Recent exciting research was conducted at the 500th Site Pueblo, a previously unresearched Chaco outlier site. This site makes the 500 site protected and preserved by The Archaeological Conservancy. The new research focused on ceramics analysis and geophysical site survey. The project was led by Hannah Mattson PhD, postdoctoral fellow of UNM with help from Distinguished Professor of Anthropology Dr. Patricia Crown, also UNM. The Research team also came across some amazing surface finds during the process.

Dr. Mattson research has included adornment and jewelry, as well as Pottery and GIS in the Chaco World. She has explored Chacoan identity and practice by examining the social values placed on ornaments from Pueblo Bonito and Aztec Pueblo’s West Ruin in her dissertation work. She has a PhD and MA fromthe University of New Mexico and a BA from Oregon State University.

Dr. Crown conducts research in the areas of southwestern archaeology, ceramic analysis, the archaeology of childhood and gender in archaeology. She has received international attention for her research into the prehistoric use of cacao at Chaco Canyon in New Mexico and into the ritual use of a black drink by Native Americans at Cahokia. The chocolate must have come from Central America, where the beans are grown, and suggests a regional economy that included trade in precious luxury items, Crown’s research suggests. Dr. Crown also studies the role of women in past societies. Dr. Crown received her doctorate from the University of Arizona in 1991, and has been on UNM’s faculty since 1993.

Ground Penetrating Radar conducted by