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.

US Southwest

Breaking: Full-Time Archaeologist Position - Apply Now!

MA2906People, please forward this opportunity IMMEDIATELY to your favorite archaeologist. Bat Conservation International, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to ending bat extinctions worldwide and boasting a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, is seeking an archaeologist to fill a full-time position as a Cultural Resource Specialist to join BCI’s Conservation Department. This individual will work as part of BCI's Restoration Team in their Habitat Protection & Restoration Program (HP&R) at a yearly salary of $55,000- $58,000. Interested archaeologists must apply ASAP for this position because the application deadline is February 17, 2023. Interviews will begin on February 20, 2023, with an ideal start date in mid-March 2023. Autumn Cool, RPA and BCI's Cultural Resource Field Lead, adds:

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2022 Mogollon Conference Soon Coming

Prickly pearRegister now! The 21st Biennial Mogollon Conference is happening early next month on Friday, November 4, 2022, thru Saturday, November 5, 2022, in the Student Union building on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson, Arizona. A reception, free of charge to all attendees, hosted by Archaeology Southwest on the evening of Thursday, November 3, 2022, kicks off the weekend and offers an excellent opportunity for students to mix with faculty and the rest of the professional community. Click here for registration info and more details, and revisit the Conference website for any updates. We'll see you in Tucson!

/s/ webmaster [photo by M.Smith]


GCAS Monthly Meeting In Person! Our September 21, 2022, Featured Speaker: Neal Ackerly

Lake_valley_NM_ca1880s_449112September 21, 2022, 7:00PM - This month's GCAS meeting is in person at the Roundup Lodge in San Lorenzo (Mimbres Valley). Start at 6PM with your own plates/utensils/beverage & a dish for yourself or to share. Brief general meeting at 6:45 PM. At 7:00 PM sharp we welcome our Featured Speaker, Silver City archaeologist Neal Ackerly, who will speak about the mines of Lake Valley including the Bridal Chamber Mine which contained one of the richest silver veins ever discovered. Join us as Neal explains:

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Special Exhibit at the El Paso Museum of Archaeology

EpmarchThe El Paso Museum of Archaeology on Transmountain Road has announced a new exhibit in their North Gallery that features casts of the animal and human fossil tracks found in White Sands National Park and the surrounding White Sands Missile Range, that have recently been dated to be about 23,000 to 21,000 years old. The findings have caused anthropologists and archaeologists to reconsider their assumptions of early human occupation of the Western Hemisphere.

The El Paso Museum of Archaeology's exhibit is planned to continue only through February 8, 2023, so plan your visit soon. The Museum describes their temporary display, titled White Sands Fossil Tracks, as showcasing:

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The GCAS Field Trip to Pitchfork Ranch

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

1 - Fine Day MKMThe 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.

3 - groundstone cluster MKMThe 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)....

 

4 - drop pendants MKM 5 - malachite and tire treads MKM...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!

/s/ webmaster


Register Now for the 2022 Mogollon Conference

Wild cholla 2This year's Mogollon Conference is set for Friday, November 4, 2022, thru Saturday, November 5, 2022, in the Student Union building on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson, Arizona. Go here for details on registration, the Call for Papers (deadline is September 2, 2022), Conference Schedule, and more as they develop. Register before October 1, 2022, for a sweet early-bird discount. There will be a reception (cost estimated at $50-$65) hosted by Archaeology Southwest on the evening of Thursday, November 3, 2022, which offers an excellent opportunity for students to mix with faculty and the rest of the professional community.

Finally, please re-check the Conference website for periodic updates. We'll see you in Tucson!

/s/ webmaster [Photo by M.Smith]

 


In Memoriam: Raymon E. McGee

Mcgee cynWe are saddened to report that longtime GCAS member, Raymon McGee, passed away at age 91 on July 26, 2022, in his home town of Deming, New Mexico.

Ray was very active in our group, especially during the 1970s through 1990s, concentrating his explorations of archaeological and historic sites in southwestern New Mexico including the Bootheel. He became so knowledgeable of the area that he led many GCAS field trips to areas unknown to most other people, including to a petroglyph site in an unnamed canyon on BLM land near Deming. So significant was this petroglyph site to our group, that the GCAS nicknamed its location as "McGee Canyon" in Ray's honor.

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GCAS Monthly Meeting In Person With Featured Speaker: ENMU's Dr. Robert J. Stokes

Photo 11 by Marianne Smith; © 2019 ENMU - All Rights Reserved Stokes-robert-enmuWednesday, July 20, 2022, 7:00PM: The GCAS monthly in-person general meeting congregates at the Roundup Lodge in San Lorenzo (Mimbres Valley). Start at 6PM with your own plates/utensils/beverage & a dish for yourself or to share. Brief general meeting at 6:45 PM. At 7:00 PM sharp we welcome the GCAS's friend Dr. Bob Stokes, chair of ENMU's Archaeology Department, who will present his team's Preliminary Results from ENMU's 2021 Summer Field School at the Mares Rockshelter, a Jornada Mogollon Site along the Lower Rio Grande near Radium Springs.

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Plan Now for the October Southwest Kiln Conference in Silver City

Swkiln2021-3Big News! Friday, October 7 through Sunday, October 9, 2022, marks the 2022 Southwest Kiln Conference in Silver City, sponsored by the Western New Mexico University Museum under the leadership of museum director Danni Romero. The public is welcome and the conference is free. WNMU will provide outdoor space for firing up of the kilns and the museum will host conference room space for presentations. Attendees will also want to visit the WNMU museum itself, which includes the largest and most complete collection of Mimbres materials in existence from a single prehistoric Mimbres site, and the largest and most comprehensive permanent interpretative exhibition of Mimbres pottery and artifacts in the world. Read on for more details:

"The Southwest Kiln Conference attracts a diverse group of people with a shared interest in better understanding prehistoric southwestern pottery. Expect to meet potters who work in a variety of ceramic traditions, making replicas of Anasazi, Hohokam and Mogollon pottery. The conference will offer glimpses of the entire process from collecting raw clay, to forming pots and of course firing. All are welcome and the conference is free and open to the public."

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GCAS's July Field Trip = 2022 Archaeology Fair Soon Coming!

Archswuofafair2022SBecause 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