NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, February 19, 2025, 6:00 PM at 2045 Memory Lane in Silver City, New Mexico. The GCAS's next monthly IN-PERSON ONLY meeting features our own Lee Brown, retired mining engineer and Chief Engineer for the Concentrator at the Chino Mine, who will discuss evidence of Prehistoric Mining in North America with highlights from our own region. Doors open at 6:00 PM with light refreshments provided with a brief socialization period and business meeting, to be immediately followed by Lee's presentation. See you there!

NEXT FIELD TRIP: Sunday, March 2, 2025: The next GCAS field trip will visit the Woodrow Site, one of the largest and best-protected sites in the area, led by its site steward, the GCAS's own Greg Conlin. Meet at 10:00 AM sharp at the Chuck's Folly gas station on the west side of Hwy 180 in Cliff, about a 35-minute drive westbound on Hwy 180 from Silver City and a short distance before the junction of Hwy 180 and Hwy 211. Wear sturdy shoes and weed proof clothes, and pack sun protection, water, and a sack lunch if desired. Before you go, read this Archaeology Southwest article to learn more about the significance of this site. As always, to protect sensitive sites like this one we limit this field trip to GCAS members and those guests who can accompany the GCAS member in their vehicle. Let's go!

Science

Next GCAS Meeting Features Speaker Lee Brown on Prehistoric Mining

The GCAS's next in-person meeting will be Wednesday, February 19, 2025, 6:00 PM at 2045 Memory Lane in Silver City, New Mexico. On this occasion we feature the GCAS's own Lee Brown, retired mining engineer, who will discuss evidence of Prehistoric Mining in North America with highlights from our own region. Doors open at 6:00 PM with light refreshments provided with a brief socialization period and business meeting, to be immediately followed by Lee's presentation.

GCAS member (and former GCAS treasurer) Lee Brown - formerly known as Gary Brown - was born and raised in New Mexico and has lived in towns as far-flung as Aztec, Mountainair, Socorro, Gallup, Rio Rancho, and now Silver City. He earned his B.S. in Mining Engineering from New Mexico School of Mines in Socorro and completed a 40 year career in the Mining and Steel Industry, mostly in the field of extractive metallurgy under "all sorts of funky engineer titles," as Lee puts it. He worked from bottom to top: laborer, operator, supervisor, underground miner, and operations superintendent. He retired as Chief Engineer for the Concentrator at the Chino Mine right here in Grant County. Lee has continued his lifelong interest in mineral collecting and mining history, enjoying collecting adventures in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Michigan, Montana, Alaska, Wyoming, South Dakota and Georgia, in addition to his archaeological adventures throughout the southwest US, Peru, Yucatan, and Spain.

See you there!

/s/ webmaster


Last Call For June Volunteers

Josh and Kyle leading yucca trainingThe GCAS's education coordinator, Marilyn Markel, closes out her intensive June schedule with an archaeological workshop for the Silver City Watershed Keepers that she is offering on Wednesday, June 28, 2023. She needs the help of volunteers to make this workshop, you know, work. Please sign up to help her guide young students at various workshop stations, no experience necessary, just the desire to have fun and to work with young students, many of whom have never before experienced hands-on archaeological activities.

Please to help these kids. Telephone Marilyn Markel at 575-536-9337 ASAP for details and to sign up, or email [email protected]!

Thank you for your help in supporting our community's young people!

/s/ webmaster


Two Volunteer Opportunities Left in June!

Hurley kids at riverThe GCAS's education coordinator, Marilyn Markel, maintains her typical action-packed schedule of the archaeological workshops she offers each year to students from local schools. And this is just what's happening in June! She needs the help of volunteers to make these programs work. Please help her guide students at various stations during these outdoor experiential workshops located at the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site. No experience is necessary, just the desire to have fun and to work with young students, many of whom have never before experienced hands-on archaeological activities.

Please mark your calendar for one or both of the following June dates to help these kids have a good experience. Telephone Marilyn Markel at 575-536-9337 ASAP for all details and to sign up, or email [email protected]!

Continue reading "Two Volunteer Opportunities Left in June!" »


More Volunteers, Please!

ALCS Archaeolgy Crew students and Hurley 5th gradersThe GCAS's education coordinator, Marilyn Markel, maintains her typical action-packed schedule of the archaeological workshops she offers each year to students from local schools. She needs the help of volunteers to make the programs perfect. Please help her guide students at various stations during these outdoor experiential workshops located at the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site. No experience is necessary, just the desire to have fun and to work with young students, many of whom have never before experienced hands-on archaeological activities.

Please mark your calendar for one or more of the following dates to help these kids have a great day in the Mimbres Valley! Telephone Marilyn Markel at 575-536-9337 ASAP for all details and to sign up, or email [email protected]!

