INTRODUCTION

Tularosa Cave (Figure 1) is the largest of a series of small caves in Tularosa Canyon, approximately one mile east of Aragon, New Mexico (Martin et al 1952; see Figure 2). Prior to excavation, the site was apparently so full of cultural and natural debris that it was impossible to stand upright (Figure 3). Contents of the cave were protected from precipitation, and the resulting degree of preservation is nothing short of remarkable. Pothunters had affected the site prior to systematic excavation, though the damage they caused seems to have been relatively minor.

Excavation started at the outer edge of the cave close to the center. A two-meter wide trench was established down the center of the cave; two-meter square excavation units were then established (Figure 4). Because the cave surface was uneven, the first level was excavated to varying depths in order to create a level surface on which to work. Once a level surface was established, excavation units were dug in 20cm thick levels. (The deepest square, 2R2, contained 14 such levels, to a depth of 2.8 meters). Squares in the center trench was labeled numerically, 1 to 6, while squares in the adjoining trenches were labeled alphanumerically depending on whether they were to the right or the left of the center trench. For instance, the second square in the second trench to the left of the center was labeled "2L2", and the third square in the first trench right of center was labeled 3R1. A total of three trenches were laid out on either side of the center trench, though the last ones on either side were not full two-meter squares.  

All sediments were screened through 1/4" screen, some of the fill was screened through 1/16" screen as well. No stratigraphic profile was recorded for the site, though it is clear that intrusive pits confused the stratigraphy of the site.

Excavation Records

Field Museum Department of Anthropology Archives Box SW 4 contains five folders that contain data on the excavation, or preliminary analysis of, Tularosa Cave assemblages.

Folder 1, "Southwest Expedition P.S. Martin Tularosa Cave Pottery Sheets by Square", contains simple sherd tabulations in numbers and percentages.

Folder 2: "Southwest Expedition P.S. Martin Rinaldo: Field Notes Tularosa Cave 1950 Season Also Bluhm and Barter Artifact Tabulation" contains excavation records, sherd, faunal, and artifact tabulations.

Folder 3: "Southwest Expedition P.S. Martin Catalogue List by Field Number" has a detailed, if incomplete, list of specimen attributes.

Folders 4, 5, and 6: "Paul Martin Papers Unprocessed Bone Data Sheets: Tularosa Cave" contains data sheets created by an otherwise unknown "M. Heller" in January and February 1975. The data sheets included taxa, element, portion, side, age, and conditional data for all faunal remains from Tularosa Cave. The analysis was never completed and has therefore not been published.

Accession Files

Accession File 2454 lists the following items returned to the Museum and formally accessioned: Baked clay (22), bone (49), shell (6), chipped stone (1243), ground and pecked stone (49), wood, cane, and leather (464), sandals, cloth, etc (295), mummies (2), string, cordage, and worked sticks (6 cartons), for a total of "about 2130" specimens. Another, more detailed sheet lists 2128 specimens "brought back . . . not including corn, pottery sherds, etc." though 2252 were excavated. This accession file also contains detailed descriptions of "Sandals, Textiles, Basketry, and Cradles".

Catalog Files

Catalog numbers 260068 - 261124, 257997 and 257998 were assigned to the materials accessioned above.

The following1549 items were catalogued on their return to the Field Museum (numbers in parentheses indicate how many are currently available for study):

The site report for Tularosa Cave was published two years after excavation was completed (Martin et al 1952). John Rinaldo conducted the pottery analysis and tabulated, by excavation unit, a total of 5710 sherds, predominantly Alma Rough, Alma Plain, and San Francisco Red types. Currently there are 1231 (22%) sherds in the collection. Since this portion of the collection has not been typed, we cannot determine if it is representative of the entire Tularosa Cave assemblage published by Rinaldo, but it is likely that the excavators would have tried to return to the Museum samples of all types encountered. Rinaldo (Martin et al 1952:51) wrote that the sherd and whole vessel assemblage "make up a synoptical series of all known native types in the Upper Gila drainage from beginning of pottery to Tularosa Phase (i.e. ca. A.D. 1200-1400)." As such, the collection is critically important to the understanding of the development of Southwestern ceramic technology.

Rinaldo conducted the analysis of the stone, bone, and clay artifacts (Martin et al 1952:102-198), and lists a total of 1628 specimens in the following categories:

Groundstone: 47 manos, 50 rubbing stones, 13 polishing stones, 4 pestles, 26 metates, 5 small metate-like stones, 7 paint grinding stones, 1 mortar, 2 worked slabs, 11 hammerstones, 7 abrading stones, 6 awl sharpeners, 18 stone balls, 2 pipes, and 2 foot effigies.

Chipped stone: 370 projectile points, 392 knives, 402 scrapers, 117 choppers, 32 drills, 4 saws, 5 hoes.

Clay artifacts: 2 worked sherds, 3 figurines, 3 animal effigies, 3 cornucopias, 3 phallic images, 5 spindle whorls, 2 miniature ladles, and 3 pot covers.

Bone tools: 30 awls, 4 punches, 5 fleshers, 1 flaker, 2 weaving tools, 5 tubes, 5 dice, 1 pendant

Other: 5 atl atl charms, 4 pendants, 2 shell bracelets, 2 shell beads, 1 antler cup, 13 pieces of pigment, 1 quartz crystal