The Imogen F. Wilson Foundation is hosting a walking tour of their Mimbres Culture Heritage Site this coming Saturday, March 2, 2019, from 1:30PM to 2:30PM. Come learn about the history and archaeology in your own back yard as talented tour leader Marilyn Markel guides you throughout the site. IFWF explains that this walking tour involves:

"light walking on 1/2 mile trail of the Mattocks Ruin Pre-historic archaeological site with a member of the Imogen F Wilson Educational Foundation. Learn about the ancient people who lived in the Mimbres Valley and the homesteaders living on site in the late 1800's and early 1900's. ADA restroom, museum with gift shop, plenty of parking on site. This is an opportunity to get a good insight to what life was like in the Mimbres valley from 1000 years ago, to the mid last century.

Find more details on the IFWF/MCHS Facebook page. Come and enjoy a pleasant afternoon in the Mimbres Valley with your neighbors, and support a worthwhile cause in your community. We'll see you there!

/s/ webmaster

The Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Society of New Mexico (ASNM) is set for Friday, April 26 through Sunday, April 28, 2019, right here in Silver City and hosted by ourselves, the GCAS.

Check out our updated donation options by clicking on the "Donate" link in our top nav bar, or by using the printable donation forms indicated in the left sidebar, or by starting here.

Thank you for your support, everyone!

/s/ webmaster [Image = Ernst Barlach's "Reading Monks" sculpture.]

Researchers at Penn State reported a few months ago that they have isolated a 1000-year-old plant virus - a chrysovirus - from corncobs recovered from the Antelope House Ruin in Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona. This chrysovirus is not just the first chrysovirus found in corn, but it is the oldest plant virus scientists have found to date. [Antelope House image via americansouthwest.net; virus image via alchetron.com]

Archaeology Southwest reports that on Thursday, March 28, 2019, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will sell certain oil and gas leases within the Greater Chaco Canyon area. They are asking concerned citizens to contact the BLM to protest this lease sale and will provide information on their website within the next several days explaining how to write an effective protest. In the meantime, some background:

This just in, via the monthly newsletter of the Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project in Velarde, New Mexico (just a bit NE of Española):

JOB ANNOUNCEMENT - PROJECT ARCHAEOLOGIST


Some time ago, and during a period of many years, a few archaeologists and various amateur collectors retrieved a number of oblong stone artifacts from the area around and including the Great Sand Dunes National Park in south-central Colorado. Eventually, many of the stones were given to the museum at Great Sand Dunes National Park where they remain stored today. [Photo of Great Sand Dunes artifacts via Archaeology Podcast Network.]

Researchers have discovered that a certain protein in tooth enamel comes from a sex-specific gene. Scientists at the University of California/Davis have taken that discovery and developed a technique by which they can determine the gender of human remains even if only a single tooth is all that is recovered. Details are in this recent article in Archaeology magazine.