Archaeology on the Rocks: Investigating an 18th Century Spanish Land Grant in Tijeras Canyon, NM

In this September 19, 2024, presentation for Old Pueblo Archaeology Center’s “Third Thursday Food for Thought” Zoom lecture series, archaeologist Dr. Kelly L. Jenks, PhD, discusses and illustrates the New Mexico State University Archaeological Field School's 2021-2022 archaeological survey and excavation project that investigated an 18th-century land grant community in Cañón de Carnué, now known as Tijeras Canyon, east of Albuquerque, New Mexico. In 1763, New Mexico’s Spanish colonial Governor Cachupín approved an application by 19 petitioners for a grant of community land at this location. The grantees were expected to defend these lands by building a fortified plaza, and to use the lands for agricultural purposes. Seven years later Apaches attacked the settlement and the survivors fled the canyon. When they refused to resettle, they were ordered to go back and destroy their homes.
In 2021, the NMSU Archaeological Field School resurveyed the site of the 18th-century plaza as part of a collaboration with the modern Cañón de Carnué Land Grant community and the City of Albuquerque’s Open Space Division. The field school returned in 2022 to do test excavations, stabilization work, and more survey, and to investigate artifacts from a 1946 University of New Mexico archaeological field school at this site that were rediscovered in UNM's Maxwell Museum of Anthropology. The NMSU and UNM projects offer intriguing new insights into who these Spanish Colonial residents were, why they settled these rocky slopes, how they made their living, and what happened when they left.
Dr. Jenks specializes in historical archaeology and is particularly interested in the relationship between everyday objects and identity in multicultural settings. Most of her research has focused on Spanish and Mexican period land grant communities in New Mexico, including San Miguel del Vado and Cañón de Carnué. She also trains students in cultural resource management, working at sites ranging from Archaic-period rockshelters to CCC-era dams. At the time of this presentation she was an Associate Professor of Anthropology and Director of the University Museum at New Mexico State University, Las Cruces.
Old Pueblo Archaeology Center’s “Third Thursday Food for Thought” Zoom webinars, on the Third Thursday evening of each month, feature presentations on archaeological, historical, and cultural topics. To receive semimonthly announcements about Old Pueblo’s and other southwestern archaeology organizations’ upcoming Zoom programs and in-person activities, go to www.oldpueblo.org and scroll down to the “Subscribe” box to enter your name and email address. One can unsubscribe from our emailing list at any time.
If you have appreciated videos posted by Old Pueblo Archaeology Center, please consider making a donation to our organization online at https://www.oldpueblo.org/about-us/do... or, for longer-term support, see how you can become a member of Old Pueblo’s Archaeology Opportunities membership support organization by visiting https://www.oldpueblo.org/about-us/me....