Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Archaeological Excavation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
ARC hears detailed progress report on downtown Fort Marcy/excavation area; large historic bone pit and root cellar exposed
Summary
Staff and contractors reported continued mechanical and hand excavation at a downtown Santa Fe site near Fort Marcy; investigators exposed a deep historic refuse/bone pit, ponding clays with later historic deposits, and a probable root cellar with juniper timbers, prompting further targeted investigation and reporting requirements.
City staff and site archaeologists briefed the Archaeological Review Committee on March 27 about work at a large downtown excavation (the project tied to Fort Marcy area exposures and adjacent city parcels). The update described extensive mechanical stripping and hand excavation across a deep, ponded‑clay deposit and reported several significant finds: a deep, mechanically cut refuse/bone pit containing thousands of butchered bone fragments and numerous historic artifacts; a trenching pattern that indicates 19th‑century historic refuse deposition; surface features including post holes and chinking with painted (polychrome) pottery fragments; and a previously unrecorded structural feature that field staff believe is a root cellar with intact juniper timbers and parallel rock walls.
Project staff said the ponding clays form a stratigraphic package that reaches sterile gravels about 7–11 feet below the present sidewalk grade in some spots. The team described mechanical excavation that revealed several distinct fill lenses in the large refuse pit (interpreted as sequential dumping events) and stated they had recovered thousands of bone fragments from sampled units. Many artifacts recovered are historic (mid‑ to late‑19th century), including apothecary bottles, glass, and pottery; staff noted the assemblage is consistent with post‑1850 commercial and military occupation (Fort Marcy era).
The team also reported discovery of parallel in‑ground rock walls and collapsed horizontal juniper timbers that form a covered, c. 4–4.5‑foot‑deep cellar that may have served as cold storage; the cellar’s lowest floor sits near a perched water table and the committee discussed how fluctuating groundwater may explain later site abandonment or decommissioning. Ground‑penetrating radar (GPR) and earlier surveys identified some but not all of the features exposed; the GPR record showed a ditch (interpreted as an engineered drainage) and the deeper refuse features were not consistently visible on GPR due to density differences.
Why it matters: The findings inform interpretation of downtown development, Fort Marcy-era occupation, and later municipal dumping. Committee members praised the detailed documentation and recommended continued careful sampling, mapping, and incorporation of the finds into the project’s final technical report. Staff said they will add contextual mapping (historic building relationships) and produce a technical report tying these discoveries into city‑wide downtown history.
Ending: The ARC took the field update as information; staff will continue hand excavation, sampling, mapping, and artifact analysis and submit a final report that integrates the new finds with historic maps and local documentary sources.
