Sandia Cave artifact and megafauna association reassessments

Record summary

Sandia Cave became famous through claims that distinctive projectile points were associated with extinct megafauna at a very early date. Later scholarship revisited the excavation history, stratigraphy, artifact typology, and radiocarbon evidence, generally treating the original extreme chronology and associations with caution. The lead matters as a case study in how legacy field methods can shape later debates about the peopling of North America. Uncertainties include disturbed deposits, incomplete documentation, and whether reported associations were observed in place or reconstructed afterward.