Burnet Cave

Burnet Cave, in the Guadalupe Mountains west of Carlsbad, became a major archaeological and paleontological site after professional excavations began in 1929. Its deposits preserved evidence from widely separated periods of human use, including Basket Maker cremation burials and, deeper below, a Clovis point found in place beside a hearth with burned bison and musk-ox bones in 1931. That sequence helped show repeated occupation over time. The cave was also important methodologically as the first multi-component Paleoindian site excavated and for its careful screening techniques. Its rich Late Pleistocene animal remains also made it vital for reconstructing Ice Age environments in the Southwest.

New Mexico · United States