Paleo-Indian Sites and Topography in the Middle Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico

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Abstract
The settlement patterns of Paleo-Indians are almost completely unknown. Although the use of topographic features for game drives, such as blind canyons, bluffs, and arroyo banks, is well documented both by excavated kill sites and by historical and ethnological analogy, the relationships of Paleo-Indian campsites to features of the surrounding terrain have been generally ignored, possibly because of insufficient data. Such knowledge could be most useful. The topographic features generally chosen for campsite locations, in conjunction with portions of the terrain used for hunting activities, could provide insights into the camping needs of hunting communities, suggest reasons why some locations were chosen over others within the same locality and area, aid in the discovery of other sites, and provide an interpretive setting for viewing the occupation at any individual site. This paper describes topographic features apparently desirable or important to some Paleo-Indian groups in the middle Rio Grande region of north-central New Mexico.

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