We of the GCAS aim to preserve and protect archaeological resources through education. School is in session so a group of students from Stout Elementary School and their teachers have scheduled a field trip to the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site on Friday, November 22, 2019.

The GCAS traditionally provides volunteer guides for these field trips, coordinated by our very own Marilyn Markel. So please, GCAS members: take time to assist Marilyn in showing these young students some of the rich heritage in their area. No experience is necessary for any of these field trips; Marilyn will quickly get you up to speed. For hours and other details please contact Marilyn ASAP by telephone at 575-536-9337, or via email.

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One of our core missions is to preserve and protect archaeological resources through education. Large groups of local students and their teachers are taking field trips to the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site. We of the GCAS provide volunteer guides for these field trips, coordinated by our very own Marilyn Markel.

Many students from two schools are planning field trips between the date of this post and November 22, 2019. Please take time to assist Marilyn in showing these young visitors their rich heritage. No experience is necessary for any of these field trips; Marilyn will quickly get you up to speed. Please help with one or both:

One of the GCAS's core missions is to preserve and protect archaeological resources through education. Several groups of local students and their teachers are taking field trips to the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site. We of the GCAS provide volunteer guides for these field trips, coordinated by our very own Marilyn Markel.

Large groups of students from two schools are planning field trips between the date of this post and November 22, 2019. Please take time to assist Marilyn in showing these young visitors some of the rich heritage that their area offers them. Bonus: no experience is necessary for any of these field trips; Marilyn will quickly get you up to speed. Please help with one or both:

One of our core missions is to preserve and protect archaeological resources through education. School is in session and several groups of local students and their teachers are taking field trips to the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site. We provide volunteer guides for these field trips, coordinated by our very own Marilyn Markel.

Large groups of students from two schools are planning field trips between the date of this post and November 22, 2019. We need GCAS members to take time to assist Marilyn in showing these young visitors some of the rich heritage that their area offers them. Bonus: no experience is necessary for any of these field trips; Marilyn will quickly get you up to speed. Please help with one or more:

One of the GCAS's core missions is to preserve and protect archaeological resources through education. Now that school is back in session, several groups of local students and their teachers are taking field trips to the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site. The GCAS traditionally provides volunteer guides for these field trips, coordinated by our very own Marilyn Markel.

Large groups of students from three schools are planning field trips between the date of this post and November 22, 2019. We need GCAS members to take time to assist Marilyn in showing these young visitors some of the rich heritage that their area offers them. Bonus: no experience is necessary for any of these field trips; Marilyn will quickly get you up to speed. Please help with one or more:

One of the GCAS's core missions is to preserve and protect archaeological resources through education. Now that school is back in session, several groups of local students and their teachers are planning field trips to the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site. The GCAS has traditionally provided volunteer guides for these field trips, coordinated by our very own Marilyn Markel.

Three schools are planning field trips between the date of this post and November 8, 2019. We need GCAS members to take time to assist Marilyn in showing these young students some of the rich heritage that their area offers them. Bonus: no experience is necessary for any of these field trips; Marilyn will quickly get you up to speed. Please help with one or more:

Archaeologists' use of satellite imagery, LIDAR, drones, and the like has taken an innovative turn thanks to Sarah Parcak PhD. In 2016 she and her organization launched an online platform, GlobalXplorer°, which uses crowdsourcing methods to analyze satellite images. Volunteers use the platform to help Dr. Parcak and her team identify possible archaeological sites and assess their risks of looting and destruction. DigitalGlobe (Maxar) provides the satellite imagery; National Geographic provides content and collaborative support.

The second phase of our August 4, 2019, GCAS field trip found us traveling from the Microwave Site to examine the site at C-Bar Ranch. Like the Microwave Site, the C-Bar Ranch Site comprises some Late Period pithouses and the ruins of more recent pueblo rooms. And like Microwave, C-Bar is well known and convenient to locals and so continues to be heavily looted to this day.

The approach to the C-Bar site criss-crosses arroyos and passes rock outcrops hosting venerable prickly pear colonies. Abundant lichens on the rocks testify to the clean air which makes for a good, healthy walk (right photo).

Big photo on left up there shows all that that remains of the site's pueblo walls. Scattered by looters and people who either didn't know any better or didn't care.

Here we see GCAS members Marianne Smith and Josh Reeves recreating Grant Wood's iconic masterpiece as they model the activewear that the fashion-forward consumer values for the ultimate in protection from sun and dust. Those in the know understand that this gear is not only handy for some serious volunteering on an archaeological excavation, but also for more casual events like GCAS field trips or community projects.

It's easy to spot Josh and Marianne when they're out and about. Be sure to ask them who they're wearing. Thanks, you two!

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These days there are no lavish budgets for archaeological excavations, and paid crew positions are few (very few) and far (very far) between. With no money for lodging, the crew tend to camp out at or near the site for the duration of the project. Feeding the crew on a tight budget may involve a lot of pre-frozen mini-burritos.

The excavation has a Directing Archaeologist in charge of the project. Often there will be one or more other archaeologists supporting the Director by excavating and/or performing other essential work such as cataloguing artifacts, recording data, and performing materials analysis. Graduate and undergraduate students participating in the excavation gain hands-on experience in as many aspects of the work as they can. Sometimes - but not always - they earn class credits. However, on many excavations there are too few students available to get all the work done in the time allotted.