Anytime is a terrific time to join the GCAS! Membership runs from January through December of the current year. Our individual membership is $20 and our family membership is $30. Click through to this page to join online via our PayPal link; or if you're Old Skool you can download, print, fill out our Membership form, and send it with a check by mail to: Grant County Archaeological Society, PO Box 1713, Silver City, NM 88062. Thank you for joining us!
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 for any number of weather-related or other reasons.
Watch this Events Page for details on our GCAS general meetings, held in-person or alternatively online via Zoom.
Please join our supporters in the GCAS's ongoing priority project, the Mimbres Archaeological Research and Education Center (MAREC) located in the historic Wood House at the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site. The GCAS is working in our library and lab/workroom in the Wood House's ground floor. We welcome donations and volunteers so that we may continue expanding and improving our resource materials and educational programs. Learn about the beginnings of our GCAS project here, make your donations either online or by standard mail here; and if you'd like to volunteer email us for ideas of the projects and events where we need you the most. [Photo: Mattocks Site/Mimbres Culture Heritage Site. Wood House, center. © Mitchell Clinton, Mitchell Clinton Photography. All Rights Reserved.]
Now and continuing on weekends through the winter months: the Jornada Research Institute returns to the Creekside Village site near Tularosa NM to continue excavations in the great kiva and pithouse areas. This is a great opportunity to join an excavation crew to better understand this incredibly informative Mesilla phase site. Meet at the wye in Tularosa (junction of US 54 & US 70) at 8:45 AM and then carpool to the site. If you are not trained in archaeological methods, JRI will provide instructions and pair you with an experienced partner. Dress for cooler temperatures, bring a hat, gloves, water and a lunch. Otherwise JRI will provide appropriate digging equipment. Contact Dave Greenwald to check excavation status and for details on how you (yes, you!) can participate in an official archaeological excavation.
Tuesday, April 15, 2025: sponsored by the Jornada Research Institute, Joan E. Price, MFA and JRI Research Associate, presents her most recent studies, MONEY RUNS UPHILL:THE PRIVATIZATION OF A COMMONWEALTH IN SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO. This presentation explores the cultural history of Tularosa, a Mexican American "acequia democracy" known for its equitable water irrigation and traditional settlement practices. It examines the ethnic conflicts and rapid cultural assimilation during the New Mexico Territorial Era (1848-1912), within the ambiguous relationship with the U.S. military presence and American capitalists who eventually gained control of the Rio Bonito, Rio Tularosa and the streams along the west slopes of the Sacramento Mountains. Contact Dave Greenwald for details.
Wednesday, April 16, 2025, 6:00 PM at 2045 Memory Lane in Silver City, New Mexico. The GCAS's next monthly IN-PERSON ONLY meeting features speaker geoarchaeologist Dave Rachal PhD of Tierra Vieja Consulting in Las Cruces NM. Dave has been involved in some YouTube interviews that discuss various aspects of geoarchaeology, site formation processes related to the formation of ancient footprints and megafauna tracks, and the peopling of the New World. This evening Dave will describe to us the issues surrounding the specific data sets that scientists are applying to the ancient human footprints recently found at White Sands National Park. Doors open at 6:00 PM with light refreshments on offer. Socializing and a brief-to-nonexistent business meeting will immediately precede Dave's presentation of: How Did The Seeds Get There? Ruppia cirrhosa Ecology, Depositional Context and Accurate Radiocarbon Dating at White Sands:
"The stratigraphic and geomorphic contexts, and ultimately the chronometric determinations, at White Sands Locality-2 (WHSA-2) are topics of controversy that stem from conflicting interpretations of the processes that deposited the Ruppia cirrhosa (Ruppia) seeds within the paleo-Lake Otero footprint site. Some studies have characterized the eastern shoreline as a stable lake margin where Ruppia plants grew in situ in shallow water. In contrast, our interpretation depicts the shoreline as an unstable, dynamic lake margin to which Ruppia seeds, impacted by the hard water effect (HWE), were transported from deep-water, offshore growth beds during storm events and deposited on the lake shore in seed balls. These unusual aggregates, known to mix seeds of wide-ranging ages, were gradually broken apart by several cycles of wave action and erosion and redeposited in layers. At WHSA-2, other researchers have claimed to focus their radiocarbon dating solely on seeds from layers and not from seed balls, ostensibly to avoid mixing issues. Yet, how do they know that the seeds they dated did not come from disaggregated seed balls? In this presentation, we will delve into both the ecology and the depositional context of Ruppia and discuss why the Ruppia seeds at paleo-Lake Otero are problematic materials for radiocarbon dating."
Dave and Tierra Vieja Consulting are featured in a series of YouTube interviews, including a discussion of the currently available data being applied to the ancient human footprints found at White Sands National Park; and a podcast by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs regarding geoarchaeology, site formation processes related to footprints and megafauna tracks, and peopling of the New World. Check out Dave's videos and bring your questions for him!
