The GCAS's education coordinator, Marilyn Markel, is in full swing with the annual archaeological workshops she offers for students from local schools. She needs the help of volunteers to guide students at various stations during these outdoor experiential workshops, all but the first of which are located at the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site. No experience is necessary at all; just an enthusiasm to work with young students, many of whom have never before experienced hands-on archaeological activities.

Please mark your calendar for one or more of the following dates to help these kids have a great day in the Mimbres Valley! Telephone Marilyn Markel at 575-536-9337 ASAP for all details and to sign up, or email [email protected]!

The GCAS's education coordinator, Marilyn Markel, is in full swing with the annual archaeological workshops she offers for students from local schools. She needs the help of volunteers to guide students at various stations during these outdoor experiential workshops - all but the first of which are located at the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site. No experience is necessary at all; just an enthusiasm to work with young students, many of whom have never before experienced hands-on archaeological activities.

Please mark your calendar for one or more of the following dates to help these kids have a great day in the Mimbres Valley! Telephone Marilyn Markel at 575-536-9337 ASAP for all details and to sign up, or email [email protected]!

Gila National Forest Supervisor, Camille Howes, reports that her agency is working to find and hire additional staff. She explains,

The National Forests are suffering from the same ‘great resignation’ as other local businesses and government agencies over the past several years. We are looking to fill vacancies with local talent. If you or someone you know is looking for work and loves public land, reach out to learn about opportunities to make a difference in your community and enjoy a lifelong career with the Gila National Forest.

If you or someone you know loves our outdoors and wants to preserve and protect them, please contact the Gila National Forest. Start by calling or visiting the Silver City Ranger District at 575-388-8201, located at 3005 Camino del Bosque in Silver City, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information contact Maribeth Pecotte at 575-388-8211 or via email; or go directly to the Forest Service's Careers web page.

Our public lands need you!

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The GCAS is launching a new pilot project to support local high school students interested in learning how to protect archaeological and historical sites. We are offering two summer internships to local high school students ages 14 to 16, to be based at the GCAS's MAREC headquarters at the Mattocks archaeological site, located at the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site in the Mimbres Valley.

Join our monthly GCAS meeting at the Mimbres Valley's Roundup Lodge, 91 Acklin Hill Road in San Lorenzo, New Mexico, near the junction of Highways 152 and 35, when we welcome our Featured Speaker, Katie Baustian - Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Doors open at 5:00 PM for a potluck dinner so bring a dish for yourself or to share. Brief GCAS business meeting begins at 5:30 PM followed immediately by Katie's presentation that will guide us to: Understanding the Mimbres Through Bioarchaeology.

Using bioarchaeological and archaeological methods, Katie Baustian's work explores the use of violence, adaptations to stress, and social relationships among the Mimbres and Mogollon of the prehistoric American Southwest. She excavated for seven seasons at the Harris and Elk Ridge sites in the Mimbres Valley but has more recently been conducting research at museum repositories to understand how teeth can show evidence of relatedness and kinship in the region.

In order to offer our members a safe and comfortable experience at our in-person meetings the GCAS follows CDC and New Mexico Department of Health guidelines for indoor gatherings including masking, distancing, and vaccinations. We recommend all attendees follow the same.

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The GCAS operated their customary educational booth in Gough Park for Earth Day, April 22, 2023, thanks to members Marty Eberhart, Marilyn Markel, Kathryn McCarroll, and Marianne Smith. The typically breezy April day attracted 67 vendors to Gough Park - 15 more than had attended in 2022! The visiting crowds, estimated by a local newspaper at about 4000, included local residents, out of town visitors, and a healthy number of through-hikers on the Continental Divide Trail. The GCAS earned a prime spot in the park where our volunteers worked three separate tables with hands-on educational activities for all ages, as well as offering plenty of literature for the more intellectually inclined. Our booth displayed wrapped rocks as an eye-catcher and even sold a few to support our GCAS library and general fund. Many more passers-by grabbed our brochures so if you see new faces at future meetings, please make them all feel welcome!

/s/ webmaster [Photos by M.Smith]