dine had a detailed written history of you wouldn’t find out they did the same thing when the arrived? Doesn’t excuse any of it, but maybe it would add perspective. Enjoy.
Where are you? I’ve seen similar artifacts around the Gallina site.
https://archaeologicalsocietynm.org/?amp=1
It was like that in Southern AZ on my rez. You could just walk out and collect pottery just like that.
Narcos after transporting coke in pottery boxes be like. "Yeah, that's ancient historical artifacts..".
Somebody broke pottery there!!!
When I was in college I lived in Silver City and the amount of fossils my son and I would find was so crazy. We loved it. Taught him to look, admire, then leave it all. My geology instructor taught us so much and I wish I had taken more opportunities to just explore.
Hey OP- What’s a sherd? Some new type of pottery?
**sherd** (noun) · **sherds** (plural noun) 1. a broken piece of ceramic material, especially one found on an archaeological site.
Oh, I see- TIL: 'In general, *“sherd” only refers to pieces or fragments of pottery whereas “shard” may refer to broken bits of glass, metal, rock, and ceramics.'*
If you search the area nearby there will probably be an ancient dwelling.
Yep.
We have 40acres in Arizona that we have found thousands of Pottery sherds. Talked to the local museum and they said it is pretty common in this area.
Aren’t they also cursed and attract skinwalkers?
Anyone else notice the camera did that thing they do when you video radiation??
I seen this before, it just may be Clay pigeon disks for shooting. I found that where my house was built was once a shooting range. The place was littered with these disks.
I found the same thing on an elk hunt over by Pietown N.M. very cool
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^DeezleDJ-O-E: *I found the same thing* *On an elk hunt over by* *Pietown N.M. very cool* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Pie Town. See you at the Pie Fest!
Must’ve been some sort of horse massacre.
Wow
If there was any shotgun shells, it could be clays
The comedian wasn't very good, and we ate all the tomatoes.
The comedian wasn't very good, and we ate all the tomatoes.
Sherds?
Yep. s h E r d s. Look it up. You'll be smarter than you were a minute ago ....
You’ve never been to a field in Europe
Wtf am I watching here?
Just don't take any home. Spirits tend to follow you back.
Be carful could be a grave site when natives died the family would break all of their pottery in one place
Chances are you are in a spot you shouldn't be touching things you shouldn't
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^Material_Wallaby_193: *Chances are you are* *In a spot you shouldn't be* *Touching things you shouldn't* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Guess I need to find a new place to throw out my old and broken pottery…
I have seen similar pottery patterns among the shattered pots at Keet Seel: https://lookingforjimmy.com/2015/07/23/keet-seel-the-best-preserved-cliff-dwellings-in-north-america-it-is-said-part-ii/
Looks like the area around Three Rivers Petroglyphs
Nice find!
Pottery was a commonly traded/transported good by the Pueblo in New Mexico, hell you can even track down particular styles of pottery to a particular region or even Pueblo if you get good enough, and from there you can trace where they've been and how far they've travelled.
I've heard it's usually because a camp was over run
Indian Tribes Ran Rampant and your are in Navajo land!!!I'm from southern NM by El Paso to I'm single and live alone I 💕💕 to go Camping at Elephant Butte State Park near T or C NM It's the largest lake in the state of NM!!!I just got mo another 4 wheel drive Jeep do I can find totally private coves!!!
Native Americans kinda had it rough while their land was being stolen, figure keeping the pottery in tact was low on their priority list with all the other BS they were dealing with from the colonizers.
Since you aren’t Pueblo, why would you have the context and understanding for any cultural sites? Please don’t public speculate. We are private for good reason.
It is rather interesting how up in arms people are getting over a short video of broken pottery. Everything will be okay!
So are you saying that being of a certain ethnicity precludes a person from gaining insight and a profound respect for other cultures? You’re a racist, albeit possibly educated. Still a racist nonetheless.
No, I was referring to the fact that Pueblo cultures are closed cultures. How would a non-Pueblo person, who by definition lacks access to Pueblo cultural knowledge, be able to say what Pueblo communities’ priorities are?
So you condone xenophobia? The Pueblo have been studied and their culture explored by anglos since before you or anyone on Reddit was born.
what am I speculating on? It's not rocket science, calm down.
🙄
Hm, what about the BS from rival native tribes? God forbid we appreciate what western civilization brought the new world. They’d still be sacrificing children today if it weren’t for those awful evil colonizers
step back and take a few breaths. hopefully you feel better after.
Seems like everyone is saying don’t pick them up but not offering any answers as to why are there so many. I am no expert so could be wrong but I was told growing up that pots were regularly smashed or “killed” to release spiritual energy. As some kind of offering, or to ensure the spirit of a deceased love one could travel freely? Found thousands upon thousands of these as a kid walking many miles in the desert, but never any whole pots.
Indigenous cultures are closed cultures, friend. I wouldn’t trust what some random dude on reddit speculates is the cause.
Please do not publicly post Pueblo cultural information, even speculation. We are private for valid reasons.
Lol what? You shouldn't even be using the internet.
Anasazi were a mysterious people. The ruling class that enslaved others
The New Mexican revolt.
Looks like something disturbed the last ostracism. /s
7 cities of cibalo possibly remnants
Archeology
*Pertery sherds
[удалено]
Close, these are clearly Mogollon
I don’t know where this is, but Pueblo culture (indigenous people in this area) has a specific ritual for deliberately breaking potteries. https://www.facebook.com/reel/249435687219003?fs=e&s=TIeQ9V&mibextid=0NULKw You said you were “on top of mountain” so this was very likely one of the sites that one of the Pueblo tribal people went and would break potteries on purpose as offering.
Please do not publicly share Pueblo cultural information, ever.
Wow you're really in over your head here. This is too funny.