Continue reading "More Volunteers, Please!" »


Volunteers Still Needed For Help With Local School Groups!

ALCS  student demonstrating the atlatlThe GCAS's education coordinator, Marilyn Markel, is continuing with an action-packed schedule of the archaeological workshops she offers each year to students from local schools. She needs the help of volunteers to guide students at various stations during these outdoor experiential workshops located at the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site. No experience is necessary at all; just an enthusiasm to work with young students, many of whom have never before experienced hands-on archaeological activities.

Please mark your calendar for one or more of the following dates to help these kids have a great day in the Mimbres Valley! Telephone Marilyn Markel at 575-536-9337 ASAP for all details and to sign up, or email [email protected]!

Continue reading "Volunteers Still Needed For Help With Local School Groups!" »


Repost: Seeking Volunteers For Help With Local School Groups!

Throwing rabbit sticksThe GCAS's education coordinator, Marilyn Markel, is in full swing with the annual archaeological workshops she offers for students from local schools. She needs the help of volunteers to guide students at various stations during these outdoor experiential workshops, all but the first of which are located at the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site. No experience is necessary at all; just an enthusiasm to work with young students, many of whom have never before experienced hands-on archaeological activities.

Please mark your calendar for one or more of the following dates to help these kids have a great day in the Mimbres Valley! Telephone Marilyn Markel at 575-536-9337 ASAP for all details and to sign up, or email [email protected]!

Continue reading "Repost: Seeking Volunteers For Help With Local School Groups!" »


Seeking Volunteers For Help With Local School Groups!

Drilling with a pump drillThe GCAS's education coordinator, Marilyn Markel, is in full swing with the annual archaeological workshops she offers for students from local schools. She needs the help of volunteers to guide students at various stations during these outdoor experiential workshops - all but the first of which are located at the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site. No experience is necessary at all; just an enthusiasm to work with young students, many of whom have never before experienced hands-on archaeological activities.

Please mark your calendar for one or more of the following dates to help these kids have a great day in the Mimbres Valley! Telephone Marilyn Markel at 575-536-9337 ASAP for all details and to sign up, or email [email protected]!

Continue reading "Seeking Volunteers For Help With Local School Groups!" »


A New GCAS Internship Opportunity

ALCS Archaeolgy Crew students and Hurley 5th gradersThe GCAS is launching a new pilot project to support local high school students interested in learning how to protect archaeological and historical sites. We are offering two summer internships to local high school students ages 14 to 16, to be based at the GCAS's MAREC headquarters at the Mattocks archaeological site, located at the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site in the Mimbres Valley.

Continue reading "A New GCAS Internship Opportunity" »


May 17, 2023: GCAS Monthly Meeting Welcomes Katie Baustian PhD

Katie-BaustianJoin our monthly GCAS meeting at the Mimbres Valley's Roundup Lodge, 91 Acklin Hill Road in San Lorenzo, New Mexico, near the junction of Highways 152 and 35, when we welcome our Featured Speaker, Katie Baustian - Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Doors open at 5:00 PM for a potluck dinner so bring a dish for yourself or to share. Brief GCAS business meeting begins at 5:30 PM followed immediately by Katie's presentation that will guide us to: Understanding the Mimbres Through Bioarchaeology.

Using bioarchaeological and archaeological methods, Katie Baustian's work explores the use of violence, adaptations to stress, and social relationships among the Mimbres and Mogollon of the prehistoric American Southwest. She excavated for seven seasons at the Harris and Elk Ridge sites in the Mimbres Valley but has more recently been conducting research at museum repositories to understand how teeth can show evidence of relatedness and kinship in the region.

In order to offer our members a safe and comfortable experience at our in-person meetings 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.

/s/ webmaster


Earth Day 2023

Earth Day1 - good crowd in Gough Park Earth Day4 - interestThe GCAS operated their customary educational booth in Gough Park for Earth Day, April 22, 2023, thanks to members Marty Eberhart, Marilyn Markel, Kathryn McCarroll, and Marianne Smith. The typically breezy April day attracted 67 vendors to Gough Park - 15 more than had attended in 2022! The visiting crowds, estimated by a local newspaper at about 4000, included local residents, out of town visitors, and a healthy number of through-hikers on the Continental Divide Trail. The GCAS earned a prime spot in the park where our volunteers worked three separate tables with hands-on educational activities for all ages, as well as offering plenty of literature for the more intellectually inclined. Our booth displayed wrapped rocks as an eye-catcher and even sold a few to support our GCAS library and general fund. Many more passers-by grabbed our brochures so if you see new faces at future meetings, please make them all feel welcome!

Earth Day2 - Gough Park crowd Earth Day3 - MEberhard  KMcCarroll  MMarkel Earth Day5 - interest Earth Day6 - interest

/s/ webmaster [Photos by M.Smith]