Set aside time on Sunday, December 4, 2022, at 10:00AM - when the GCAS meets for this month's field trip at WNMU's Museum at Fleming Hall for a guided tour by museum director Danielle Romero. Come to view the new and innovative exhibits that Danni and her staff have already put on display, and hear about the museum's work in curating their vast collections. Ask about the museum's plans for future exhibits and how you can become involved in the process!

(For those unfamiliar, the entrance to the museum is across a small parking lot adjacent to the Aldo Leopold Charter School. From downtown Silver City, drive westbound along W 10th Street until it curves uphill and becomes N Louisiana Street right where the school and the museum are located, on the north side of the street. For more details, visit the museum's web page.) We'll see you there!

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The GCAS is always on the lookout for new places to visit, or to revisit places we've been in the past. Day trips are fun, but so are overnight adventures. We always welcome our members, from brand-new to our Grizzled Old Timers, to give our group your own ideas - where would YOU like to go for our November 6, 2022 field trip? Any other field trip? Archaeological sites and historic sites like forts, missions, & mines are all cool by us.

We've traveled as far afield as Paquime, Mexico; and as close to home as Gomez Peak. We've visited Three Rivers, and have recorded the rock art at the Dragonfly Petroglyph. Anything goes, near or far, with avocational archaeologists! Some of our members are willing to lead any field trips up their way -- but new leaders are welcome too! What do you know? What areas do you like the best? Please share with us - we want to keep exploring!

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This report and all photos come to us courtesy of GCAS member and trustee, Kathryn McCarroll.

The forecasts of heavy monsoon rains and bad road access were greatly exaggerated for the GCAS's August 7, 2022, field trip to Pitchfork Ranch in the Burro Mountains. The weather that Sunday turned out to be splendid. A ranch employee guided a group of about 20 GCAS members and friends to a couple of small sites located within ranch property.

The sites our group visited included a small historic stone-and-adobe structure, while at other nearby areas, the group found clusters of groundstone and broken metates that may have been washed down from their former locations by years of past flooding (photo over there on the right)....

...And of course, the group photographed potsherds with varied designs and styles before returning them to where they'd been found. (That's a bit of malachite the group found among the potsherds, adding to the adventure.)

Thank you for sharing those photos and news of the field trip, Kathryn!

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SBecause the first Sunday of July always collides with the July 4 holiday, the GCAS traditionally offers our "July" field trip at the end of June. So, let's all set aside time on Saturday, June 25, 2022, 10:00AM-12:00PM noon, to take our field trip to the 2022 Archaeology Fair hosted by Archaeology Southwest and the University of Arizona's Preservation Archaeology Field School at Gila River Farm in Cliff, New Mexico. The public is welcome and it's free of charge, so nothing could be better than joining GCAS members in learning about the project team's current discoveries through their informational exhibits, hands-on activities, and a brief site tour over easy terrain. General directions are: From the junction of Highways 180 and 211 in Cliff, drive 1 mile north, keep left (north) on Highway 293 and drive to Mile Marker 4. Just past MM 4, turn right into a driveway with a small sign that says, "Gila River Farm." Please use the parking area next to the large building down the driveway. Check their event flyer for more info: Download archaeology-fair-2022.pdf (455.6K). Learn more about the field school here, and here.

Safety measures will be in place so please be prepared to wear a mask and keep a safe distance. If you still have questions contact Archaeology Southwest. We'll see you at the Fair!

/s/ webmaster

Mark your calendar for Saturday, June 25, 2022, 10:00AM-12:00PM noon, to visit the 2022 Archaeology Fair hosted by Archaeology Southwest and the University of Arizona's Preservation Archaeology Field School at Gila River Farm in Cliff, New Mexico. All the public is invited and it's free of charge, so join GCAS members in learning about the project team's current archaeological investigations and research. Informational exhibits aplenty will be on display, and there will be hands-on activities for visitors of all ages to enjoy. Check their event flyer for directions: Download archaeology-fair-2022.pdf (455.6K). Learn more about the field school here, and here.

Safety measures will be in place so please be prepared to wear a mask and keep a safe distance. If you still have questions contact Archaeology Southwest. We'll see you at the Fair!

/s/ webmaster

On February 5, 2022, at 11:30 AM (Arizona/Mountain Standard Time), the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society will present a very special virtual field trip of the Mattocks Site located in Mimbres, New Mexico, at the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site. This Zoom presentation is free and open to the public but one must pre-register by visiting this page for more info and to follow the link there.

The GCAS's very own Marilyn Markel and Professor Emerita Pat Gilman, the supervising archaeologist for the 1970s Mattocks Site excavation, will lead the virtual tour through the site itself and the adjacent museum, while discussing the site's history and the future opportunities it offers for local educational programs and archaeological research facilities.

Register now, and we will see you there!

/s/ webmaster

On February 5, 2022, at 11:30 AM (Arizona/Mountain Standard Time), the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society will present a very special virtual field trip of the Mattocks Site located in Mimbres, New Mexico, at the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site. This Zoom presentation is free and open to the public but one must pre-register by visiting this page for more info and to follow the link there.

The GCAS's very own Marilyn Markel and Professor Emerita Pat Gilman, the supervising archaeologist for the 1970s Mattocks Site excavation, will lead the virtual tour through the site itself and the adjacent museum, while discussing the site's history and the future opportunities it offers for local educational programs and archaeological research facilities.

Register early, and we will see you there!

/s/ webmaster

It's been a long time coming - 16 months to be exact - but the GCAS field trip program is gradually reemerging from its Pandemic Pause. Our group jumped at the chance to inaugurate our New Normal by visiting the Gila River Farm archaeological site near Cliff, New Mexico, on June 26, 2021. Our group's friend, Dr. Karen Schollmeyer of Archaeology Southwest, and her field school crew shared with us the latest results of their work at their annual Archaeology Fair.

The GCAS's very own President, Kyle Meredith, shared some photos of the Springtime Southwestern desert in our May 2020 GCAS newsletter. His photos of his and his companions' trip to the Gila Box in Arizona - at all times mindful of proper pandemic protocols -  are reprised here in case anyone missed them or would enjoy seeing them again. Looking at Kyle's photos, we can smell the exquisite floral scent that we locals know only happens for a few short days when the desert is in full bloom.

The Natives who built that cache in the small overhang in Kyle's photo (far left) must have enjoyed the desert's fleeting Springtime bloom too. We have experiences in common with those who have come before.

Thank you, Kyle, for leading all of the GCAS along on your field trip!

/s/ webmaster [all photos, Kyle Meredith]

Providence Cone is located east of Deming, jutting upward from the surrounding flatlands. Locals know it as Rattlesnake Peak and there is a good reason for that name. As long as one stays alert Providence Cone makes for a good wintertime field trip as twenty-eight hardy GCAS members demonstrated on February 2, 2020.

Features of interest in the easier, more level portions of the area include a few difficult-to-find petroglyphs and grinding holes, and an area of rubbing rocks where megafauna like mastodon and bison groomed themselves some 10,000 years ago.