NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, May 21, 2025, CANCELLED NOTE THE 5:00 PM START TIME at the WNMU Museum: This special monthly GCAS meeting is the GCAS's annual fundraiser for the WNMU Museum, with which we are so closely allied. Dr. Patricia (Pat) Gilman will be our honored presenter explaining, What Are Tropical Macaws Doing in Mimbres Sites? Watch this space for the date and topic of our next meeting.

NEXT FIELD TRIP: Sunday, June 1, 2025. The GCAS’s next field trip – WEATHER PERMITTING - will visit the Twin Pines site in the upper Mimbres Valley where we will have the opportunity to see directing archaeologist Fumi Arakawa and his crew’s work. This is Gila National Forest land with Mimbres habitations built on top of pithouses and a great kiva. Some petroglyphs are nearby. Access is slow going along rocky roads but high-clearance or 4WD vehicles are not required. However, the trip to Twin Pines takes about 2.5-3 hours from Silver City driving up the Mimbres Valley and into the west side of the Black Range; or about 2.5 hours driving from Truth or Consequences through the east side of the Black Range on an easier road. Overnight camping (boondocking, no amenities) may be available near the Beaverhead Work Center. GCAS members will meet at the Beaverhead Work Center on NM Hwy 59 at 11:00 AM on June 1. To protect this sensitive site, interested GCAS members should contact Marianne at [email protected] for more specific directions.

Re-Post: Job Opening - WNMU Museum Director
A New Article by Thatcher Rogers

Last Call for Turkey!

GouldsArchaeology Southwest's last lecture of the season discussing the significance of turkeys in the ancient US Southwest happens soon, so set the date and enjoy learning all about turkey feather blankets:

Tuesday December 7, 2021, 6 to 7 p.m.: Free online, it's “Turkey Feather Blankets in Ancestral Pueblo History” Archaeology Café lecture by Bill Lipe and Mary Weahkee sponsored by Archaeology Southwest (ASW) of Tucson. For over 1,600 years, a distinctive Southwestern domestic turkey furnished feathers for ritual uses and for making warm blankets. The birds also became a significant food source after about 1200 CE. Bill Lipe (Professor Emeritus, Washington State University) will discuss archaeological evidence of the development of feather blankets and how they contributed to Ancestral Pueblo lives, and Mary Weahkee (New Mexico Office of Archaeological Studies), the best known present-day replicator of turkey feather blankets, will discuss some techniques used in making them. More info and registration here.

Bonus: if you're a GCAS member and want to experience just how warm a turkey feather blanket is and how quickly it warms up, ask our GCAS educational coordinator and resident archaeologist, Marilyn Markel, to show you the sample of a section of turkey feather blanket she keeps with her other educational materials. You will be amazed!

/s/webmaster

Comments

Feed You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

Verify your Comment

Previewing your Comment

This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.

Working...
Your comment could not be posted. Error type:
Your comment has been posted. Post another comment

The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again.

As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.

Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.

Working...

Post a comment

Your Information

(Name and email address are required. Email address will not be displayed with the comment.)