Avocational archaeologists of all stripes still have time to register for the 21st annual Jornada-Mogollon Conference in El Paso, Texas, on October 11 and October 12, 2019, but time's running out. Pre-registration at discount rates remains possible until October 8, 2019, but any procrastinator without a student ID can always pay more money to register at the door.

Date, time, and location particulars are here. Registration form is here. Please enjoy!

/s/ webmaster [Logo via El Paso Museum of Archaeology.]

The 2019 Southwest Kiln Conference is coming the weekend of October 4 through October 6 in Globe, Arizona, featuring the archaeological research and hands-on techniques applied to prehistoric pottery replication and experimental archaeology. It is open to the public and attendance is free, so you better get a move on if you're planning on going.

Review their schedule for the days and times that archaeological papers will be presented and outdoor demonstrations of prehistoric pottery technology will be performed. Also consider participating in - or just watching from a safe distance - the special outdoor pottery firings that are scheduled in the Timber Camp campground area of the Tonto National Forest. The conference closes on Sunday, October 6, with a field trip to Kinishba Ruins. Click here to find Southwest Kiln's registration info, schedule, and more.

/s/ webmaster [Photos of 2018 and 2017 conferences, courtesy of Southwest Kiln Conference.]

The Grant County Archaeological Society is excited to welcome the general public as well as all GCAS members to our next meeting on Wednesday evening, October 16, 2019, at 2045 Memory Lane in Silver City, New Mexico, to hear a special presentation on "Katsinam, Clouds, and Kivas: Evidence of the Origins of Katsinam Culture." This presentation is FREE.

Our General Meeting begins at 6:00 PM. The public is invited to attend our meeting as well as the presentation that follows. Light refreshments provided. Our featured speakers are Ramson Lomatewama (Hopi Third Mesa; Katsina father and multimedia artist), and Leon Natker (archaeologist and executive director of the Mesa Historical Museum, AZ). To introduce their topic, Ramson and Leon explain that:

Set the date: Thursday, September 26, 2019, 7:00 PM in Las Cruces. That's when Karl W. Laumbach, archaeologist, Director of the Cañada Alamosa Project, and Associate Director of Human Systems Research, Inc., presents a monthly series of lectures entitled, "A Synthesis of Twenty Years of Archaeological Discoveries on the Cañada Alamosa."

This series begins on September 26 with "The Archaic Occupation of the Cañada Alamosa." All lectures in this series are FREE and start at 7:00 pm in the Social Center Auditorium at the University Terrace Good Samaritan Village, 3011 Buena Vida Circle, Las Cruces. For contact info and details of the entire series, please check out HSR's PDF: Download Canada Alamosas Lectures in Cruces-1 or scroll through our "Events" page for all the upcoming action in this lecture series and more!

/s/ webmaster

One of the GCAS's core missions is to preserve and protect archaeological resources through education. Now that school is back in session, several groups of local students and their teachers are planning field trips to the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site. The GCAS has traditionally provided volunteer guides for these field trips, coordinated by our very own Marilyn Markel.

Three schools are planning field trips between the date of this post and November 8, 2019. We need GCAS members to take time to assist Marilyn in showing these young students some of the rich heritage that their area offers them. Bonus: no experience is necessary for any of these field trips; Marilyn will quickly get you up to speed. Please help with one or more:

Please welcome today's guest blogger and photographer, Marilyn Gendron, as she recaps her and Joseph Gendron's recent visit to a museum exhibit in Las Cruces we're encouraging folks to attend!

Living in Sacred Continuum: Art/archaeology exhibit at NMSU until December 15, 2019

Joseph and I recently enjoyed an exhibit at the American Indian Student Union (near the Corbett Center) to view 5 ancient Mimbres pottery bowls and the artwork of five well-known Hopi artists; Ramson Lomatewama, Ed Kabotie, Gwen Setalla, Gerald Lomaventema, and Spencer Nutima.

