In 2021, CAR staff, volunteers, and interns began a rehabilitation project on artifacts collected from Baker Cave. The goal of the project is to update the collection to modern curation standards and to create a digital catalog. Archaeological investigations at Baker Cave were comprised of a series of excavations performed between 1962 and 1986. Originally dated using two samples with large standard errors (9180 ± 220 and 9020 ± 150) from the "Golondrina Complex Hearth", CAR recently acquired two additional dates on wood (DAMS 1206-007, 9118 ± 30; DAMS 1206-008, 9187 ± 30) from the same feature. These combined dates produce a range between 10,383 and 10,238 cal BP.
A major component of the rehabilitation process is to catalogue the collection. Artifacts are bagged, tagged, and recorded into an excel spreadsheet. As of 2023, about 56% of the collection has been catalogued.
In the process of storing the catalogued portion of the collection, our Spring 2023 interns photographed a sample of diagnostic artifacts. Artifacts selected were in good condition and/or mostly complete. They include sandals, lithographs, leather/hide fragments, modified shells and bone/antler, woven fibers, and projectile points.
Credit
(Specifically for artifact photographs)
CAR Staff: Mikaela Razo, Cynthia Munoz
Interns: Emerson Avila, Elly Beauchamp, and Austin Fobbs
