NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, April 19, 2023: the GCAS meets at 2045 Memory Lane in Silver City, New Mexico. Light refreshments provided; OK to bring your own light snacks or handy meal (burrito, etc.) & beverage if desired. Doors open at 5 PM for socializing. Meeting starts at 5:30 PM sharp with a short business meeting followed at 5:45 PM by featured speaker and GCAS member Carolyn O’Bagy Davis, who will discuss Bert and Hattie Cosgrove, avocational archaeologists who were instrumental in documenting and preserving a number of local sites including Arenas Valley's Treasure Hill. Meeting to adjourn about 7:00 PM. In order to offer our members a safe and comfortable experience the GCAS follows CDC and New Mexico Department of Health guidelines for indoor gatherings including masking, distancing, and vaccinations. We recommend all attendees follow the same.

NEXT FIELD TRIP: Sunday, April 2, 2023, beginning 9:00 AM: Regular GCAS field trip to City of Rocks State Park - view remnants of Apache shelters along the Cienega Trail, plus features in other easy-access locations like a rock shelter, Apache petroglyph, kiva, and multiple mortar holes. City of Rocks is about a 1-hour drive one-way from Silver City. At 9:00 AM meet at the Cienega Trail trailhead parking (a few hundred yards from the Highway 61 turnoff to the City of Rocks - look on the left side of the road for a parking area with a Port-o-Let). Walk the 1-mile easy Cienega Trail loop to inspect some off-trail features. About 11:00 AM, non-hikers can join the rest of the group to learn about the kiva site a few yards from the Visitor Center. About 11:15 AM, drive round the park’s perimeter road to the north side to view the rock shelter, Apache petroglyph, and mortar holes (short but moderately steep walk uphill from area near campsite #35). Picnic lunch follows at any convenient unoccupied campsite.

Mattocks Ruin - MCHS

Reposting: Special March Event with AAHS

Pat Gilman describes her excavationCurrent GCAS member and supporter, and past member of the Mimbres Foundation, archaeologist Pat Gilman announces that the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society is in the preliminary stages of planning a field trip to the Mimbres Valley from Friday, March 10, through Sunday, March 12, 2023. They've booked a room at the Little Toad Creek Brewery for Friday dinner (March 10), hoping that they can also use the room for a brief Powerpoint overview of Mimbres archaeology presented by Pat Gilman herself.

AAHS is inviting GCAS members to join them for the March 10 dinner - dutch treat - and then join them for any or all parts of the weekend tour they have in mind. Pat reminds us that the AAHS is still in the early planning stages for this field trip, but she asks GCAS members to “Please let me know if you can join us for dinner and the show*.  The Little Toad Creek Brewery would like to know about how many people will be at dinner.  I don’t need to know if you will join us for any parts of the field trip itself, but I hope you can.  I want to show off what you all have done, and I’d like you to talk about it. And I’d like our members to be able to chat with you all who know so much about the local archaeology and the valley.”

Continue reading "Reposting: Special March Event with AAHS" »


Mark Your Calendars - Join the AAHS and Us for a Special March Event

Pony Hills panel 1Current GCAS member and supporter, and past member of the Mimbres Foundation, archaeologist Pat Gilman announces that the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society is in the preliminary stages of planning a field trip to the Mimbres Valley from Friday, March 10, through Sunday, March 12, 2023. They've booked a room at the Little Toad Creek Brewery for Friday dinner (March 10), hoping that they can also use the room for a brief Powerpoint overview of Mimbres archaeology presented by Pat Gilman herself.

AAHS is inviting GCAS members to join them for the March 10 dinner - dutch treat - and then join them for any or all parts of the weekend tour they have in mind. Pat reminds us that the AAHS is still in the early planning stages for this field trip, but she asks GCAS members to “Please let me know if you can join us for dinner and the show*.  The Little Toad Creek Brewery would like to know about how many people will be at dinner.  I don’t need to know if you will join us for any parts of the field trip itself, but I hope you can.  I want to show off what you all have done, and I’d like you to talk about it. And I’d like our members to be able to chat with you all who know so much about the local archaeology and the valley.”

This is an excellent opportunity to get acquainted with our neighbors in Arizona's AAHS so the GCAS is welcoming our members to this weekend event as both our monthly field trip AND our monthly meeting for March!

Continue reading "Mark Your Calendars - Join the AAHS and Us for a Special March Event" »


Plan Now for a Special Event in Early March!

2019-04-28 MM ASNM at MCHS 2Current GCAS member and supporter, and past member of the Mimbres Foundation, archaeologist Pat Gilman announces that the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society is in the preliminary stages of planning a field trip to the Mimbres Valley from Friday, March 10, through Sunday, March 12, 2023. They've booked a room at the Little Toad Creek Brewery for Friday dinner (March 10), hoping that they can also use the room for a brief Powerpoint overview of Mimbres archaeology presented by Pat Gilman herself.

This is an excellent opportunity for GCAS members to get acquainted with our neighbors in Arizona's AAHS, so the GCAS has scheduled this weekend event as our March field trip - please join us!

