Our very own GCAS President, Kyle Meredith, tells us a tale of a trip to Peru from years past. He said he was prompted to write after having seen a blog post on our website with a link to an article that discussed Peru's papa nativas (native potatoes) and the archaeological site of Moray, Peru. Welcome back, Kyle!

A blast from the past! I have a propensity for falling in love with every place we go, but Peru more than others. So much of it looked so familiar. I had to look up Moray on the map because I could have sworn we had seen it, but actually it looked very similar to Pisaq in many ways, also in the Sacred Valley. In fact, the reason it looked so much like Pisaq is because one of their photos WAS Pisaq from almost the exact same spot that I took the photo.

The GCAS's very own Marilyn Gendron reports a welcome development for archaeological preservationists. the Archaeological Conservancy announced in the Summer 2020 issue of American Archaeology magazine that they have acquired one of our local archaeological sites, Treasure Hill, from long-time friends of the GCAS, archaeologist LaVerne Herrington and her husband, engineer Ellis "Red" Herrington. The article, entitled The Treasures of Treasure Hill: The Conservancy Obtains a Rare, Well-Preserved Mimbres Site, is not yet published online as of this writing but excerpts from it, combined with LaVerne Herrington's own remarks, follow:

The Southwest Kiln Conference, established in 2003, is devoted to the art, science and technology of recreating the prehistoric pottery of the American Southwest. Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic they are adapting their annual conference to the circumstances. From Southwest Kiln:

By unanimous vote of the GCAS general membership, on July 1, 2020, our annual dues will increase from $15 (individual) and $25 (household) to $20 (individual) and $30 (household). This is the first time we have increased our dues since 2002 and we are now more in line with the membership fees of our affiliate organizations.

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The Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project in Velarde, New Mexico, has adapted their monthly lecture schedule to fit the vagaries of our COVID-19 pandemic. Where appropriate they plan to livestream their lectures so even those of us interested folks down here in the territories can enjoy them. Please remember to double-check all the following dates directly with the MPPP to stay on top of any sudden or last-minute changes. The MPPP announces:

The GCAS is saddened to report that our group's friend and one of our past Featured Speakers, Warren DeBoer, passed away at age 74 on May 24, 2020, in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Our hearts go out to his wife Sara Stinson, his sister Ainsley, and the rest of his family. His family remembers:

"Professor Warren DeBoer joined the Department of Anthropology at Queens College in 1972 and retired in 2012. Universally loved by students, Dr. DeBoer taught Introduction to Archaeology, Peoples of North America, and Archaeology of North America, foundational courses for our anthropology majors, for 40 years.

Samantha Bomkamp, one of only two 2018-2019 Coinman Grant Awards recipients, completed her thesis for her Master's of Science in Anthropology degree at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee in May 2020. She kindly sent us a copy of her thesis, entitled "Typological and Iconographic Analyses of Casas Grandes Pottery at the Milwaukee Public Museum," to share with our membership. Click here to read her thesis: Download Bomkamp-Thesis-Casas-Grandes-Pottery-MPM-2020.pdf (15666.2K)

During these uncertain times, we of the GCAS may be unable to gather together for a monthly meeting or field trip but scientific research goes on and it offers us abundant presentations and webinars online to suit the preferences of every avocational archaeologist. Time and space permitting, we list a selection of upcoming online opportunities on our Events page, so please check there from time to time for what's happening now.

Meanwhile, we have some information and a few websites listed below, to get you in the mood for surfing the archaeological waves of the Internet and having some social-distancing fun.

Some minor dusting and cleaning was in order for the photo archives on our GCAS website.

The Gallery page: We've added to the scrolling gallery a couple dozen more photos of GCAS field trips, excavations, and special events. You can enjoy all 58 of them in two different ways: (1) use the arrows on the narrow scroll bar just underneath the string of photos to go back and forth looking at the photos in smaller size. Hovering your cursor over each photo will reveal a short caption; or (2) click on any photo to open it to full-screen size, then hover your cursor over the right-hand or left-hand portion of the photo to reveal a large white triangle/arrow that will take you to the next (or previous) photo in the lineup. Click the tiny black "X" in the far upper right corner of any enlarged photo to return to the Gallery page.

Photo Albums: We included more photos to each of our 7 existing albums. Thanks go to all our GCAS members who have generously contributed their photos of area events, GCAS field trips, and meetings. Please continue! And most recently...

This year's Mogollon Conference is set for Friday, October 23, 2020 thru Saturday, October 24, 2020, in the Student Union building on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson, Arizona. The organizers announce that "This year features some changes, including a no-charge conference dinner hosted by Archaeology Southwest on the evening of October 23 (Friday). We felt that a broadly welcoming approach would allow students a better opportunity to attend the dinner and mix with faculty and the rest of the professional community."

All potential presenters please note that Saturday, August 1, 2020, is the last day to submit an abstract of a paper to the conference coordinators. Click here for submission details, registration info, and more, and consult the announcement and Call for Papers itself: Download 2020 MogCof Call for Papers. Finally, please re-check the Conference website for periodic updates. We'll see you in Tucson!

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