This study examines and demonstrates the value of a matrix approach in the discipline of conservation and the concerns specific to the conservation of archaeological and ethnographic objects. The chapters identify the relevance of the matrix to current conservation practices through a history of artifact conservation and a discussion of the factors that compromise the conservators' role in the study and preservation of material culture. The discussion evaluates the nature of systematic research collections, the impact of legal issues, and the ethics of including cultural context as important aspects in the development of the matrix approach. The matrix approach provides the conservator with a number of variables or categories of information that may assist in the determination of an appropriate conservation process. In this study, the matrix approach was tested on a number of artifact objects. To provide a common link, all of the objects were characterized by paint on some form of cellulose (wood or a wood-like substrate). The object cases were from both ethnographic and archaeological contexts, and the work involved both laboratory procedures and consideration of non-laboratory (i.e. legal, cultural, ethical) aspects. The specific objects included (1) a probable tiponi of archaeological (Anasazi culture) context, (2) a group of coiled baskets of archaeological (Mogollon culture) context, (3) a kachina doll of ethnographic (Hopi culture) context, (4) a group of prayer sticks of archaeological (Puebloan and Tohono O'Odham) context, and (5) a fiddle of ethnographic (Apache culture) context. By recognizing the unique and diverse aspects of anthropology collections, the conservator who uses a matrix approach is better equipped to work with archaeologists on sites, with curators and exhibit designers in museums, and with claimants (or the descendants of an object's maker) in carrying out the multiple activities frequently involved in the conservation of objects as they exist in an ever broadening and more political context.

We examine the emergence of the Neolithic in the Southwest United States by focusing on the Mesa Verde region and the research we have conducted there as a part of the Village Ecodynamics Project. The Mesa Verde region has many characteristics that make it an ideal place to study the emergence of the Neolithic. The region has about 20.000 recorded archaeological sites. These sites are highly visible because there has been relatively little erosion or deposition. The arid climate has resulted in remarkable preservation, and tree-ring dating provides precise chronological resolution. Tree rings also allow annual reconstructions of temperature and precipitation. Finally, Pueblo Indians continue to live in New Mexico and Arizona today, and their oral traditions can be combined with archaeological information to provide a more complete and inclusive reconstruction of the Pueblo past. We examine the lengthy occupation of the Mesa Verde region to better understand the relationship between the following key elements of the Neolithic: the introduction of domesticated food production, the causes and consequences of population growth, the effects of climate change, the intensification of the warfare, the degree of sedentism and frequency of population movement, the formation of villages, and the emergence of complex social and political organization. / En el presente trabajo se analiza el surgimiento del Neolítico en el Suroeste de los Estados Unidos sobre la base de la región de Mesa Verde y las investigaciones que los autores han dirigido como parte del Village Ecodynamics Project (VEP). Esta región tiene muchas características que la hacen ideal para estudiar el surgimiento del Neolítico. Tiene cerca de 20.000 sitios arqueológicos registrados que son bastante visibles debido a la relativamente poca erosión y los escasos procesos de deposición. El clima árido ha motivado una conservación notable y el fechado dendrocronológico ha proporcionado una definición cronológica precisa. Las series de anillos de los árboles también han permitido reconstrucciones anuales de la temperatura y las precipitaciones. Por último, los indios pueblo aún viven en New Mexico y Arizona en la actualidad, y sus tradiciones orales pueden ser combinadas con información arqueológica para brindar una reconstrucción más completa, inclusive, del pasado de estos grupos humanos. Se examina la larga ocupación de la región de Mesa Verde para entender mejor la relación entre los siguientes elementos clave del Neolítico: la introducción de una producción de alimentos domesticados, las causas y consecuencias del crecimiento poblacional, los efectos del cambio climático, la intensificación de la guerra, el grado de sedentarismo y la frecuencia del movimiento de poblaciones, la formación de aldeas y, por último, el surgimiento de la organización social y política compleja.