An Assessment of Transect Recording Unit Survey and Subsurface Testing Methods at Four Sites in the Permian Basin, New Mexico

In September 2014, the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Carlsbad Field Office (CFO) contracted Statistical Research, Inc. (SRI), (Contract No. L14PA00010) to perform an experimental project aimed at achieving a better understanding of how site-recording and subsurface-testing methods can be used to assess the subsurface potential of sites in southeastern New Mexico. At issue in this experiment is developing an informed, scientific understanding of the relationship between surface and subsurface archaeology and learning how one goes about detecting whether subsurface buried archaeology is present. What methods are best suited to recording surface archaeology at sites in southeastern New Mexico in order to understand their significance, integrity, and research potential? What are the likely benefits of implementing new survey and recording techniques, and do they outweigh the costs of their implementation? What clues are present at the surface or can be derived from particular test methods that indicate the presence of one or more buried cultural horizons? How can we infer the potential for such deposits to be intact?