“The Mission of the Hisatsinom Chapter of the Colorado Archaeological Society is to further the education, opportunities and experiences of its members, students and the general public by partnering with and serving the archaeological, avocational archaeological, and related scientific communities of the Montezuma Valley, the Four Corners area and the State of Colorado.”
VOLUME 28 FEBRUARY 2015 ISSUE 2
February Meeting
7pm Tuesday, February 2
Hannah Mattson presents her work, Personal Ornaments from Pueblo Bonito and Aztec Ruin: An Examination of Social Identity, Ritual Practice, and Demographic Reorganization
“In this talk, I explore the relationship between identity and demographic reorganization through an examination of the extent to which Chacoan identity and practice, as demonstrated by the social values attributed to ornaments at Pueblo Bonito during the Chaco florescence (A.D. 900 to 1130), were maintained or transformed by the post-Chaco period inhabitants of Aztec’s West Ruin (A.D. 1110/1130 to 1290s). The study includes the first comprehensive analyses of the large ornament assemblages from both of these sites, with an emphasis on identifying socially significant dimensions of physical variation through a contextual approach. Based on similarities in the attributes of ornaments associated with structured ritual deposits and high-status interments, it appears that the residents of Aztec Ruin continued to participate in at least some elements of the Chacoan ritual-ideological complex. I suggest that the depositional practices associated with these socially valuable goods served as references to Chacoan cosmology and the powerful leaders and/or ancestors connected to Pueblo Bonito. These social values were directly cited at Aztec West Ruin immediately after the decline of the Chaco Canyon as a central place in the San Juan Basin and were more broadly referenced at the site during the Pueblo III period, particularly in order to legitimize the authority of local leaders in the increasingly diverse social milieu of the Middle San Juan region.” – Hannah Mattson
(photos thanks to Hannah Mattson and Kari Schleher)
Hannah Mattson is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in Anthropology at the University of New Mexico. She has a PhD and MA from the University of New Mexico and a BA from Oregon State University. She is a Southwest archaeologist specializing in ceramics, personal ornaments, and the archaeology of Chaco Canyon. She is particularly interested in research issues related to social identity, materiality, ritual practice, costuming/adornment, and pottery production and trade. She has publications in a number of edited volumes and journals, including an article in Kiva and a chapter on culinary pottery from Pueblo Bonito in the forthcoming book The Pueblo Bonito Mounds of Chaco Canyon: Material Culture and Fauna, edited by Patricia L. Crown.
______Upcoming Speakers March 1, Tuesday 7pm - Donna Glowacki
New Members Mary Brisson – Mancos ______
“In the centuries since the Spaniards first arrived the presence of the many imposing ruins which dot the Southwest has naturally led to much speculation about their inhabitants, and the collecting of antiquities has been inevitable. The collecting instinct is such that some relationship between man and the pack rat might well be postulated if it were not that man takes without leaving anything in place of what he has removed.” - H. M. Wormington, 1947
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ First Field Trip of 2016: TEWA ORIGINS
Field Trip Dates: June 16 - 19, 2016
Field Trip Leaders: Bob Bernhart, Bob and Diane McBride
Trip Participant Limit: 10 (7 plus the field trip leaders)
A trip to northern New Mexico to see ancient and proto-historic Tewa Puebloan sites and learn about the emigration from the Northern San Juan to this area in the 1200s.
Portions of the trip will be led by a dear friend of our chapter, Dr. Scott Ortman, professor at CU Boulder: his active field school at Cuyamungue, NM, and on a second day, Tsiping Pueblo near Abiquiu. Forest Service archaeologists Mike and Anne Bremer will be co-leaders for the Tsiping Pueblo all-day tour. We will stay near the town of Abiquiu for three nights: camping at Lake Abiquiu or staying at the Abiquiu Inn if you prefer. We will visit the Puye Cliff Dwellings on the Santa Clara Reservation with a Pueblo guide ($35 per person). We will try to visit other ancient Tewa sites in the area time-permitting. These include: Poshingue, P'osi (Ojo Caliente), Tsankawi Ruin (Bandelier National Monument).
Most of the visits will involve several miles of hiking on steep and uneven trails at elevations of 6000 to 7000 feet. The Tsiping hike will involve a 500-foot gain in elevation with very high and narrow trails (not for those who fear heights). The Tsiping visit will involve 10 miles off- pavement on two-track roads (sometimes muddy). Vehicles should be 4WD high-clearance (carpooling possible for those without). The Tsankawi hike will involve ladders.
