Sandia Cave is an archaeological site

Archaeological site

An archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record.Beyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...

 near Bernalillo, New Mexico

Bernalillo, New Mexico

Bernalillo is a town in Sandoval County, New Mexico, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 6,611. It is the county seat of Sandoval County.Bernalillo is part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

 that is open to the public. It is rather difficult to reach, as it is located high up on the steep wall of Las Huertas Canyon on the north end of the Sandia Mountains.

A statement of its significance in 1961 read:
A recent condition report is:
It was declared a National Historic Landmark

National Historic Landmark

A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...

in 1961.

History

Archaeologist and politicians have argued about this site for decades making it very hard to know what is actually going on with it. The site was excavated in the 1940s by Frank Hibben while at the University of New Mexico. The actual cave is located in the Northern end of the Sandia Mountains. While excavating the site he found artifacts of the Folsom layer including tools and implements. The Sandia layer also contains points which are generally larger than that of the Folsom. In the cave there are several species of animals present in all layers of the strata. These animals include; sloth, horse, camel, bison, mammoth, wolf, and mastodon.