Events

Fill your calendar by scrolling down through all these upcoming events. Plan ahead but be mindful that any of the following events may be postponed or cancelled on very short notice as we emerge from the coronavirus pandemic.

Watch this Events Page to learn when conditions allow our GCAS general meetings to resume in-person. In the meantime please enjoy our online meetings via Zoom.

Please join our current donors and contribute to the GCAS's priority project, the development of the historic Wood House at the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site into the Mimbres Archaeological Research and Education Center. Rehabilitation/construction is ongoing and we have now passed 73% toward our fundraising goal of $10,000. We welcome donations in any amount so please join our supporters in making this project happen! Learn about the project here, and make your donations either online or by standard mail here. [Photo: Mattocks Site/Mimbres Culture Heritage Site. Wood House, center. © Mitchell Clinton, Mitchell Clinton Photography. All Rights Reserved.]

Considering a visit to the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site? Check for further updates and to confirm tours and museum access by telephoning the MCHS directly at 575.536.3092 or 307.640.3012. To check Governor Lujan-Grisham's most recent advisory, go to New Mexico's Department of Health newsroom.

May 24 through July 5, 2021: It's the Preservation Archaeology Field School, offered by Archaeology Southwest and the University of Arizona, to be held at the Gila River Farm archaeological site near Cliff, New Mexico. Led by directing archaeologist Karen Gust Schollmeyer, students will participate in test excavations, architectural research, ethnographic studies, and more. For full details on a program dear to the hearts of all GCAS members, go to Archaeology Southwest's page right here.

Saturday & Sunday June 12 & 13, 2021, online; times TBA; fees $50 (ARARA members $40): “Virtual ARARA Conference 2021” sponsored by American Rock Art Research Association (ARARA). This year’s ARARA conference features 15-minute PowerPoint papers, 5-minute video-format virtual field trips, a business meeting, and an awards ceremony. Two days of presentations are planned, and during break times your computer screen will be filled with a variety of photographs, especially featuring those of Daniel McCarthy, a long-time ARARA member who passed away earlier this year, so hurry back. Daniel was one of only two people who had attended every ARARA conference up to 2021. Each registration allows one link to a computer but there is no limit to the number of people who may gather at one device. For more information or to register go to https://arara.wildapricot.org/Conference-Info-2021.

Wednesday, June 16, 2021, 6:30 PM: It's the GCAS's first post-pandemic in-person general meeting! Meet at the Roundup Lodge at 91 Acklin Hill Road in Mimbres, New Mexico. The Roundup's ongoing renovations preclude our traditional potluck dinner; instead bring FINGER FOOD SNACKS ONLY for yourself or to share. Beverages must be in recyclable containers and there is no cleanup available except for what you can take home yourself or put in the trash.

Weather permitting, we will gather outdoors between 6:30 PM and 7:00 PM to get reacquainted with one another after so long apart. President Kyle Meredith emphasizes that for this meeting, "While those who have received vaccinations have little fear of contracting or transmitting the disease, the state mandate—as I understand it as of this writing—still requires everyone to wear a mask at “mass gatherings” of no more than 150 persons. It is especially important among those who have not been vaccinated. Any risk is entirely the choice of the individual."

The GCAS's own Marilyn Markel and Marianne Smith will follow the 7PM general meeting with a PowerPoint slideshow, "MAREC: How It Started/How It's Going," featuring historical and present-day photos of the Wood House and the progress of our Mimbres Archaeological Research and Education Center project.

Thursday June 17, 2021, 7-8:30PM ARIZONA/Mountain Standard Time (same as Pacific Daylight Time). Old Pueblo Archaeology Center’s “Third Thursday Food for Thought” free Zoom online program features “The Goat Camp Ruin Project: Volunteer Archaeology in Central Arizona” presentation by archaeologist J. Scott Wood. (Image: Getting started on the excavation of Goat Camp Ruin’s Room 1 eight years ago, photo courtesy of Scott Wood.) Join retired Forest Service archaeologist J. Scott Wood as he tells about the Goat Camp Ruin project he has been conducting for the last 13 years for the Town of Payson in the highlands of central Arizona. Sponsored by the Arizona Archaeological Society, this project eventually will result in this important Northern Salado site being developed for interpretation and incorporated into the Town’s recreational trail system. Goat Camp Ruin began as one of the earliest and eventually largest pre-Classic Hohokam pithouse villages in the area. As it continued its occupation into the Classic Period (1150-1450 CE) it transformed into a smaller masonry village, which is where this all-volunteer project has concentrated its effort. At its height it contained over 20 rooms and has evidence of a later Apache reoccupation. The excavation phase is still ongoing, but will be coming to an end in a year or so as stabilization of structures and preparation of the site for visitation take over. Scott’s presentation will walk you through the highlights of a decade’s worth of excavation, the site’s place in Payson area history, and the fate of the Northern Salado as they were caught up in the Great Drought of the late 13th century. For more information and to request the Zoom link contact Old Pueblo at info@oldpueblo.org or 520-798-1201.

Through August 4, 2022: "Woven Through Time: American Treasures of Native Basketry and Fiber Art" at the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson. Details here.