NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, January 15, 2024, 6:00 PM New Mexico time - ONLINE VIA ZOOM: The GCAS kicks off 2025 with a brief business meeting to be immediately followed by our Featured Speaker, Rhianna Cooke, senior anthropology undergraduate at Indiana University/Bloomington. Rhianna will discuss Clay in the Kiva: Possible Uses for Natural Clay Beneath Twin Pines Village. Twin Pines Village is a site located in the upper Mimbres Valley area in the Gila National Forest. It has been the subject of years of study under the direction of Dr. Fumi Arakawa, and Rhianna performed fieldwork there during the summer of 2024. She will describe that during their 2024 excavation, Dr. Arakawa’s crew discovered a large natural deposit of clay beneath the site. Later, it became clear that the clay had been manipulated/used in some fashion in the great kiva at the site, although Dr. Arakawa, Rhianna, and other researchers are still questioning the exact purpose that this "clay pit" may have served. Join us on Zoom starting at about 5:45 to get situated and socialize before the official meeting begins at 6:00 PM sharp. A Q&A session will follow Rhianna’s talk. Members, check your email inbox for your Zoom invitation about one week before the presentation (roughly 1/8/2025). Nonmembers, email the GCAS for the Zoom link about a week prior (1/8/2025).

NEXT FIELD TRIP: TBA: watch this space.

Volunteering

Grant Opportunity for GCAS To Pursue!

The Site Steward Foundation’s H. Wayne Nelson Grant Program is offering two $1,000 grant awards in 2023 to individuals and organizations for funding projects supporting the preservation, education, and research of archaeological and cultural resources in New Mexico. This grant program encourages and supports professionals, students, and volunteers in the fields of archaeology, anthropology, and cultural resource management. The grant application will be evaluated based on the project’s critical need and proposed outcome, including community impact, benefits, and feasibility. Application deadline is October 31, 2023, with the grant award date by December 31, 2023. Please email Gary Newgent to request a grant application form and contact the GCAS with your proposal!

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Reminder To Volunteer for GCAS Booth at Harvest Festival!

Saturday, 10/7/2023, 10AM-4PM, the Mimbres Valley Harvest Festival is soon coming to the San Lorenzo Elementary School, on Hwy 35 in San Lorenzo a short ways north of the junction with Hwy 152. We’re seeking 3 or 4 volunteers to help run the GCAS booth on Saturday & set up the booth on the Friday before (10/6).

No experience necessary!

We'll show you what to do!

Volunteer for a short time!

Volunteer all day!

Meet your community and share with them what the GCAS is all about!

Step up and email or telephone Marianne at [email protected] or 772-529-2627; or contact Marilyn Markel at [email protected] or 575-536-9337, with times that work best for you. Thank you for helping out!

/s/ webmaster


Seeking Volunteers For GCAS Booth at Harvest Festival!

Saturday, 10/7/2023, 10AM-4PM,  it's the Mimbres Valley Harvest Festival at San Lorenzo Elementary School, on Hwy 35 in San Lorenzo a short ways north of the junction with Hwy 152. We’re seeking 3 or 4 volunteers to help run the GCAS booth on Saturday & set up the booth on the Friday before. No experience necessary; we'll show you what to do! Please volunteer for a short time or for all day! Step up and email or telephone Marianne at [email protected] or 772-529-2627; or contact Marilyn Markel at [email protected] or 575-536-9337, with times that work best for you. Thank you for helping out!

/s/ webmaster


A Grant We Can Use

If any GCAS members can step up with ideas for good community projects for us to pursue? Tuesday, October 31, 2023,  is the DEADLINE for a special grant application the GCAS can use: The Site Steward Foundation is offering two $1,000 grant awards in 2023 to individuals and organizations for funding projects supporting the preservation, education, and research of archaeological and cultural resources in New Mexico. The purpose of the H. Wayne Nelson grant program is to encourage and support professionals, students, and volunteers in the fields of archaeology, anthropology, and cultural resource management. The grant application will be evaluated based on the project’s critical need and proposed outcome, including community impact, benefits, and feasibility. The H. Wayne Nelson grant application deadline is October 31, 2023, with the grant award date by December 31, 2023. Please let the GCAS know how you can help move our group forward, and  email Gary Newgent to request a grant application form.

Thank you for helping!

/s/ webmaster


Now's the Chance to Help Our Junior Site Stewards!

IMG_0299People, here's an opportunity to help our local grade school students do something important. Marilyn Markel needs GCAS volunteers to help at the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site on Wednesday, 9/13/2023, as 16 students from San Lorenzo’s third grade class train to be Junior Site Stewards. No experience necessary; Marilyn will show you the ropes. Contact Marilyn directly at 575-536-9337 to represent the GCAS in the Junior Site Steward program. The third graders will appreciate your help!

/s/ webmaster [photo is of past Junior Site Stewards - good kids, all of them]


Save These Dates!

People, archaeologically-flavored events are being scheduled all over the place. In our corner of the Southwest, the action is ramping up during September and gets fast and furious during October. Set aside the following dates and check back to our Events page and to this here blog for details as they develop:

Continue reading "Save These Dates!" »


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!

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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!" »