Continue reading "Plan Now for a Special Event in Early March!" »


Next Week's Big Event!

Lab view 1 WHYou coming to our big to-do?

Library view 2 WHWednesday, October 19, 2022, starting 5:00PM: October's GCAS general meeting is an open house at the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site! Come tour the Wood House and see the 5 fully rehabilitated rooms of the Mimbres Archaeological Research and Education Center (MAREC), a joint venture between the GCAS and the Imogen F. Wilson Education Foundation (IFWEF). This is a big deal that was for decades nothing more than a pipe dream. Now the dream's come true! The schedule:

21 - MM and MKM sherd shelves test 15PM: Start with guide Marilyn Markel to tour the Mattocks archaeological site!
5:30PM: enjoy our customary summertime meeting's potluck meal!
6PM: follow your GCAS and IFWEF guides to view the MAREC facility our two groups offer to visiting archaeologists and students of all ages -- some of whom have already used our space to great success! (Plenty of fun projects for GCAS members*, too!)
                       * Sherds! Artifacts! Photos! Videos! And more!
6:30PM: check out the museum in the Gooch House!
7PM: settle in for a brief GCAS business meeting promptly followed by a feature presentation by John Welch of Southwest Archaeology!

Please note that in order to offer our members a safe and comfortable experience the GCAS follows CDC and New Mexico Department of Health guidelines for indoor gatherings including masking, distancing, and vaccinations. We recommend all attendees follow the same.

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Upcoming Special GCAS Event!

Lab view 1 WHSet aside this date right now, people:

Library view 2 WHWednesday, October 19, 2022, time TBD: the GCAS general meeting offers an open house at the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site! Come tour the Wood House, now with 5 fully rehabilitated rooms for the Mimbres Archaeological Research and Education Center (MAREC), a joint venture between the GCAS and the Imogen F. Wilson Education Foundation (IFWEF). Come early to walk the trails of the Mattocks archaeological site and tour the museum located in the Gooch House, then follow your GCAS and IFWEF guides through the Wood House to inspect the latest action in the GCAS library and lab (plenty of fun projects for GCAS members*), and check out the rest of the MAREC facility our two groups offer to visiting archaeologists and students of all ages -- some of whom have already used our space to great success! If time allows, our monthly meeting will also have a Featured Speaker and/or a slide show. Stay tuned as time and other details coalesce.

21 - MM and MKM sherd shelves test 1* Sherds! Artifacts! Photos! Videos! And more!

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The 2022 Hummingbird Festival Is This Weekend!

1 MA8499_2Set aside time this weekend to visit the annual Hummingbird Festival hosted by the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site. The event is free and open to the public from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM on both Saturday, July 30 and Sunday, July 31. Get there early to watch how - and why - ornithologists band the wee hummingbirds; or mosey in at any other time to browse the vendors, and dine on all kinds of goodies. Directions, contact info and other details are here on the MCHS website.

Bonus: the GCAS will have a variety of gently-used archaeology- and anthropology-related books and periodicals for sale in the GCAS library in the ground floor of the historic Wood House. All proceeds go toward replacing books that have been damaged or gone missing from the GCAS library in past years. Please come and help improve our research library while you enjoy the rest of the Festival!

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Re-Post: Special Zoom Event on February 5, 2022

Marilyn Markel with Pat GilmanOn 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


Special Zoom Event on February 5, 2022!

Marilyn Markel with Pat GilmanOn 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


Our GCAS MAREC Supporters

GratitudeWe members of the GCAS are a very lucky bunch indeed. Our two allotted rooms in the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site's historic Wood House are complete. We're ready to get to work on our educational programs and research collections that will form the backbone of the new Mimbres Archaeological Research and Education Center. Meet the dozens of generous folks who have given the GCAS their time, skills, hard-earned money, and valued library materials to our project. It is because of their unwavering support that we are able to start 2022 in just the right way. Thank you all for standing by us!

Continue reading "Our GCAS MAREC Supporters" »


MAREC Progress Report - The Unveiling

Christmas has come early to the GCAS! We are thrilled to announce to all of cyberspace that we have completed the rehabilitation and furnishing of the two ground floor rooms allotted to our group in the historic Wood House at the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site. Even better news: the GCAS came in juuuust under the budget that our $8000 in GCAS contributions allowed.

The GCAS library now sports a full-wall built-in bookcase and other shelving units that are filled with our group's books and research materials. We have two locking cabinets for files and fragile items. Our refinished work table brightens the space. The adjacent study lab is fully equipped. Our potsherd collections, now at home on heavy-duty shelves, are cross-referenced with our library materials to make our inventory as accessible to researchers as possible.

Thanks to the continued support of our 33 donors and 17 volunteers, the GCAS has at long last launched our Mimbres Archaeological Research and Education Center. Now that we have created a reliable work and study space, we are eagerly looking forward to expanding and improving the educational programs and archaeological resource materials the GCAS offers to students of all ages. We are so grateful, especially during this holiday season.

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