Excavation at En Medio Shelter, New Mexico: Interim Report of the Anasazi Origins Project of Eastern New Mexico University

This is an intermediate report on the En Medio type site. One of the abiding difficulties which plague the dissemination of information in archaeology is precisely a by-product of the large comprehensive program such as the Anasazi Origins Project. Publication of new and significant data from such programs is quite commonly delayed for five to ten years after their inception due to the very size of the operation, the concomitant multiseasonal character of the field work, and the awesome size of the analytic procedure. In order to combat these problems, the research design for the Anasazi Origins Project was so organized that analytic procedure may be ordered in three sequent steps: (1) Field research recording and preliminary artifact analysis; (2) Preparation of preliminary reports on field research and secondary artifact analy- sis; (3) Final preparation of an integrated presentation employing data from all field research in archaeology and from ancillary programs and tertiary analysis of material culture. including statistical treatment and inter-site correlation as well as correlation with relevant data from ancillary projects. Although the data from Phase II should not be considered final, they are potentially use- ful to specialists in related research and to generalists interested in keeping abreast of current research and evolving archaeological thought. Accordingly, this preliminary report and other similar presentations are designed to fulfill these needs.