This is a very busy time of year, so we want to make the necessary camping and guide reservations ASAP to ensure space for everyone.
Because the field school has 20 participants, and we are limited to a maximum of 30, we are allocated only 10 for our chapter including the three tour leaders. If you'd like to be included, please follow the instructions below to contact Rich Robinson. Participants will be selected in the order their request is dated. You will be notified and provided with a detailed itinerary shortly after the deadline, since we are sure this trip will fill quickly. We will have a wait list, and you'll be notified of your position on the list.
Field Trip Registration for this opportunity to be amongst friends for this 4-day 3 night trip can be made by contacting Richard Robinson starting at 7 AM February 1, 2016 by providing your name, number of participants, need for or offering car-pooling capacity, requesting stay at campground or Abiquiu Inn, the date and time of contacting me, the trip name, and the means for me to contact you. ….Thank You! Registration closes February 12 at 6 PM.
[email protected] (best choice)
Cell Phone: 720-556-1374 (if only option) Please note that this is a smart phone, and I am not!
If calling, please talk clearly and slowly. I often have to replay messages many times, because I can’t differentiate the sound between two choices which have significant differences in meaning. You will be contacted about your trip status and with trip specifics as soon as they are available. All field trip participants are expected to have on file or to submit CAS/Hisatsinom Liability Waiver forms prior to the trip!
- Richard Robinson
______The series on Getting to Know Your Hisatsinom Board Members continues: Following is a (very) short biography of Secretary Barbara Stagg,
“I wanted to be an archaeologist as a teenager after lots of wandering among Cherokee and possibly Choctaw hunting camp remnants near my family farm. That didn't work out, but thanks to Desert Solitaire and lots of other SW writings, I started heading to the Four Corners from East Tennessee as often as possible for 20+ years before finally moving to Cortez with my husband and dogs last year. My Tennessee career for 30 years was as executive director of an 1880s Utopian historic site in East Tennessee - Historic Rugby. While Cedar Mesa and Comb Ridge were my usual exploring destinations, living in Cortez ultimately made more sense than living in Bluff. Now that I’m here, there's so much archaeology to experience in SW Colorado that it's hard to get over to SE Utah! I am working on PAAC certification, am a site steward, and volunteer at Crow Canyon for tours. My non-archy activity includes working part-time for Habitat For Humanity.” - Barbara Stagg
(Ed. note: Barbara offered to fill the vacant position of part-time Chapter Secretary. Her term began at the beginning of 2016. We appreciate her offer and her service to the chapter.) ______
ATTENTION!
In an effort to curb chapter expenses, we would like to shorten our mailing list. We are happy to provide printed and mailed copies of the newsletter for people who do not have computers at home or for those of you who have “slow” connections for downloads and no printer. But if you can use a computer somewhere or can download (even slowly) and print at home, please consider doing so.
Please call Nancy Evans (564-1461) to confirm that you need a paper copy of the newsletter mailed to you.
Thank you!
(The paragraphs below are from The First American by C.W.Ceram, 1971)
“One day of August, 1888, in the teeth of a particular New Mexico sandstorm that whipped pebbles the size of a bean straight to your face, a ruddy, bronzed, middle-aged man, dusty but unweary with his sixty-mile tramp from Zuni, walked into my solitary camp at Los Alamitos. Within the afternoon I knew that here was the most extraordinary mind I had met. …. I was at first suspicious of the ‘pigeonhole memory’ which could not only tell me some Queres word I was searching for, but add: ‘Policarpio explained that to me in Chochiti, November 23, 1881.’” So Charles F. Lummis describes his first meeting with Adolph F. Bandelier, who became his lifelong friend. The two men traveled thousands of miles together through the Southwest. “We trudged side by side--camped, starved, shivered, learned and were glad together…. There was not a decent road. We had no endowment, no vehicles. Bandelier was once loaned a horse; and after riding two miles, led it the rest of the thirty. So we went always by foot; my big camera and glass plates in the knapsack on my back, the heavy tripod under my arm; his aneroid, surveying instruments, and satchel of the almost microscopic notes which he kept fully and precisely every night by the camp-fire (even when I had to crouch over him and the precious paper with my water-proof focusing cloth) somehow bestowed about him. Up and down pathless cliffs, through tangled canyons, fording icy streams and ankle-deep sands, we travelled; no blankets, over- coats, or other shelter; and the only commissary a few cakes of sweet chocolate, and a small sack of parched popcorn meal. Our ‘lodging was the cold ground.’ When we could find a cave, a tree, or anything to temper the wind or keep off part of the rain, all right. If not, the Open ….” - Charles F. Lummis, “In Memory,” in Adolf F. Bandelier, The Delight Makers, 1918 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
January Meeting Minutes January 5, 2016
25 In Attendance
Dave Melanson, Hisatsinom president, called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
PAAC representative Tom Pittenger announced the Principles of Archaeological Excavation course coming up February 19-22 at the Anasazi Heritage Center, and that it still had space for registrants.
