Trash is Treasure

Pecos Pueblo became an icon in southwestern archeology through Alfred Kidder's innovative research from 1914 until 1929, when he exposed artifacts in layers to create a timeline of the pueblo's history. What people threw away over time revealed a great deal about their society, and by excavating the trash mound, Kidder's cutting-edge work uncovered centuries of the pueblo's growth and decline. He chose Pecos because of its long and continuous occupation, its location as a trade center, and its centuries-old debris mounds, and he developed systems to date and group ceramics that archeologists still use today.

New Mexico · United States