Bliss, then at the University of New Mexico, excavated Davis Cave and assisted the writer in beginning excavations at Sandia Cave itself. That humans were present in the New World during the latter part of the Pleistocene period.
THE CAVES AND OTHER SITES
The University of New Mexico began excavations in the cave in 1936 under the direction of the author. Other small caves occur in the many canyons that stretch eastward along the flanks and foothills of the Sandia Range.
6 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL, 99 The Manzano group of caves lies only a few miles in an air line,
NO. 23 SANDIA CAVE, NEW MEXICO HIBBEN 7
8 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 99 Sandia Cave and the others in the group He entirely in the Upper
The limestone in the cave area is generally massive, but with cleavage lines natural to this formation and dipping eastward with the beds. Deposits of cave tavertine are almost entirely confined to sheet formations that flow down the walls and thence over the surface of the cave floor.
EXCAVATION PROCEDURE
The presence of these iron concretions in the limestone undoubtedly correlates with the deposition of the yellow ocher which is so important in the stratigraphy of the cave (seep. 15). Certain of the layers, such as the yellow ocher and the travertine crust discussed subsequently, show that they were deposited as the cave had no exterior entrance.
10 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 99 Transit and level were used throughout, all measurements and levels
- Sandia Cave Entrance at Narrowest portion back of antechamber
- In Front Sections of Sandia cave Debris is Piled Aumost TO the Roof
- AT Work on Test Hole in Sandia Cave
- Section of Deposits at Meter 20 Showing Stratigraphy
- puebuo utility and glaze ware sherds from recent Layer in Sandia Cave
- Side scrapers from folsom Leveu, Sandia Cave
- Flake Knives from Folsom Level. Sandia Cave (Approximately actual size.)
- IVORY Shaft with Ground Point from Sandia Cave Folsom Layer
- Sandia points. Type and Bone Point
- Points from manzano Cave
- BoLA Weights from MAnzano Cave
In the front sections of Sandia Cavern, debris is stacked Aumost TO THE ROOF TO THE ROOF. 7 and /' slightly' smaller than actual size; approx. actual size). rt and c slightly enlarged: h approximate size.).
1 ROAD CUT IN SANDIA MOUNTAINS
ROAD CUT IN SANDIA MOUNTAINS. PiNE ZONE, SHOWING DISINTEGRATED GRANITE WITH LlMONITlC STAIN
SANDIA CAVE STRATIGRAPHY
SANDIA CAVE
HH CHARCOAL
NO. 23 SANDIA CAVE, NEW MEXICO HIBBEN II STRATIGRAPIIIC SEQUENCE
12 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL, 99 possibly when it was completely blocked and they could find no
CROSS SECTION METER 10
14 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 99 material has drifted down the slant of the passageway toward the
The layer increases in thickness towards the rear of the cave (Fig. 3), where it reaches a considerable depth in certain test pits. In some places at the back of the cave the yellow ocher extends to and rests on bedrock, excluding other layers. Finally, this layer was removed with acids, which also removed any small calcite particles present.
First, the floor of the cave may have had a shallow layer of water continuously covering it.
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
It seems apparent that the Sandia stratum as a whole was wetted by the overlying yellow ocher layer. Cultural evidence appears to indicate occupation of the cave to the very surface or uppermost part of the Sandia strata where the yellow ocher lies. The Sandia layer is thought to represent a dry period in the cave's history that was interrupted by a wet period of yellow ocher and rendered unsustainable.
The Sandia layer does not extend as far back into the cave as Folsom.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STRATIGRAPHY
In fact, as with the Folsom occupation, it is remarkable that evidence has been found so far back. The clay layer also extends towards the back of the cave and apparently does not extend beyond 70 meters. Evidence of an intervening wet period and the thickness of the yellow ocher itself seem to indicate this.
Since the initial use of the cave by man, there has been a succession of dry periods interspersed and separated by wet ones.
CULTURAL MATERIAL FROM THE CAVE The Recent Layer
From the latter Professor Bryan concludes that the deposits of sterile ocher correspond to the last advance of the Wisconsin ice, and have a nominal age of 25,000± years. At the very top of the embankment at the front of the cave was found a section of the base of a deer antler cut with a steel edge. Those parts of the recent site behind the lower part of the cave roof near the entrance are devoid of cultural remains.
At the very back of the cave, however, even the pack rats were absent.
20 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 99 meter 100, cultural material is not found equally over this whole
23 SANDIA CAVE, NEW MEXICO —IIIBBEN 21Sandia unfluted Folsoni-shaped points are similar to and probably Sandia unfluted Folsoni-shaped points are similar to and probably identical to some of the so-called Yuma points recovered at Clovis by Howard (1935, p. 39). One of the blades, as previously mentioned, was the only artifact that occurred in the section excavated between meters 72-83. The other entire example occurred near the upper level of the Folsom layer and is cemented into the lower part of the travertine crust near meter 15.
These blades show none of the delicate chipping or jaggedness of the Folsom or Folsom shaped tips.
22 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 99 only a small part of the Folsoni complex, and that the tradition of
It displays a chipping tradition that is radically different from the careful retouching of the Folsom points in the level above. Above and below this somewhat uncertain separation, the projectile points of the Sandia show some differences. Also the Sandia nose scrapers are not as finely chopped or finished as those of the Folsom.
Perhaps the most interesting variation at the Sandia level is the occurrence of two pieces of worked bone.
28 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 99 Materials Utilized in Cultural Objects
CROSS SECTION METER 15
Materials used in the manufacture of the artifacts from Sandia Cave, in both the Folsom and Sandia levels, are varied, although the general observation can be made that many are local or from the general Sandia-Manzano region. In the recent level of the cave, the few chips and artifacts present were all of the multicolored and usually translucent chalcedony of the Pedernal variety (H. Holmes Ellis, 1940), This chalcedony, or cherty material, occurs commonly in the river terrace gravel along the Rio Grande a great distance from Sandia Cave. The Folsom point shown in plate 6, h, is of brownish agate-chalcedony, not uncommon in southeastern New Mexico.
