Press Releases

Santa Fe, NM- Office of Archaeological Studies (OAS) has brought on Dr. Thatcher Seltzer-Rogers as Director of Business Operations. His first day was June 26, 2023. 

 “The Office of Archaeological Studies is excited that Thatcher is joining the division,” said Michelle Ensey, Co-interim director of the office of archaeological studies.  

 Thatcher’s role supervises client archaeological projects, including regulatory definition (permitting), scoping with clients, budget development and management, personnel selection, plan preparation and review, supervision of project execution including archaeological fieldwork, oversight of artifact analyses and report writing, and review to ensure that work products satisfy regulatory requirements.  This position also manages State budgets, invoicing clients, preparing personnel evaluations, grants administration and assists the Director in recruiting client projects. 

Thatcher specializes in the archaeology of the southern American Southwest/Mexican Northwest region and Casas Grandes, Jornada Mogollon, Mimbres, and southeast Arizona, and, in particular, social complexity in intermediate societies and the construction of identity in cultural borderlands. His research focuses on the late prehispanic Casas Grandes culture of northwestern Chihuahua and its cultural manifestations and interactions with groups throughout the International Four Corners (where Arizona, New Mexico, Chihuahua, and Sonora meet). He has extensively published on the region in American Antiquity, Kiva, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, Journal of Arizona Archaeology, and Pottery Southwest, as well as nearly one hundred technical contributions and book chapters. 

 “I am excited to be the new Director of Business Operations at the Office of Archaeological Studies and to bring my knowledge, research, and my educational background to this position,” said Dr. Seltzer-Rogers.  

 Thatcher currently serves as president of the Archaeological Society of New Mexico. He received his M.S. in 2019 from the University of New Mexico and  a Ph.D. at UNM in Anthropology with an emphasis in Archaeology and a minor in Statistics.  

 About the New Mexico Office of Archaeological Studies 

The office of Archaeological Studies conducts archaeological research projects throughout New Mexico with a diverse group of 6 archaeologists and support staff. Their mission is to identify, interpret, and share information about prehistoric and historic sites across the state. The office serves state agencies and private organizations that need archaeological studies performed as part of their development projects.