Science / Medicine : Santa Fe Archeology Dig Begins
From Times staff and wire reports
An archeological team began the first of several exploratory digs on the Santa Fe Plaza last week in the heart of the nation’s oldest capital city.
Within hours, volunteer diggers were unearthing interesting shards of pottery, including a button-size chip of blue and white Mexican majolica clay used in pottery since the 17th Century.
Excavation leader David Snow said diggers could find older plaza levels, Indian artifacts and evidence of frontier life.
“We’ve already learned something in the top six inches,” he said.
The plaza was once a terminus for exploration, trade and immigration routes, including the Camino Real from Mexico City and the Santa Fe Trail from the Mississippi River.