Cherry concretions in this region Magdalena Limestone and in the walls of the cave itself are of such consistency that workable nodules can be found in some parts.
30 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 99
Such a claim is supported by the fact that the cave's Folsom points are somewhat crudely made. Sandia material, from the lower levels of the cave, is more difficult to correlate because of a lack of parallels. Points of the former Sandia type appear, according to current information, to have the widest distribution.
There is no evidence of long-term habitation or use of the cave as a workshop or clearing ground.
34 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 99 group (in none of the other Sandia caves does sloth appear in the
As previously mentioned, several caves in the Manzano region south of the Sandia Mountains give indications of adaptation and accretion of the Sandia sequence. In this small segment, on top of the cave floor, and at the base of the last material accumulation, a series of stone balls were found. Because of their position in the cave debris and other associations, they can be attributed to a horizon that corresponds to that of the gypsum cave material and may be contemporaneous with the laziness.
Another cave in the vicinity of Albuquerque adds some weight to the chronological picture of the Sandia-Manzano-Albuquerque.
38 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 99 cene in character and adds to the Paleo-Indian material already
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
Sloth remains were found only in the lowermost parts of the last deposit and in the back of the cave. The sloth is shown again as one of the last survivors of many great Pleistocene. Sporadic testing at other caves in the Sandia-Manzano area, particularly at the site known as Manzano Cave, has yielded further results.
Furthermore, rudimentary studies of agriculture show that the New World differs from the Old World both in terms of plant species and methods.
42 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 99
BIBLIOGRAPHY
44 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 99
APPENDIX
CORRELATION OF THE DEPOSITS OF SANDIA CAVE,
NEW MEXICO, WITH THE GLACIAL CHRONOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
46 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 99 The contained human or animal remains may afford a partial or com-
FACTS TO BE EXPLAINED
48 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 99
NO. 23 SANDIA CAVE, NEW MEXICO HIBBEN 49 The cave and its contained deposits imply that the following events
CLIMATIC INTERPRETATION
50 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 99 ings in the rocks extending downward and a strong air movement
The presence of fireplaces shows that the cave at a distance of 15 meters from the present entrance was once dry enough and strong enough. The water entering the cave must carry iron in solution, probably as iron carbonate, Fe2C03. The cave must be open enough for oxygen to be available, and some other factor must enter it, otherwise calcium carbonate would also be deposited.
It must therefore be assumed that the entrance to the cave was closed or that the cave was closed.
52 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 99 (i) forms a layer around each fragment, (2) forms lenses within
At the time of the cave's discovery, the opening was choked by a mass of loose material overlying the stalagmite layer. Dust and the guano of bats and rats lay in the mouth of the cave and expanded inward with decreasing thickness. Consequently, the use of the cave by Pueblo Indians as an occasional camping site is evidenced.
It is therefore implied that a long period between the closure of the cave at the beginning of stalagmite deposition and its reoccupation at a time when it was currently dry and no dissolution or deposition occurred.
GENERAL CLIMATE IMPLICATIONS OF THE CAVE DEPOSITS
The peak is bare of trees, but spruces and firs occur within 50 feet of the summit. In places it contains fragments of sandstone that drifted downhill from outcrops of the Magda-. The soils of the forest zones, both fir-spruce and pine, as developed on granite and on limestone or shale, are stair runners.
Iron and aluminum are concentrated in the B-horizon and extend as films into the cracks or interstices of the C-horizon.
56 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 99 of humid climates and are the result of the greater precipitation at
CORRELATION WITH THE GLACIAL CHRONOLOGY
In the southern Rockies, immediately north of Sandia Cave, there were three major glacial advances and two minor advances during Wisconsin time."
58 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 99 of the ice or cold intervals, separated from each other by interstadial
23 SANDIA CAVE, NEW MEXICO — HIBBEN 59 Whether the yellow ocher time interval here was related to the If the yellow ocher time interval here was related to the peak of the Corral Creek (Mankato-Pomeranian) ice advance was a period of overlap in culture or if that the local area was deserted is currently a guess in the range of anthropological probabilities. Similarly, the times when these cultures began to flourish or die out are still undetermined at the local or continental level. It seems appropriate, however, to re-examine the question of man's migration to the continent, although there is still no conclusive evidence for a time when he was not present.
ANTIQUITY OF MAN IN NORTH AMERICA
60 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 99 the continent occurred when a corridor through the Canadian Great
NO. 23 SANDIA CAVE, NEW MEXICO HIBBEN 61 overlying Shelbyville (Tazewell) till represents a new advance of
This material has been exposed to weathering for 25,000 years, or since the beginning of the ice retreat of this substage, W3. During this cold period, solifluction and surface removal of glacially deposited material occurred. It must be concluded that the bulk of the dissolution of limestone in the exposed glacial deposits occurred within the last 9000 years.
On very flat, undrained areas, as postulated in the large areas of Illinois drift, removal is carried out.
INFERENCES FROM THE INTERSTADIAL ENTRANCE OF MAN
2^ SANDIA CAVE, NEW MEXICO — HIBBEN 63 If we consider the areas of furthest advance of the Pomeranian If we consider the areas of furthest advance of the Pomeranian or Mankato ice in the south, these areas must have had a near arctic climate during a much of the advance, peak and retreat of the ice. Not only was settlement at a minimum, but removal of surface material by solifluction should have occurred. Thus some of the material drained during the mild climate of the previous interstadial must have been removed.
