PURPOSE of the ANASAZI HERITAGE CENTER COLLECTIONS

The Anasazi Heritage Center (AHC) is one of three BLM-managed archaeological repositories in the country. It houses approximately 3.5 million artifacts. The collections consist of a wide variety of artifacts from public lands in Southwest Colorado, including prehistoric pottery, bone and lithic tools. Collections are managed by federal agencies and curated in the AHC facility.

All Anasazi Heritage Center and Canyons of the Ancients National Monument programs promote

• an understanding of the cultural landscape of the Four Corners in a broad context
• an understanding and appreciation of the diverse patterns of living in this cultural landscape
• an understanding of our region's diverse human populations, their dynamic relationships to one another and to the environment over time
• support for the continuity of regional cultural diversity
• management of  cultural and natural resources, contextually-intertwined at the landscape-level
• the mission of the BLM's  National Landcape Conservation System
• inclusive, conscientious, transparent, and respectful decision making
• ongoing support and good will of the local and regional community

The Anasazi Heritage Center contributes to the above mission by:

• maintaining a systematically cataloged, arranged, and described collection of artifacts and associated archival records
• supporting regional research
• serving as a source of expertise about the prehistory and history of the area, in consultation with tribal groups traditionally associated with the Four Corners cultural landscape
• educating the public about the value of cultural resources in the context of multiple-use management of Canyons of the Ancients National Monument and other nearby public lands

As a federal repository, the AHC accepts properly packaged and documented cultural materials from Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, USDA Forest Service, National Park Service, tribal and state lands within the southwest region of Colorado. Cultural materials must be legally collected under the stipulations of the current State of Colorado permit or a federal cultural resource use permit in order to be accessioned. A curation agreement with the AHC must also be in place.

The AHC collections and data management programs focus primarily on the preservation of, facilitation of access to, and use of archaeological and archival collections. These programs also support and enhance museum exhibits and interpretation programs. 

The AHC was originally built to house the artifacts and associated records recovered from the Dolores Archaeological Program (DAP) ,a massive project to salvage the research value of a large archaeological area in southwest Colorado, once densely settled with thousands of home sites, before construction of McPhee Dam and Reservoir.