Reposting to support the work of our friends at Silver City's WNMU Museum:

Giving to the WNMU Museum will directly impact Western New Mexico University and our community. With your help, we will meet our $5,000 goal to purchase new exhibit cases!

https://donorbox.org/wnmumuseum23

#wnmumuseum

#GivingTuesdaycampaign

Please join GCAS members in helping the WNMU Museum meet their goal by donating at the donorbox link above. They've earned our support!

/s/ webmaster

David Greenwald of the Jornada Research Institute announces a recent publication of interest to the GCAS and describes the circumstances of its development:

Beginning in the Spring of 2020 (during early Covid), myself and John Groh (JRI Research Associate) were invited to participate in a symposium on communal and ritual locations in the Mogollon region of the Southwest. The impact of Covid on the symposium resulted in delays in submitting and presenting our contribution to the professional community, eventually presenting our contribution as a Zoom talk in the Fall of 2021. John and I prepared a paper on the function of the first documented great kiva in the Tularosa Basin that dates to approximate AD 650 to 725. The discovery of this great kiva is highly significant in itself, but our research also showed that the great kiva served functions beyond that of a community ritual structure, that being as an observatory from which celestial events were monitored (both solar and lunar positions and possibly Venus and bright stars).

Beginning November 25-26, 2023, and continuing into Spring 2024: David Greenwald of the Jornada Research Institute has announced that JRI's excavations will resume at Creekside Village in the Tularosa NM area. Contact Dave Greenwald beforehand to secure his approval to participate, then meet at the wye in Tularosa (junction of US 54/70: the abandoned gas station) at 9:00 AM on November 25 and/or November 26 to carpool to the site. The group plans to focus on the pithouse they have been working on to perhaps remove the last of the fill from the NE quarter of it during these two days in November.  They plan to continue work at Creekside Village until late April ’24 or early May ’24 over most weekends (Greenwald's schedule and weather permitting). Once you are properly vetted, bring a lunch, water layered clothing, gloves, hat, and dust cover. For more details, email Dave Greenwald directly.

Any GCAS members who participate in this opportunity, please let us know so we can follow your progress!

/s/ webmaster

On November 3, 2023, one of our GCAS members alerted me to a disturbing article that has appeared at least twice in Rock & Gem magazine - most recently on October 30, 2023. The TL;dr is that the article encourages people to loot artifacts on public lands.

The GCAS was impelled to respond:

GOOD NEWS: Thanks to the Society for American Archaeology (SAA), all members of the Council of Allied Societies (CoAS) now have access to the CoAS eCommunity!

Months in the making, all CoAS Society members can now access the CoAS eCommunity on the SAA website. Start by signing up for a free SAA account to access and follow the CoAS media page for Societies and SAA members to post news, items of interest, articles, upcoming opportunities and events. Same ethics and courtesy rules that apply to the CoAS Facebook page will apply within the eCommunity. Join now and become part of the larger discussion and collaborate with SAA members worldwide.

/s/ webmaster

Archaeologist Dave Greenwald of the Jornada Research Institute checks in with the latest action in the Jornada-Mogollon region. He reports that:

weekend excavations at Cornelius Locus are suspended until next Spring. In November, the JRI will organize excavations at Creekside Village, scheduling TBA. Expect some lab days when the JRI volunteers (like you!) will process (wash, sort re-bag) artifacts from Cornelius Locus and select samples for radiocarbon dating. Dave will provide specifics on these activities (where and when) in a future email to participants as well as to this here website.

Dave also sends updates on JRI's upcoming international tours*:

Saturday, October 14, 2023, was an auspicious day. We experienced a total solar eclipse. The Mimbres Culture Heritage Site hosted National Archaeology Day with features and events that included tours of the Mattocks archaeological site, hands-on activities for all ages, storytelling about a historic local homicide, and the always-fabulous GCAS used-book sale. The day's special VIPs included two professional archaeologists, Karl and Toni Laumbach; and members of two Apache families, the Leybas and the Rogelios, who attended in traditional Apache regalia to commemorate the 143d anniversary on October 14 of the death of Victorio, chief of the Warm Springs band of the Tchihendeh Apache. About 40 attendees heard Karl Laumbach give the afternoon's featured presentation, Hembrillo: an Apache Battlefield of the Victorio War, April 5, 6, and 7, 1880.

It's been a busy month, going from September into October. Set aside these remaining October dates for archaeological action leading into the Halloween holiday:

Last week, on September 29, the 4th and 5th grade classes at San Lorenzo Elementary School returned to the WNMU Museum for a special tour and workshop day. This was their second year in a row to visit the museum and the GCAS was happy to once again cover the cost of their bus transport and to volunteer to help the museum director and teachers make the day a success.

These young students first learned about the Mimbres and puebloan cultures from the museum director, Danni Romero herself. Then they got busy with a range of hands-on activities. They selected their favorite image from a Mimbres bowl on display, then were challenged to recreate it as their own sketch...

...They examined and sorted a table full of potsherds painted in the Reserve style located at sites in the Quemado, New Mexico area....

.....

...At yet another workshop station these students painted assorted images in their own designs -- but the results looked like the kind of fine imagery we see in pictographs and petroglyphs at sites throughout our region.

The GCAS will continue to support the industrious young folk at San Lorenzo Elementary and we look forward to making this a regular, annual event at the WNMU Museum. Thanks go to the museum staff, the teachers, the volunteers, and especially the students for having made this day a special one. We'll be all set next year to welcome the San Lo 4th-5th grade classes of 2024!

/s/ webmaster [All photos courtesy of Marilyn Gendron]

The Site Steward Foundation’s H. Wayne Nelson Grant Program is offering two $1,000 grant awards in 2023 to individuals and organizations for funding projects supporting the preservation, education, and research of archaeological and cultural resources in New Mexico. This grant program encourages and supports professionals, students, and volunteers in the fields of archaeology, anthropology, and cultural resource management. The grant application will be evaluated based on the project’s critical need and proposed outcome, including community impact, benefits, and feasibility. Application deadline is October 31, 2023, with the grant award date by December 31, 2023. Please email Gary Newgent to request a grant application form and contact the GCAS with your proposal!

/s/ webmaster