Thousands of artifacts were discovered this summer under Agua Fría Road during a pre-construction archaeological excavation being conducted near San Ysidro Crossing.

The artifacts — corn-cob-imprinted mud, pottery shards, seeds, beads, tools and clay effigies — come from a previously recorded site of an ancient village near the Santa Fe River.

Cherie Scheick, an archaeologist with Southwest Archaeological Consultants, said the remnants come from what was once "a huge adobe pueblo" recorded by an amateur archaeologist around 1920 but never fully explored.

"Everybody knew the site was out here somewhere, but it had been misplaced," Scheick said.

An elderly Agua Fría resident remembered playing on the pueblo ruins, Scheick said, adding that documents from the post-Pueblo Revolt era indicate Spaniards camped at the settlement when they came into Santa Fe.

In addition to discovering storage and refuse pits, the archaeologists found surfaces that indicate Agua Fría Road might have passed through the center of a large, open plaza.

Scheick said artifacts removed from the dig come from several different time periods, ranging from the 1200s to the 1800s.

Human remains were found during preliminary investigation of the site in 2007. At that time, New Mexico Indian tribes agreed to a reburial plan.

The other artifacts, along with soil and pollen samples, will be studied by Southwest Archaeological Consultants to help researchers answer questions about how ancient populations interacted with each other and moved, Scheick said.

Once that information has been compiled in a report, most of the artifacts will be archived by the Museum of New Mexico Laboratory of Anthropology. Eventually, some pieces will be put on display in an Agua Fría village community center, she said.

The archeological work is being done in advance of a Santa Fe County sewer and road-improvement project that will bring sewer lines to residents along Agua Fría Road between Henry Lynch Road and Lopez Lane.

Part of Agua Fría Road also will be repaved, said project manager Chuck Vigil.

Vigil said the project's original design was altered so that utility lines would be placed on the north side of the road, instead of in the middle of the road, because a greater concentration of artifacts lie under the road and on its south side.

"We applaud them for moving everything," Scheick said. Most archaeologists prefer to leave artifacts in place, she said, and the county's agreement to restrict further disturbances on the south side of the road will allow remaining artifacts to be preserved under the road bed.

The archaeological work, which re-routes traffic on Agua Fría Road, has been going on for about five weeks. Next week, diggers will move to the west side of the intersection at San Ysidro Crossing, where they expect to work for about six more weeks.

Then the road will be temporarily repaved while the construction crew waits for state Historic Preservation Division approval and final designs. It could be about six months before construction begins on the infrastructure improvements, and about a year before it is completed, Vigil said.

Santa Fe County has spent about $400,000 on the archaeological part of the project. Public Works Director Robert Martinez said he didn't know how much the infrastructure improvements will cost, but he estimated the work would probably be "under $5 million." Martinez said money for the project is coming from a voter-approved bond.

Contact Phaedra Haywood at 986-3068 or phaywood@sfnewmexican.com.