We of the GCAS want to thank the following individuals, who have already given us a good start toward our goal of developing the historic Wood House at the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site into the Mimbres Archaeological Research and Education Center. As of this writing our friends have donated a total of $3800 toward our goal of raising $10,000:

Roger Anyon
Gary Barnett & Marianne Smith
Allen Dart
John Fitch
Patricia Gilman & Paul Minnis
Ben Nelson, PhD and Peggy Nelson, PhD
Tina Oldknow
Barbara Roth
Jakob Sedig

We feel very fortunate to be in your thoughts and have your support for this project. Thank you, every one!

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Yes, the woman in this YouTube video is building her pithouse somewhere in Southeast Asia; and yes, she's using a metal-bladed tool while working in a different type of soil. However, she illustrates how few tools and people may have been required 1000 years ago to build a structure we avocational archaeologists in the US Southwest know very well. Set aside 20 minutes to watch her in action, and enjoy!

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Wednesday, November 18, 2020, 7:00 PM: GCAS general meeting via Zoom. No business meeting, which means we will begin by welcoming our Featured Speaker, archaeologist Margaret Berrier, who will share with our group "Pisciform Iconography of the Jornada Mogollon," also known as, "Let's Look at Fish: Pisciforms in the Jornada Mogollon Region of Southern New Mexico, Northern Mexico, and West Texas." Margaret points out,

"Numerous examples of fish are depicted on ceramics of the Southwest's ancient Mimbres Culture. These are well illustrated in publications and the Mimbres Pottery Image Digital Database (MimPIDD). However, no significant catalog or publication exists for the Southwest's Jornada Mogollon culture that was partly contemporaneous with the Mimbres. This presentation will include examples of pisciform iconography (fish forms) and their distribution in the Jornada Mogollon area. It also summarizes ethnographic accounts of fish use and interpretation of fish iconography. Included in the presentation will be many examples and comparisons with other archaeological artifacts."

The Grant County Archaeological Society seeks donations for our 2020-2021 season’s priority
project at the Mattocks Site/Mimbres Culture Heritage Site in the Mimbres Valley, New Mexico.

Mattocks Site/Mimbres Culture Heritage Site. Wood House, center. © Mitchell Clinton, Mitchell Clinton Photography. All Rights Reserved.

The Vision: When the members of the Mimbres Foundation excavated and subsequently purchased the Mattocks Site in southwestern New Mexico’s Mimbres Valley, they envisioned not simply preserving the archaeological site but to transform it and its historic buildings into the Mimbres Archaeological Research and Education Center. The members of the Mimbres Foundation have remained faithful to their vision throughout the ensuing decades; they and other archaeologists continue to support the Grant County Archaeological Society’s efforts at the Mattocks Site. We now have the opportunity to take further steps to fulfill their vision.

The Opportunity: Our partners in preservation, the Imogen F. Wilson Education Foundation (IFWEF), own and maintain the historic buildings located at the Mattocks Site/Mimbres Culture Heritage Site. IFWEF has invited the Grant County Archaeological Society (GCAS) to relocate our library, archives, and collections of potsherds and artifacts from our current quarters in the site’s main ranch house (the Gooch House) to a larger space in the adjacent historic Wood House.

The Plan: The GCAS will develop two ground floor rooms of the Wood House into a research station and lab, to better accommodate the archaeologists and field schools we and IFWEF typically host at the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site. Concurrently we will make our library, archives, and collections more accessible to our members and visiting researchers. For example, one of our ongoing projects has been to cross-reference our library’s assemblage of research materials and field notes for over 188 archaeological sites with the portions of our potsherd and artifact collections that donors reported were collected from some of the same sites.

The Challenge: The interior of the Wood House - built of adobe in 1882 - requires thorough rehabilitation before use as a reference library or archaeological research station is feasible. IFWEF has installed a new roof and is undertaking the remaining general rehabilitation of the Wood House (plumbing and electrical upgrades; repairs to floors, walls, and ceilings; etc.). Meanwhile, the GCAS will take on the projects related to making our designated spaces usable as an archaeological library, field school research lab, and study area (specialized lighting, security and safety measures; WiFi installation; repair, construction, and/or purchase of bookcases and other furnishings; etc.). We expect most of the required labor will be done by GCAS volunteers but we need help to cover the expenses of materials, fixtures, furnishings, and supplies; and licensed contractors if necessary. The educational programs the GCAS has offered each year since 1999 to the students of seven local schools will resume at the Mattocks Site/Mimbres Culture Heritage Site post-pandemic and will continue as we develop the Mimbres Archaeological Research and Education Center.

The Goal: The GCAS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. Our goal is to raise $10,000 in donations that the GCAS will spend exclusively on the GCAS’s portion of the necessary rehabilitation and upgrades in the Wood House at the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site. Please contribute to help the GCAS establish the Mimbres Archaeological Research and Education Center (MAREC) as the members of the Mimbres Foundation envisioned. The GCAS welcomes your donations via either our website, at https://www.gcasnm.org/news/donate-marec.html, or via standard mail by sending your checks to:

Grant County Archaeological Society, Attn: MAREC
PO Box 1713
Silver City NM 88062

For further information please contact Marianne Smith at email: [email protected] or telephone: 772-529-2627; or email Marilyn Markel at [email protected] or telephone: 575-536-9337. Thank you so much for your generosity in helping us to achieve this goal.

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The GCAS resumed monthly meetings online via Zoom with the idea that up to 3 or 4 GCAS members could take turns acting as hosts for these Zoom meetings. Unfortunately some of our volunteer hosts discovered that they do not have reliable enough equipment and/or connectivity to the internet to help out. How about you?

Even if you have no experience hosting a Zoom meeting yourself, our Zoom committee has already done the work for you. With just one or two short practice sessions online with us, you can get familiar with how to use the 2 or 3 controls you need to start a meeting, introduce the featured speaker using our handy introduction form, and close down the meeting after the lecture and a Q&A session.

Please help the GCAS keep these monthly meetings going. You (yes, you) can contact the right people right away by emailing us at either [email protected], or reaching out to President Kyle Meredith at [email protected], telephone 575-538-5706.

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