Ron Barber, creator of the Stone Calendar Project, has been studying rock art sites throughout the Southwest and Northern Mexico identifying glyphs that mark specific times of the year using unique light and shadow interactions.  He has some survey predictions for glyphs along the Gila Narrows and other southern sites and is looking for volunteers to help in further research.

Anyone who is interested in spending time in the field recording/filming calendar sun light interactions in the region, please contact Ron directly at [email protected] . Here's more of Ron's background:

News in DNA research does not have to directly relate to our Mimbres-Mogollon region to be featured on this here blog. Click here to read a recent article of some fascinating DNA research into how - and how far back in time - dogs became domesticated and migrated hither and yon with their human companions. Some of the researchers' conclusions surprised even them. And there are sure to be more surprises to come.

What did we humans ever do to deserve dogs?

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Dr. Cynthia Bettison has announced her retirement as Director of the Western New Mexico University (WNMU) Museum effective January 1, 2022. During her 30+-year tenure the WNMU Museum, located in WNMU’s historic Fleming Hall, became a major repository of Mimbres Pottery including the Museum’s acquisition of the NAN Ranch collection (the largest and most complete collection of Mimbres materials from a single prehistoric Mimbres site). Dr. Bettison also launched the ongoing renovation of Fleming Hall itself.

Following are the position summary, application link, and contact information Dr. Bettison provided with her announcement. Please do not contact Dr. Bettison regarding this position. All interested candidates should apply via the link provided below, and direct any further inquiries to the WNMU Human Resources office email at [email protected] or call 575-538-6328:

Our friends at Archaeology Southwest continue with their lineup of FREE online Zoom presentations for their Avian Archaeology season. Set some dates and register soon for one or more of the following:

January 4, 2022, 6:00PM MST: “Ducks, Power, and the San Juan Basketmakers” featuring Polly Schaafsma (Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology). More info and registration here.

We members of the GCAS are a very lucky bunch indeed. Our two allotted rooms in the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site's historic Wood House are complete. We're ready to get to work on our educational programs and research collections that will form the backbone of the new Mimbres Archaeological Research and Education Center. Meet the dozens of generous folks who have given the GCAS their time, skills, hard-earned money, and valued library materials to our project. It is because of their unwavering support that we are able to start 2022 in just the right way. Thank you all for standing by us!

Christmas has come early to the GCAS! We are thrilled to announce to all of cyberspace that we have completed the rehabilitation and furnishing of the two ground floor rooms allotted to our group in the historic Wood House at the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site. Even better news: the GCAS came in juuuust under the budget that our $8000 in GCAS contributions allowed.

The GCAS library now sports a full-wall built-in bookcase and other shelving units that are filled with our group's books and research materials. We have two locking cabinets for files and fragile items. Our refinished work table brightens the space. The adjacent study lab is fully equipped. Our potsherd collections, now at home on heavy-duty shelves, are cross-referenced with our library materials to make our inventory as accessible to researchers as possible.

Thanks to the continued support of our 33 donors and 17 volunteers, the GCAS has at long last launched our Mimbres Archaeological Research and Education Center. Now that we have created a reliable work and study space, we are eagerly looking forward to expanding and improving the educational programs and archaeological resource materials the GCAS offers to students of all ages. We are so grateful, especially during this holiday season.

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The GCAS's own Thatcher Rogers has shared with us a link to his recently published article in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology that describes the latest stage of his ongoing archaeological research into the connections between the Mimbres and Casas Grandes cultures. Thatcher wrote that the GCAS's Nancy Coinman Grant Award that he received in 2019 helped him collect some of the data and images he used in this article. We are thrilled that our group could contribute to research like Thatcher's.

Thatcher continues,

My paper is titled: Ancestral relations and late prehispanic dynamics between the Mimbres and Casas Grandes cultures of the American Southwest/Mexican Northwest region