Finding Aids

 

Using these Materials

Please contact the Center of Southwest Studies Archives Manager at archives@fortlewis.edu for more information about reproductions and accessing the collection.

 

Access Restrictions: There are no access restrictions on the use of this collection. The collection is non-circulating but open to the public for use in the Delaney Southwest Research Library at the Center of Southwest Studies.

 

Reproduction and Copyright: Materials held by the Center may be protected under U.S. and international copyright laws. Reproduction does not constitute a transfer of copyright or publication rights. Researchers are solely responsible for complying with copyright law and for obtaining any necessary permissions for reproduction or publication. The Center assumes no liability for unauthorized use of materials.

 

Preferred Citation: [Identification of item], [Collection Title], [Collection Number], Center of Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado.

 

 

Collection Description

Historical/Biographical Note: Centuries Research, Inc., a private corporation, was founded by Steven G. Baker in 1977 in Montrose County, Colorado. The purpose of the company is to expedite the land development goals of private and governmental agencies. Professional services of archaeologists, anthropologists, historians and historic preservationists have been utilized. By 1980 (according to its own claim) the company had become a leading private cultural resource management agency in the Rocky Mountain area. 

 

Scope & Contents: This collection contains historically significant records retained from contract archaeology work conducted by Centuries Research Inc. of Montrose, Colorado, on sites on the western slope of Colorado and adjacent regions of the Four Corners area. Archaeological site inventory forms constitute the bulk of the collection, which also includes topographical maps, sketches of sites and lithics, photographs, archaeological logbooks, and some of the formal reports submitted to private and governmental agencies.

The majority of the archaeological reports cover prehistoric ancestral Puebloan sites in Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. Visual surveys were completed with types of artifacts, locations, and features documented. Someone interested in how a contract archaeologist works may be interested in this collection as there are many representative examples of reports needed to be completed from private and governmental agencies, everyday working papers, logs, research design, formal reports, and an occasional project budget. Reading of the logbooks reveals problems and challenges that are encountered by archaeologists when working in the field.

Note on separated materials: Artifacts, field records and an office transcriber. These materials, pertaining to the Centuries Research project on Mount Emmons in the late 1970s and early 1980s and donated to the Center of Southwest Studies by Steven Baker in March of 1989 (accession number 1989:03002), were transferred to the Anasazi Heritage Center in Dolores, Colorado, on August 8, 1996, as part of an ongoing effort to consolidate U.S. Bureau of Land Management-Montrose District collections at the Anasazi Heritage Center. The materials included 9 records boxes of Mount Emmons/AMAX artifacts and 7 boxes of archaeological records (including field books, summaries, records and correspondence, ca. 1979-1981) re: AMAX et al.

 

Arrangement: The series and boxes are numbered consecutively. Arrangement within each series is chronological by the date of the creation of the document

 

Acquisitions Information: The Center of Southwest Studies acquired this collection via donation in 1988-89.

 

Processing Information: Southwest Studies archives student Frank Mt. Pleasant arranged this collection in September 1996 through January 1997. Duplicate copies of printed Centuries Research brochures (4 items) were deaccessioned. Archives student worker Tia Flippin edited and reformatted the online inventory in the Fall of 2011.

 

Subjects:

Archaeological surveying

 

Detailed Description of the Collection

Series List

Series 1: Centuries Research business records
Series 2: Archaeological survey records

 

Container Description

Series 1: Centuries Research business records
1979-1981. 2 folders. Includes a printed promotional brochure and archaeological photograph inventory records.

Description	Box/Folder
Centuries Research business brochure, ca. 1979-1980	1/1
Archaeological photograph inventory records, 1981	1/2

 

Series 2: Archaeological survey records
1978-1982. 2.5 document cases. Includes site inventory records and reports. Arranged alphabetically by project title, then chronologically by the date on which the record was produced.

Description	Box/Folder
GCS Joint Venture Project archaeological survey records, 1981	1/3
Goodnenough Gulch, Dominguez Ridge Project, archaeological survey records, 1981	1/4
Grand Mesa Project archaeological survey records, 1981	1/5
Ignacio Canyon Project archaeological survey records, 1981 July 2 - July 28	1/6
Ignacio Canyon Project archaeological survey records, 1981 Aug. 4 - Aug. 7	1/7
Ignacio Canyon Project archaeological survey records, 1981 Aug. 8 - Aug. 10	1/8
Ignacio Canyon Project archaeological survey records, 1981 Aug. 12 - Aug. 28	1/9
Mount Emmons Project heritage resources study series, Volume I, 1980	2/1
Mount Emmons Project heritage resources study series, Volume IV, 1980	2/2
Mount Emmons Project interim project report, 1978-1980	2/3
Pacific West Cedar 4 Project archaeological records, 1981 Aug. 3 - Aug. 9	2/4
Pacific West Cedar 4 Project archaeological records, 1981 Aug. 10 - Aug. 12	2/5
Pacific West Cedar 4 Project archaeological records, 1981 Aug. 13 - Aug. 14	2/6
Pacific West Cedar 4 Project archaeological records, 1981 Aug. 15 - Aug. 18	2/7
Pacific West Cedar 4 Project archaeological records, 1981 Aug. 19 - Aug. 23	3/1
Pacific West Cedar 4 Project archaeological records, 1981 Aug. 24 - Aug. 31	3/2
San Miguel Power 12 KV Power Line archaeological records, 1981	3/3