Saturday, April 19, 2025, 10:00AM-3:00PM at Gough Park in Silver City,NM: celebrate Earth Day, hosted by the Continental Divide Trail Days/Continental Divide Trail Coalition, at the GCAS educational booth. We're asking for 3 or more GCAS members to help set up, run, and/or close out our booth during this event. Volunteer for a couple hours or all day. No experience necessary to show the public what the GCAS does - we'll have plenty of brochures, games, and selected artifacts on display as well as used books for sale to support our GCAS library. Contact Marianne by email or telephone/text to 772-529-2627 to offer your help!
Wednesday thru Sunday, April 23-27, 2025, Denver, CO: it's the SAA's 90th annual meeting with forums and presentations galore, including topics like Avocational Archaeology in the Twenty-First Century: Volunteers as Lifelong Learners and Researchers scheduled for Thursday, April 24, 2025: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM, Plaza, FORUM- Governor's Sq. 12; and Continued Work on the Ray Robinson Collection: The Perishable Assemblages from Bonita Creek Cave Cache and Hackberry Ranch Sites in Southeastern Arizona (Session: Modern Methods in the American Southwest) scheduled for Saturday, April 26, 2025: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM, Tower, Tower Court B. All registration details, schedules, and updates are here.
Friday, May 2, 2025, thru Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Albuquerque NM: it's the annual meeting of the Archaeological Society of New Mexico (ASNM). The theme for 2025 is Archaeology of the Greater Middle Rio Grande Area to include the Rio Grande region from Cochiti to Socorro, Cochiti Reservoir, a portion of the Galisteo Basin, as well as the Salinas Province. While much of the program will be devoted to the Greater Middle Rio Grande, at least one session will be open to papers on topics from every corner of the state.
Gretchen Obenauf, Vice President of the Albuquerque Archaeological Society, host Affiliate for 2025, announces that agreements have been signed with the Nativo Hotel in Albuquerque, New Mexico for lodging options. Contact Gretchen for details as they develop and especially if you would like to present a paper. More information is to come in future editions of La Jornada.
Tuesday, May 20, 2025: sponsored by the Jornada Research Institute, Acting Superintendent at White Sands National Park will present his interpretations regarding the investigations of the Trackways on the Shore of Lake Otero. More on this in future JRI announcements; contact Dave Greenwald for details.
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Tuesday, June 10-Monday, July 21, 2025: The Preservation Archaeology Museum Curation and Survey Field School sponsored by Archaeology Southwest, Western New Mexico University, and the University of Arizona, begins for student participants with 3 days at Archaeology Southwest and the University of Arizona in Tucson, then continues for the next several weeks at the WNMU Museum in Silver City and the NAN Ranch in the lower Mimbres Valley.
This field school will employ a two-part approach, analyzing the existing research and catalog collections housed at the WNMU Museum, including the NAN Ranch collection; and compiling survey data gathered in the field to address issues in their research in preservation archaeology. The GCAS plans to support this field school however their directing archaeologists, Danni Romero PhD and Karen Schollmeyer PhD, find suitable for our group. Watch this space and upcoming newsletters for developments.
Monday, June 23, 2025 via ZOOM: David Greenwald of the Jornada Research Institute presents a powerpoint lecture on behalf of Aztlander Magazine, a monthly online publication, titled A Jornada Mogollon Cultural Landscape: Aberration or Microcosm of the American Southwest? Dave condenses the complexities of the Mesilla Phase archaeology in Tularosa Canyon - an arduous job to say the least. Visit Aztlander to pre-register for this zoom presentation.
Monday, July 7 through Wednesday, July 9, 2025: The Jornada Research Institute is busy organizing the 2025 Tularosa Basin Conference at the Ruidoso Convention Center in Ruidoso, New Mexico. The theme for 2025 is Archaeoastronomy and Celestial Geometry: Understanding Ancient Astronomy, with archaeological tours planned on Thursday, July 10, 2025, following the conference.
The dates of the Tularosa Basin Conference fall on each side of the lunar maximum event that can be witnessed from inside the great kiva at Creekside Village in Tularosa Canyon. This celestial event only occurs once every 18.6 years, and we will gather for it late afternoon and hike in to Creekside Village. The event will conclude prior to sundown allowing observers to easily hike back out while it is still light.
The JRI seeks presenters from the various areas described above and is actively contacting individuals with specific knowledge of such sites and their recent investigations. The conference is open to the public with various activities planned. They expect a large turnout and will have ample space for vendors in the Ruidoso Convention Center. The JRI is also seeking sponsors and supporting organizations so if you or your organization can help, please contact Judith White [email protected] or Dave Greenwald.
August 27 through September 7, 2025: the Jornada Research Institute continues their Overseas Journeys program of small-group guided tours, introducing participants to archaeological sites around the world. Spend 11 days visiting the Emerald Island's Historic Portrait: Experiencing the Wonders of Ireland. Check here for destination details and pricing.
