Member Login Join or Renew Contact Us Membership DONATE NOW [Menu_Home] About In The News Tours Events Acquisitions American Archaeology Magazine What is The Archaeological Conservancy? The Archaeological Conservancy is the only national, nonprofit organization that identifies, acquires, and preserves the most significant archaeological sites in the United States. Since its beginning in 1980, the Conservancy has now preserved 500 sites across the nation, ranging in age from the earliest habitation sites in North America to a 19th-century frontier army post. Learn about our amazing 500th Site. We are building a national system of archaeological preserves to ensure the survival of our irreplaceable cultural heritage. Conservancy Staff | Conservancy Board Member Bios Why save archaeological sites? When ancestral Native American villages are damaged and destroyed by looters or leveled for shopping centers, it lessens us as Americans. Precious ties that link all of us to these storied places are also destroyed forever. Over the past few decades, the knowledge and methods of modern archaeologists have advanced tremendously. Today researchers use technologies such as tree-ring dating, radiocarbon dating, archaeomagnetic dating, obsidian hydration dating, pollen analysis, and trace-element analysis to glean information from the archaeological record. Few of these technologies existed 50 years ago. For this reason, it’s important that we keep a significant portion of raw data in the ground, where future archaeologists with even more advanced knowledge and technologies will have access to it. What sites does the Conservancy Own? Since its beginning in 1980, the Conservancy has now acquired 500 endangered sites in 43 states across America. These preserves range in size from a few acres to more than 1,000 acres. They include the earliest habitation sites in North America, a 19th-century frontier army post, and nearly every major cultural period in between. Examples of Conservancy preserves include California’s Borax Lake site, which encompasses 11,000 years of human occupation; the first mission of Father Kino, as well as several important Sinagua and Hohokam ruins in Arizona; important Caddo Indian sites in Texas and Oklahoma; and in Georgia, key cultural locales of the region’s first Indians. And the list goes on: several ancient Indian villages in Florida; Mississippian sites in Arkansas and Missouri, at least two of which Hernando de Soto visited in 1541; villages of the eastern lakeshore peoples in Michigan; ancestral sites of New Mexico’s Pueblo people; in Colorado, Yellowjacket and Mud Springs Pueblos–the two largest ruins of the Mesa Verde culture; and in the Northeast, two Paleo-Indian sites and a Seneca Iroquois village. Some Conservancy sites have been incorporated into public parks such as Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico, Parkin Archeological State Park in Arkansas, and Hopewell Culture National Historical Park in Ohio. Learn more about the Conservancy’s latest acquisitions How does the Conservancy raise funds? Funds from the Conservancy come from membership dues, individual contributions, corporations and foundations. Membership dues, gifts and bequests of money, land, and securities are fully tax deductible under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Planned giving provides donors with substantial tax deductions and a variety of beneficiary possibilities. For more information, call Mark Michel at (505) 266-1540. Help Us and DONATE NOW! Form 990, Financial Statements and Annual Report Records Retention Policy Whistleblower Policy American Archaeology Magazine Current Issue Back Issues Online Books Reviewed Home Newsletter Index Newsletters (1980-1996) Order Back Issues Updates From TAC Fall 2021 Tour Scheduled Announced Mar 15, 2021 Episode 3 of our Virtual Tour Video Series is Available Now! Jan 22, 2021 We’re having a Watch Party on January 21! Jan 11, 2021 The Archaeological Conservancy resumes Tours in 2021 Dec 31, 2020 Watch the 2nd Episode of our Virtual Tour Video Series Oct 16, 2020 About Us Form 990, Financial Statements and Annual Report American Archaeology Magazine Board of Directors Biographies Contact Us Membership Archaeological Tours Where We Work Privacy Policy Contact Us About Us Home © Copyright 2015- Archaeological Conservancy