(SILVER CITY) -- Thirty years ago, Dr. Cynthia Bettison was a graduate student sifting through the dirt on a ranch outside silver city. Studying archaeology, she was looking for what was left of the Mimbres Native American people.
Today, she is the curator of the museum at Western New Mexico University. She says, even then, she knew she'd be back.
"I said to my cohort...I'm gonna come back and fix this place...9 years later, the position opened up and everybody that heard me say that gave me the advertisement. I'd already applied, of course."
The Mimbres were a curious people. They lived from about A.D. 200 until the 1100's. Before they left, they swept the floors clean.
There was still plenty of evidence to be found, though. Mimbres families buried their ancestors close by...with a well-worn bowl placed on the head of the body.
"Someone would pass away...and a portion of the floor would be dug up...they would be buried underneath the floor."
The bowls were painted, some in two or three different colors. Dr. Bettison says they're called a polychrome -- she chose one with a rattlesnake neck and head and the body of a turkey for the symbol of the museum. She says the two animals probably represent the intermarriage of clans.
Academic researchers brought back all the material...a lot of material.
The tools and pottery of the collection are so vast that it takes several rooms to store it all. Not all of it is open to the public, so the museum has dedicated a couple of rooms to just store racks and racks of the pottery.
"Really what it did, it transformed our little museum that was known for...looted...Mimbres pottery into this incredible academic research museum...there will never be another collection like the NAN Ranch Collection."
That's because the excavation was performed on private property and before New Mexico law prevented moving any Native American remains, even for research.
Bettison says it could take decades to sort through everything here. For now, the material is waiting for a new generation of archaeologists to tell its story.
Sloan Patton reported.
Thirty years ago, Dr. Cynthia Bettison was a graduate student sifting through the dirt
on a ranch outside Silver City. Studying archaeology, she was looking for what was
left of the membranous Native American people. Today, she's the curator of the museum at Western
New Mexico University. She says even then, she knew she'd be back. I said to my cohort,
all the people that were on the dig, I said I'm gonna come back and fix this place.
And nine years later, in 1990, the position opened up and everybody that heard me say that
gave me the advertisement. I'd already applied, of course. The membranous were a curious people.
They lived from about 200 A.D. until the 1100s. Before they left, they swept the floors clean.
There was still plenty of evidence to be found, though. Membranous families buried
their ancestors close by with a well-worn bowl placed on the head of the body. Someone would
pass away within the clan or within the group or within the family and a portion of the floor
would be dug up. They would be buried underneath the floor. The bowls were painted some in two or
three different colors. Dr. Bettison says they're called a polychrome. She chose one with a rattlesnake
neck and head and the body of a turkey for the symbol of the museum. She says the two animals
probably represents the intermarriage of clans. Academic researchers brought back all the material,
a lot of material. The tools and pottery of the Nan Ranch collection are so vast that it takes
several rooms to store it. Not all of it's open to the public and so the museum has dedicated a
couple of rooms to just store racks and racks of the pottery. Really what it did, it transformed
our little museum that was known for a beautiful, looted, you know, just a beautiful collection of
members pottery that we had acquired into, for us, this incredible academic research museum
for at least on the academic side of the house. It's really the place for scholars and researchers
who want to know or want to do research on members archaeology to come here because there will never
be another collection like the Nan Ranch collection. That's because the excavation
was performed on private property and before New Mexico law prevented moving Native American remains
even for research. It was a big thing in my life. I was already an archaeologist by the time I was
went to the field school but for me my career really began with Nan Ranch ruin and it
came full circle when I was able to get it to come here. Bettison says it could take decades
to sort through everything here. For now, the material is waiting for a new generation of
archaeologists to tell its story. Sloan Patton, KRWG News, Silver City.