The JRI is also developing an 11-day tour to Egypt's Archaeological Wonders, Museums, and Old Cairo's Historic Area. for late 2026. OF SPECIAL INTEREST TO GCAS MEMBERS, JRI's President, Dave Greenwald, reports that JRI has developed a policy that allows them to donate to other nonprofit organizations whose member participates in one or more of their Overseas Journeys Programs. So, for example, JRI will donate $125.00 to the Grant County Archaeological Society for each tour participant who specifies that the GCAS should receive JRI's donation. Join a JRI tour, and you can support two nonprofits at once! None of JRI's Overseas Journeys is ever repeated, and tend to fill up quickly so if you are considering either the 2025 Ireland trip or the 2026 tour to Egypt, contact JRI's Dave Greenwald ASAP for all info.
Thursday, October 16, 2025, thru Sunday, October 19, 2025, in Safford AZ: the Southwest Kiln Conference is hosted this year by Eastern Arizona College in Thatcher AZ, home to the Jack and Vera Mills collection of pottery and other artifacts. Contact Southwest Kiln to register and for all the details, and check out their website to learn more about their demonstrations of primitive pottery firing techniques.
There are even more online and in-person events happening all over the place. Make it a regular habit to check out what the following organizations offer the avocational archaeologist:
American Rock Art Research Association (ARARA)
The Archaeological Conservancy posts recorded lectures on YouTube and on their website's event page after the event occurs. Visit them for this and lots more information, and follow them on their Facebook page.
Archaeological Society of New Mexico
Archaeology Southwest: Things To Do, and More Things To Do
The Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society produced a virtual field trip of the Mattocks Site and Mimbres Culture Heritage Site on February 5, 2022, which is now available via the AAHS's YouTube channel. Click here and enjoy as Marilyn Markel and Professor Emerita Pat Gilman, the supervising archaeologist for the 1970s Mattocks Site excavation, lead you through the site while discussing the future opportunities it offers for local educational programs and archaeological research.
Borderlandia offers specialized tours of the Arizona-Mexico borderland including Tubac & Tumacácori; and greater Mexico including locations such as Paquimé & Mexico City
As a member of the Council of Allied Societies, the GCAS and our members receive access to the CoAS monthly newsletter. The most recent CoAS newsletters are available by scrolling down to the bottom-most right-hand sidebar entitled "Council of Allied Societies Newsletter Archives" on this page. For further CoAS doings, visit their Facebook page and check out their directory of links to member organizations' newsletters and publications. GCAS members may also attend one free and one discounted online seminar; contact [email protected] to verify your GCAS membership and for all other details.
Crow Canyon Archaeological Center: Programs, Research, and Education
The Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument hosts a free series of presentations at their Visitors Center where folks can meet a number of speakers giving short presentations on a variety of archaeological and cultural topics. Follow them on Facebook too!
The Jornada Research Institute - JRI's past newsletters are informative on a wide variety of intriguing archaeological research in our local area and beyond. Look for their latest quarterly newsletters here. Join a JRI international archaeological tour, identify your favorite 501(c)(3) charity in your registration, and JRI will make a cash donation to that charity. Coincidentally, the GCAS is a 501(c)(3) public charity.
Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project: Events, Mesa Talks Lecture Series, Chats with the Archaeologist, and Tours
Considering a visit to the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site? Check for events; to confirm tours and museum access telephone the MCHS directly at 575.536.3092 or 307.640.3012.
Old Pueblo Archaeology Center: at times throughout the year Old Pueblo offers multi-session online classes on a variety of topics. Click on these links for more information from Old Pueblo on these and other programs and events. Because the GCAS maintains an organizational membership with Old Pueblo, Old Pueblo offers discounts to individual GCAS members on many of their programs and events, so when signing up for an event, make a point of telling them you're a GCAS member. Old Pueblo has also posted recordings of many of their Third Thursday Food for Thought and Indigenous Interests webinar presentations on their Youtube channel. GCAS says check them out: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDgPTetfOL9FHuAW49TrSig/videos.
The Society for American Archaeology (SAA) and their affiliate, the Council of Allied Societies (CoAS) work to build meaningful relationships between professional and avocational archaeologists. They act as clearinghouses for events, programs, and volunteer opportunities to suit all tastes and abilities. Go here to access SAA's digital versions of a variety of their regular publications. Enjoy!
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] . Click here for more of Ron's background.
The Texas Archaeological Society is based in San Marcos, Texas, and offers a wide variety of events and research/educational opportunities for the avocational and professional communities. Visit their website to learn how they provide support for research grants, scholarships, and more.
Tierra Vieja Consulting LLC in Las Cruces NM features geoarchaeologist David Rachal PhD in some YouTube interviews, such as a discussion of the currently available data being applied to the ancient human footprints found at White Sands National Park; and a podcast by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs regarding geoarchaeology, site formation processes related to footprints and megafauna tracks, and peopling of the New World. Contact Tierra Vieja Consulting for links to even more YouTube presentations.
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