The Center's mission reflects a commitment to conserve the fragile archaeological record and to minimize impacts to archaeological sites, while pursuing quality research and education programs.

• surveys to record the location, character, and condition of archaeological sites in a specific geographical region;
• the study of historical documents which provide invaluable interpretive information for sites that date within the past 500 years;
• the study of archaeological collections in museums across the country;
• limited, focused excavations to advance research issues on a regional scale;
• and the inclusion of Native American traditional knowledge which adds alternative interpretations of the past that can not be realized through a strictly scientific approach.

Preservation archaeology research methods are well-suited to "big-picture" questions which emphasize synthesis on a large geographical scale. The Center is not only protecting the past, but is also pursuing creative and fruitful new research directions in order to expand and deepen understanding of the Southwest's complex history.

1. the development of Coalescent Communities across the Greater Southwest, A.D. 1200 to 1700;
2. the arrival of agriculture in the Greater Southwest, 2000 B.C. to A.D. 50; and
3. the rise and collapse of the Chacoan Regional System in the San Juan Basin, A.D. 900 to 1300.

Center researchers are compiling information from all these categories in a multilayer geographic information system (GIS), which provides an organizational framework for maintaining high precision inventories of diverse kinds of information that are important for the protection of archaeological sites as well as synthetic research.

Research is a fundamental part of the Center's mission. Of its 19 staff members, 15 are actively involved in research initiatives.