Slash and Trash: Dendroarchaeological and Ecological Inferences from a Twentieth-Century Logging Camp in Western New Mexico

Logging related sites and features are relatively common in forested areas of the western United States. Such sites are typically investigated through site mapping and artifact recording, and if possible, oral history. We present the results of a dendroarchaeological investigation of a small-scale unauthorized logging site in western New Mexico, US. The results provide information on the economic and social forces that created the site, as well as the scale of activities conducted there. We suggest that individuals quickly responded to improved lumber market conditions and changes in public land administration to exploit what had been an economically marginal timber stand.