A big part of the Chaco Culture National Historical Park will be only an hour's drive away from Santa Fe starting this Friday.

That's when The University of New Mexico and the National Park Service plan to open the 1.5 million-piece Chaco Collection at the university's Hibben Center, said Wendy Bustard, the collection's curator.

The collection includes items such as prehistoric pottery, stone and bone tools, sandals and matting, Bustard said, but isn't limited to those items. The items range in age from A.D. 850 to A.D. 1200.

"Chaco is one of the hot spots of American archaeology," Bustard said. The site is in northwestern New Mexico, about a three-hour's drive from Santa Fe, and once served as a major urban center for ancient Pueblo Indians.

The site is remarkable for its buildings, engineering projects, astronomy, artistic achievements, as well as its distinctive architecture, according to a park brochure. It was a hub in the Four Corners area for 400 years.

Bustard said archaeologists began studying the site about 100 years ago, and Friday's event will include a two-hour forum on that history.

Friday's event will also include tours of the collection, but those who miss it will have to call in advance to schedule a tour of the collection, Bustard said. The collection will primarily be used for research purposes, she said, and is not open to the public without an appointment.

While there are always several archaeologists researching Chaco at any given time, two graduate students at the university will use the collection to work on their dissertations, Bustard said. One of the dissertations is on ornaments and the other is about basketry and textiles, she said.

People can call 505-346-2871, extension 201 to schedule a tour, Bustard said. Tours are limited to 10 people at a time.

Contact Wendy Brown at 986-3072 or wbrown@sfnewmexican.com.



IF YOU GO

What: Opening of the Chaco Collection

When: 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday

Where: The University of New Mexico's Hibben Center for Archaeology Research, located next to the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology on Redondo Drive