The next GCAS monthly meeting will be held just two days from now on Wednesday, September 18, 2019. Everyone is welcome to join us at the Roundup Lodge at 91 Aklin Hill Road in San Lorenzo/Mimbres, New Mexico. Our featured speaker is Karl W. Laumbach, archaeologist and Associate Director of Human Systems Research in Las Cruces. He plans to share details with us about his personal experiences in investigating and preserving a significant Mimbres Valley archaeological site, known today as Elk Ridge. Read some interesting details about Laumbach's talk here, and even more interesting details about Laumbach himself, here.

Our final potluck of the season begins on September 18 at 6:00 PM followed by our GCAS general meeting. Karl Laumbach will present his talk at about 7:00 PM. We'll see you there!

/s/ webmaster [photo on left, via Human Systems Research. Photo on right, by Bob Gamboa]

For those unfamiliar with Old Pueblo Archaeology Center [photo on right via OPAC], it is an organization headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, devoted to education and preservation of historic and archaeological sites and artifacts throughout the region of the US Southwest and Mexico Northwest. They serve as a clearinghouse for events, tours, educational programs, and volunteer opportunities for individuals including students of all ages, professionals, and interested nonprofessionals.

On September 18, 2019, the GCAS will proudly host Karl W. Laumbach, archaeologist and Associate Director at Human Systems Research in Las Cruces. Everyone is invited to hear him share his experiences in the protection and preservation of our local patrimony in "The Elk Ridge Story."

Laumbach explains:

Digging for “pots” in pueblo sites has been a recreational activity across the American Southwest for more than a century. During the mid-1970s, commercial “pothunters”, spurred on by a growing art market for all things Southwestern, began the methodical bulldozing of Mimbres Pueblo sites in southwestern New Mexico. By 1989 many of the large Mimbres pueblo sites on private land (and many on public land) had been destroyed. In an effort to stop this wholesale destruction, a legislative effort enacted a law which made it a 4th degree felony to knowingly disturb a human burial on private land in the State of New Mexico. Prior to the spring of 1989, no one knew that a large intact Mimbres Pueblo lay buried under alluvium on the West Fork of the Mimbres River. For the 90 days before the law took effect, the landowner used heavy equipment to extract as many pots as possible but the sheer depth of the deposits prevented complete destruction. The Elk Ridge Story chronicles those troubled times and the controversial effort by Human Systems Research to preserve what was left of a previously undocumented and highly significant Mimbres Pueblo.

Our meeting on September 18 will begin at 6:00 PM with our final potluck dinner of the season. The GCAS general meeting will follow and Laumbach will begin to speak at about 7:00 PM. Please join us at the Roundup Lodge at 91 Aklin Hill Road in San Lorenzo/Mimbres, New Mexico.

/s/ webmaster [photo via Human Systems Research]

Archaeologist Karl Laumbach has devoted his life to a greater understanding of our region's past and how that past informs our future. His official biography gives a brief glimpse into his work:

Raised on a northeastern New Mexico ranch, Karl Laumbach has pursued an archaeological career in southern New Mexico since 1974. A graduate of New Mexico State University, he spent nine years directing projects for the NMSU contract archaeology program before joining Human Systems Research, Inc. (HSR) in 1983. After serving as Executive Director of the organization for 10 years, he is now an Associate Director for HSR. His research interests are varied, including land grant research in his native northeastern New Mexico, the pueblo archaeology of southern New Mexico, and the history and archaeology of the Apache. Fascinated with the history of south central New Mexico, Karl has been involved in recording sites and collecting local history in that area for the last 40 plus years. His interaction with private landowners has been integral in the preservation of several archaeological sites. He is currently in the 20th year of the Cañada Alamosa Project, a research effort that is exploring the last 4000 years of human occupation and environmental change in the Rio Alamosa drainage of Socorro and Sierra Counties.

Bonus: Laumbach is slated to speak at our next GCAS meeting on September 18, 2019, about "The Elk Ridge Story" - his narrative of his experiences at a Mimbres Valley archaeological site significant to us all. Everyone is welcome to join us at the Roundup Lodge at 91 Aklin Hill Road in San Lorenzo/Mimbres, New Mexico.Our final potluck of the season begins at 6:00 PM followed by our GCAS general meeting. Karl Laumbach will present his talk at about 7:00 PM. We'll see you there!

/s/ webmaster [photo by Bob Gamboa]