Digging into the Past

By Dr. Kathy Gore

Ethan Ortega (BS 13) is a Historic Ranger at the Coronado Historic Site outside of Bernalillo, New Mexico. The Coronado Historic Site contains the ancestral Tiwa pueblo of Kuaua, which was built in the early A.D. 1300s and occupied until the mid-1700s. Excavations in the 1900s revealed hundreds of artifacts in this large adobe pueblo and a square kiva (ceremonial structure) with many layers of beautiful murals on the walls—a very rare find that gives us hints into the daily lives of the prehistoric Tiwa.

In his position as Historic Ranger, Ethan performs a wide variety of daily tasks in three main areas: site preservation, education, and research. For site preservation, Ethan notes that he continually monitors the condition of the site and helps apply plaster to the old pueblo walls to protect them from damage due to weathering. Education is Ethan’s favorite part of the job. With tourists coming to the site each week, including many from outside the United States, Ethan enjoys “sharing the history of our State with our visitors.” Finally, during the winter months when other work at the site is slow, Ethan conducts research on artifacts and field notes from the old excavations. The fruits of this research are on display in a new exhibit at the site featuring some of the digital maps Ethan created using old field records as well as artifacts he studied from the site’s extensive collections.

Deborah Ellis, one of about 12 volunteers, assisting Ethan with his research program.

Photo by Jack Ellis

During the past year, Ethan also organized a Junior Archaeology program at the site,allowing local students to participate in a mock excavation set up adjacent to the site. The program brings together various aspects of New Mexico’s Common Core as part of the students’ experience, so they can learn while they have fun. Through their excavation and research, students must use skills from science, mathematics, and especially language arts as they analyze and interpret their results.

Ethan is passionate about his career. He credits part of his success to the hands-on nature of the ENMU anthropology program where he gained information and skills both inside and outside the classroom. In particular, he has used his knowledge of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to produce site maps and the WordPress blogging tool to create a separate website for the Kuaua pueblo (kuaua.com). His time as president of Mu Alpha Nu, the anthropology student organization, also helped hone his organizational skills. As he notes, “I learned a lot about event planning as Mu Alpha Nu president; here I use those skills on a bigger scale to organize lectures and other educational outreach opportunities.”