The anthropologist and archaeologist, Edgar L. Hewett accomplishmented many things while living in New Mexico. In 1906 he spearheaded the American Antiquities Act, in 1907 he established the School of American Archeology and in 1909 Hewett founded the Museum of New Mexico. Hewitt also established a strong rapport with the Native American community. He approached the potter Maria Martinez and persuaded her to recreate the black on black pottery. That type of pottery was abundant during the Neolitic era of the Stone Age
Hewitt mentored some of the most important men of that era, including the American archaeologist Sylvanus G. Morley. The young paleontologist began his lifelong adventures in Santa Fe. Morley began work at the School of American Archaeology in 1907. It is believed that Morley was the inspiration for the fictional archaeologist Indiana Jones created by the movie producers George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg. Later in his career, Morley set out to explore the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. While in Mexico he helped rediscover and restore the ceremonial Mayan center known as Chichén Itzá.