Treasurer Lillian Wakeley reminded all present that dues could still be paid. She mentioned that several people inadvertently paid twice and let that stand. Her records show 79 paid, with forty in the family category.
Cultural Site Stewardship Coordinator Diane McBride recognized site stewards present and announced that more stewards are needed to adequately cover the 75 sites currently in the program plus the addition of 5 to 7 more sites, several outside the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. She reported that there are currently 43 stewards, and that the next mandatory site steward training date is April 2. Diane also brought calendars for sale to benefit the Southwest Colorado Canyons Alliance. Calendar photos were taken by local/area photographers and voted on for inclusion.
Vice president and program coordinator Kari Schleher introduced the program - a US Archaeological Law and Ethics Workshop presented by Dr. Susan C. Ryan, Director of Archaeology at Crow Canyon. Susan did an outstanding job of making this material interesting, educational, and interactive, encouraging audience participation. She focused on the four federal laws utilized today and helped the audience gain or regain a history of each, their impacts, and clear understanding of what each covers. These laws are the 1906 Antiquities Act, the 1966 National Historic Preservation Act, the 1979 Archaeological Resources Protection Act, and the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. Susan also reviewed the Colorado Historical, Prehistorical and Archaeological Resources Act passed in 1973 which adds teeth, in our state, to the handling of human remains that are 100 years old or older.
The ethics portion of her presentation reviewed the Society of American Archaeology’s “principles of archaeological ethics”, which can be read in detail online, and also reviewed the Colorado Archaeology Society’s similar code of ethics.
After much discussion, including ethics surrounding site surveys on private land and the unfortunate reminder that America is the only country where residents can own antiquities, Susan thanked Hisatsinom for their support and advocacy. She was heartily applauded and thanked by all for an excellent program.
President Melanson adjourned the meeting at 8:25 pm.
Respectfully submitted, Barbara Stagg, Recording Secretary
P.A.A.C.
The full PAAC schedule is on the chapter website
PAAC classes in our part of the state in the first half of 2016 are:
February 19-22 in Dolores: Principles of Archaeological Excavation April 16-17 in Montrose: Research Design & Report Writing May 6-9 in Grand Junction: Basic Site Surveying Techniques June 3-5 in Durango: Rock Art Studies
Contact Tom Pittenger about PAAC classes: 882-2559 or [email protected]
----- To read the CAS state newsletter, THE SURVEYOR, go to www.coloradoarchaeology.org and click on NEWSLETTER ---- THE SURVEYOR is also available as a print copy at the Cortez Public Library. It is in a folder labeled CAS SURVEYOR, lying flat on a shelf in the “archaeology section”, the 930s. It’s not for checkout; you may read it there.
Finances
Treasurer's Report as of 1/1/16
12/1/15 Balance: Expenses: $81.12 Receipts: $482.00 $3742.90 1/1/16 Balance: $4143.78
Membership information is on the chapter website www.coloradoarchaeology.org click on Chapters, click on Hisatsinom 2016 Executive Board
President Dave Melanson 505-414-7917 [email protected] Vice President Kari Schleher 505-269-4475 [email protected] Recording Secretary Barbara Stagg 570-7333 [email protected] Mary Gallagher 202-445- 5755 [email protected] Treasurer Lillian Wakeley 560-0803 [email protected] P.A.A.C Coordinator Tom Pittenger . 882-2559 [email protected] Field Trip Coordinator Richard Robinson 720-556-1374 [email protected] Newsletter Editor Nancy Evans 564-1461 [email protected] CAS Representative Larry Keller 882-1229 [email protected]
Copy for the newsletter should reach the editor by the 20th of each month. Submissions are welcome.
Unless otherwise noted, meetings are held the first Tuesday of every month at 7pm at the First United Methodist Church in Cortez.
Contact us: [email protected] or write P.O. Box 1524, Cortez CO Our website: www.coloradoarchaeology.org click on Chapters, click on Hisatsinom