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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