Dr. Fumi Arakawa, Associate Director of Research at Indiana University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology, has invited the general public to the Geronimo Springs Museum in Truth or Consequences on Saturday, June 21, 2025, when about 15 students from Indiana University/Bloomington will present the findings of their 2025 fieldwork at the Twin Pines Village site in the Gila National Forest. From 11:00AM to 2:00PM, each of Dr. Arakawa's student crew will present their individual research projects at the Geronimo Springs Museum. To see more details, either click on the photo on the right to enlarge, or download the flyer here to open in a new window: Download 2025 IU Field School

Please join the community in celebrating the IU 2025 field school students' hard work and discoveries!

/s/ webmaster

Fill your calendar with a number of adventures on offer by the Jornada Research Institute. Consider any or all of the following:

Monday, June 23, 2025 via ZOOM: David Greenwald of the Jornada Research Institute presents a powerpoint lecture on behalf of Aztlander Magazine, a monthly online publication, titled A Jornada Mogollon Cultural Landscape: Aberration or Microcosm of the American Southwest? Dave condenses the complexities of the Mesilla Phase archaeology in Tularosa Canyon - an arduous job to say the least. Visit Aztlander to pre-register for this zoom presentation.

On May 4, 2025* fifteen or more GCAS members led by Marilyn Markel took a short hike up Sapillo Canyon to inspect some pictographs there, then gathered again at the Lake Roberts Vista/Overlook to learn more about the Mimbres-Mogollon habitation site that was professionally excavated there in the 1990s. The weather was ideal, as was the company.

We used the DStretch app to enhance one of the more faded pictographs; below we see the original photo on the left, an image in the center of the same photo with DStretch's CRGB filter applied, and the image on the far right with DStretch's RGBO filter applied. Fun fact: DStretch is also useful in enhancing features in aerial photographs, and even ink on faded historic documents. Science never ceases to amaze.

*May the Fourth Be With You!

/s/ webmaster [All photos courtesy of Eduardo Argüello]

We have a winner!

The GCAS’s own treasurer, Kathryn McCarroll, received a Richard A. Bice Award For Archaeological Achievement at the May 2-4, 2025, annual meeting of the Archaeological Society of New Mexico (ASNM) in Albuquerque. The ASNM’s Bice Award recognizes individuals who have made significant and sustained contributions to their local archaeological society and Kathryn has served the GCAS’s mission since her first day as a member. She’s been a reliable volunteer in our educational programs and public outreach events and has served as GCAS treasurer and as a member of our board of directors since January 2023. She extends the GCAS’s mission to her extra work as a volunteer at the WNMU Museum where you might find her cleaning and mending ceramic artifacts under Museum director Danni Romero’s guidance.

Congratulations on your Bice Award, Kathryn – you’ve earned it!

/s/ webmaster

Long-time followers of this here blog know how highly the GCAS values scientific advances of all kinds, especially science that applies to the study of archaeology in our region. Especially-especially, if that science involves DNA analysis.

On May 1, 2025, the Picuris Pueblo in northern New Mexico announced the results of a DNA study they recently undertook. The results confirm the Picuris oral traditions: that they are indeed related to ancient people who lived on the land they currently occupy, as well as to one or more ancient Indigenous groups who lived a few hundred miles away in Chaco Canyon. The Picuris experience will hopefully encourage other Native groups to use DNA studies to support their own, separate oral traditions, and enhance their people's understanding of their own pasts. Enjoy the whole article, and congratulate the Picuris Pueblo for taking an important step forward for their culture - and for us all.

/s/ webmaster

Tuesday, June 10-Monday, July 21, 2025: The Preservation Archaeology Museum Curation and Survey Field School sponsored by Archaeology Southwest, Western New Mexico University, and the University of Arizona, begins for student participants with 3 days at Archaeology Southwest and the University of Arizona in Tucson, then continues for the next several weeks at the WNMU Museum in Silver City and the NAN Ranch in the lower Mimbres Valley.

Fill your calendar with a number of adventures on offer by the Jornada Research Institute. Consider any or all of the following:

Tuesday, May 20, 2025: sponsored by the Jornada Research Institute, Acting Superintendent at White Sands National Park will present his interpretations regarding the investigations of the Trackways on the Shore of Lake Otero. More on this in future JRI announcements; contact Dave Greenwald for details.

From April 6 through April 8, 2025, the GCAS embarked upon our first overnight field trip in several years. A fine time was had by all 9 participants thanks to field trip coordinators Eduardo Argüello and Torie Grass. Our group enjoyed excursions to the petroglyphs and pueblo site at Lyman Lake State Park as well as a special guided minibus tour from the Casa Malpais Museum in Springerville to the archaeological site of Casa Malpais itself.

Tuesday, June 10-Monday, July 21, 2025: The Preservation Archaeology Museum Curation and Survey Field School sponsored by Archaeology Southwest, Western New Mexico University, and the University of Arizona, begins for student participants with 3 days at Archaeology Southwest and the University of Arizona in Tucson, then continues for the next several weeks at the WNMU Museum in Silver City and the NAN Ranch in the lower Mimbres Valley.

Saturday, April 19, 2025, 10:00AM-3:00PM at Gough Park in Silver City,NM: celebrate Earth Day, hosted by the Continental Divide Trail Days/Continental Divide Trail Coalition, at the GCAS educational booth. We're asking for 3 or more GCAS members to help set up, run, and/or close out our booth during this event. Volunteer for a couple hours or all day. No experience necessary to show the public what the GCAS does - we'll have plenty of brochures, games, and selected artifacts on display as well as used books for sale to support our GCAS library. Contact Marianne by email or telephone/text to 772-529-2627 to offer your help!

Unfortunately we have no volunteers for a GCAS booth, but Earth Day still goes on so enjoy the events in Gough Park all day!

/s/ webmaster