Welcome! Galisteo Basin Archaeology
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Welcome to the Galisteo Basin!!!

For the three centuries before the arrival of the Spanish in northern New Mexico, the Galisteo Basin was home to one of the greatest concentrations of Pueblo communities ever known. Sheltered on the northeast by the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and on southwest by the Sandias, a dozen or more pueblos-- thriving settlements with thousands of inhabitants-- farmed the small drainages that fed into Galisteo Creek.

The Galisteo’s open grasslands and broad mesas sat astride an ancient trade and travel corridor that linked the Rio Grande Valley with the eastern Great Plains. To the northeast lay Pecos, Picuris, and Taos Pueblos, gateways to the Plains. To the west lay the Rio Grande and the ancestral Pueblo communities that stretched from the river across the mesas to the desert fastness of Hopi. When the Spanish came in the late 16th century, they too traveled through the Galisteo Basin. Within a hundred years, most of the thriving pueblos would lie in ruins.



San Marcos Pueblo as it might have been...



San Marcos now




~Galisteo Basin Archaeological Protection Sites~

The Galisteo Basin Archaeological Protection Sites, managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and its partners, encompass 24 areas of cultural significance. Most are Puebloan sites dating from AD 900 to the time of the Pueblo Revolt in AD 1680. Many of these areas experienced significant contact with Spanish conquistadors and colonists traveling to Santa Fe on El Camino Real. Some sites are on private land, some are on land held by The Archaeological Conservancy, others are on lands managed by Santa Fe County or the BLM. Several sites have multiple owners.

The legislation authorizing the protection and interpretation of this area was signed by President Bush in March 2004. The BLM, with help from a group of site owners and other stakeholders, is working on a management plan, and will invite public comment on the plan.

This website offers information on each site, partnership efforts to preserve these areas, as well as the history and natural history of the Galisteo Basin. Check back with this website for updated information on the planning process, information on the sites, site management, and implementation of the Galisteo Basin Archaeological Protection Sites Act.



Aerial view of Burnt Corn Pueblo. Courtesy Bureau of Land Management.




Department of the Interior
Bureau of Land Management
National Park Services
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail
Santa Fe County, NM
New Mexico State Land Office
Museum of New Mexico
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