YOU CAN NOW PUT TO REST A HISTORICAL MYSTERY IN NEW MEXICO. UP UNTIL RECENTLY, IT HAD NOT BEEN ARCHAEOLOGICALLY DETERMINED THAT THE VAZQUEZ DE CORONADO EXPEDITION FROM THE EARLY 1540S WAS EVER AT THE HISTORIC SITE NOW NAMED AFTER HIM IN BERNALILLO, NEW MEXICO. MATTHEW BARBOUR IS THE REGIONAL MANAGER FOR NEW MEXICO HISTORIC SITES. HE SAYS A LONG-TERM METAL DETECTOR SURVEY IS ONGOING AT THE SITE AND IT HAS PROVED TO BE REVEALING.
HE SAYS A YEAR AND A HALF INTO THE METAL DETECTOR PROCESS, THEY’VE COLLECTED QUITE A FEW ARTIFACTS LINKED TO THE CORONADO EXPEDITION AND THE ATTACK ON THE LOCATION KNOWN AS THE EVERGREEN PUEBLO.
BARBOUR SAYS THE MATERIAL RECOVERED INCLUDES THINGS SUCH AS COPPER CROSSBOW BOLTHEADS, CHAIN MAIL ARMOR, LEAD SHOT AND OTHER EQUIPMENT. SOME OF THE ARTIFACTS WILL GO ON DISPLAY AT THE CORONADO SITE NEXT SUMMER.
