Now 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 as we manage the vagaries of the coronavirus pandemic and climate change.
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 recently-furnished library and lab/workroom. 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.]
Thursdays, 10:00 AM to 3:30 PM at WNMU's Museum in Fleming Hall: the public is invited to see the Archaeologist in Action in the museum's second floor exhibit room. Visit WNMU Museum director Danni Romero and a group of the museum's volunteer explainers as they process and prepare a new museum collection for future exhibit. Repeat visitors welcome!
Monday November 20, 2023: Tucson and online: “Bell Rocks and Megaphones: Discoveries of Sounds Coupled with Petroglyphs in Ancestral O’odham (Hohokam) Ritual Landscapes” free presentation by Janine Hernbrode sponsored by Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society (AAHS), optional online or in Environmental & Natural Resources (ENR) Bldg. 2, Room 107 (ground-floor auditorium), 1064 E. Lowell St., University of Arizona, Tucson*
7-8:30 pm Mountain Standard Time. Free.
One of the three megaphone acoustic sites at Cocoraque Ranch, where words spoken in
a normal tone of voice can be heard easily 115 m away, photo by Lance Trask
Distributed amidst the petroglyphs at three of the largest Ancestral O’odham (Hohokam) petroglyph sites in Southern Arizona are assemblages of boulders that resonate when struck producing distinct bell-like sounds. The visual traces of sound-making on large bell rocks and adjacent bedrock indicate they were not only chimed with percussion strikers to resonate but also were abraded with a grinding motion to produce sound volumes. Some of the bell rocks investigated also appear to have been roughly shaped or pecked to resemble animal heads, an indication of the boulders being an object accorded animacy and having “voice.” Many of these boulders have petroglyphs and use-wear consistent with usage during precontact times. Recent investigation of remote smaller petroglyph sites that lack naturally occurring bell rocks has revealed the presence of both bell rock manuports and a ringing striker. A fourth large petroglyph site lacks bell rocks but is aligned with a hillside where copper bells were cached. These discoveries further illuminate the importance of bell-like sounds to the Hohokam and suggest the bells were necessary to complete the landscape characteristics of sacred sites. Ethnographic data show that bell sounds and production of volumes of sound were used historically in Tohono O’odham rituals. This talk also describes a previously unknown co-occurrence of landscape features that produce a megaphone-like effect with specific Hohokam imagery and with rock cracks, holes, or edges that suggest passageways between the present world and a lower world. To register for online presentation go to https://us02web.zoom.us/
Any GCAS members who participate in this opportunity, please let us know so we can follow your progress! Thursday November 30, 2023: Online “Inscribed Indigenous Wisdom: Interpreting Rock Art through Indigenous Women’s Perspectives and Voices” free online presentation by Indigenous archaeologist Emily Van Alst, sponsored by Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, Cortez, Colorado* Photo courtesy of Crow Canyon Archaeological Center Indigenous archaeologist Emily Van Alst, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Washington State University, will explore how rock art research can move beyond Western methods of identifying, describing, photographing, and interpreting rock art images and how to better implement methods and frameworks to explore Indigenous-centered interpretations. Rock art research has long ignored Indigenous women’s unique knowledge, experiences, and perspectives when interpreting cultural heritage. Specifically, Emily argues that by incorporating Indigenous women’s scholarship, archaeologists can center Indigenous women’s voices and experiences to understand the meaning of imagery. Rock art, which can be more than just art but knowledge, communication, and ancestors, is a permanent form of material culture and must be grounded in the landscape in which it exists. Women’s cultural and ecological knowledge about landscape features and plants can further aid in contextualizing and interpreting imagery. To learn more and register visit https://crowcanyon.org/ Sunday, December 3, 2023: our next field trip investigates the C-Bar Ranch area off of Highway 90. Meet at the car park just off of Hwy 90 in Tyrone in front of the US Post Office BEFORE 10:00 AM (this jumping-off spot is about 15-20 minutes’ drive from downtown Silver City but be mindful of possible delays due to Hwy 90 construction in downtown Silver City). The group will LEAVE FROM the Tyrone parking area at 10:00 AM sharp. Destinations: a shelter cave and beyond to a pictograph location. Leader Kyle Meredith explains that: “most vehicles should be able to drive to the site, although C-Bar Road is rough in spots. We encourage carpooling from the parking area in Tyrone to the site! From where our group will park on C-Bar Road it is a short walk to the shelter cave where we will see bedrock mortars and smoky ceilings. The hike to the pictographs is about one mile over some rough terrain and some easy trails. To see the pictographs it is necessary to do a little scrambling over rocks and boulders. Perhaps it’s not the season for rattlesnakes, but be aware that I have seen one on two different occasions.” Wednesday, December 20, 2023: it's the GCAS annual holiday get-together at 2045 Memory Lane in Silver City! Doors open at 6PM here at the Memory Lane clubhouse. Our custom is to have a potluck with a virtually nonexistent business meeting and no official program, followed by a white-elephant gift exchange and general holiday good times. Dress festively and bring your best holiday dish to share! 2024, various dates: The Jornada Research Institute offers three archaeologically-flavored international tours. Sign up early while space is still available for one or all. In February, it's an 11-day tour of Mayan sites of the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. In late July, begin a tour of ancient sites in Scotland. In October, enjoy an 11-day tour of Greece and Ephesus, Turkey. 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! More information on each overseas journey here. Wednesdays, May 8, 2024-August 7, 2024, Online: The Mogollon Culture of the US Southwest 14-session online adult education class with archaeologist Allen Dart, sponsored by Old Pueblo Archaeology Center, PO Box 40577, Tucson AZ 85717-0577, 6:30 to 8:30 pm ARIZONA/Mountain Standard Time each Wednesday evening May 8-August 7, 2024. Details via email or telephone 520-798-1201. 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) 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 receives 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. 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! 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: Events and Programs. As of October 2023, Old Pueblo Archaeology Center has 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! 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. /s/ webmasterBeginning 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.
4 pm Mountain Standard Time. Free (donations encouraged).
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.