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SLV Archaeological Network Program Planning Meeting

The annual San Luis Valley Archaeological Network activity-planning meeting, held on February 22, 2002 in Monte Vista, was well attended with about 20 people taking part. As a result of the meeting we now have an exciting schedule of spring, summer, and fall events. Thanks to all who participated. Trips and activities planned include:

Saturday, April 6, Research Design Session. Writing research designs will be the topic of this all day session to be held at the Rio Grande National Forest Supervisors Office in Monte Vista. The recently issued Rio Grande Context will be used to formulate both a general research design for the SLV Archaeological Network and a specific research design relating to the planned September test excavation of stone structure features at site 5SH73 near Saguache. We will meet at 9:30 AM and will be done at 3:30 PM. Bring your lunch (microwave available). The office is located 1.8 miles west of Monte Vista on the north side of US Highway 160. For more information please contact Vince Spero at: 719-873-5916, Vince Spero, 28 Wendar Drive, South Fork, CO 81154, e-mail (vspero@peoplepc.com).

Saturday, April 20, Rock Art Recording Field Day. Lee Coats, of San Luis, will conduct a field workshop on the recording of rock art sites at a site near Fort Garland. Lee, who has recorded many rock art sites in New Mexico and other locations, is very interested in the further recording of rock art sites in the San Luis Valley. We will meet at the Fort Garland parking lot at 10:00 AM and travel to the nearby site. Attendees are asked to bring cameras, pencils, and metric tape measures if they have them, along with personal gear and lunch. The site is on private land and permission is presently being sought for us to record the site therefore, people should call Lee after March 17 at 719-672-4010 to make sure permission was granted.

Sunday, May 19, Piedrosa Canyon Archaeological Inventory. Piedrosa Canyon, in the western foothills of the SLV, is proposed for a prescribed fire by the Rio Grande National Forest therefore, an archaeological inventory must be done to document sites that have the potential to be damaged. This remote area, including three beautiful canyons with areas of rock walls, will be inventoried for rock art and for stone structure sites. We will hike several miles and rock walls will be scaled to look for sites. We will meet at the church parking lot in Capulin at 10:00 AM. Capulin is located 10 miles to the west of La Jara on Colorado Highway 15. The church is located on the south side of the road. For more information please contact Vince Spero at: 719-873-5916, Vince Spero, 28 Wendar Drive, South Fork, CO 81154, e-mail (vspero@peoplepc.com).

Saturday, June 16, Sentinel Mountain Fortification and Hike to Lost Lake Fortification. The Sentinel Mountain Fortification, immediately adjacent to the town of South Fork, is an intriguing stone fortification discovered and reported by an area schoolteacher in 1985. Its purpose is unknown but there are several theories as to its origin, which we shall discuss at the site. The trip will involve climbing a short, but steep ridge side over rocky ground. The Lost Lake site is a series of small stone structures high on a rocky ridge overlooking the SLV. The rather rigorous hike is characterized by climbing steeper slopes for about one hour. Plan to meet at 9:30 AM at the South Fork Visitors Center. We will visit the Sentinel Site first and will begin the climb to Lost Lake about 11:30 AM. For more information please contact Vince Spero at: 719-873-5916, Vince Spero, 28 Wendar Drive, South Fork, CO 81154, e-mail (vspero@peoplepc.com).

July 14, Velarde, New Mexico Rock Art Site Trip. The area of Velarde, New Mexico is the home to what is considered to be some of the best rock art in the state. It is very concentrated and dates from archaic times to after the Spanish arrived. Velarde is location near Ojo Caliente to the north of Espanola. Lee Coats, who is very familiar with the area, will lead this trip to some of the premier rock art in New Mexico. More information on this trip will be presented in future Archaeo-Updates. See the Velarde Rock Art page for images from a more recent (April 6, 2003) field trip.

Other activities planned for later in the summer include a tour of the Chimney Rock Archaeological Area, the most isolated and remote of the Ancestral Pueblo communities associated with Chaco Canyon. Also planned for September 13,14, and 15 is the test excavation of stone structures at site 5SH73, located to the west of Saguache. Lab analysis and test excavation report writing will follow in October and November. Look for more information on these activities in the next Archaeo-Update.

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SIXTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SOCIETY OF AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY DENVER, COLORADO, MARCH 20 TO 24, 2002

The Society of American Archaeology (SAA) Annual Meeting will be held in downtown Denver at the Adams Mark Hotel from March 20 to March 24. SAA is an international organization dedicated to the research, interpretation, and protection of the archaeological heritage of the Americas. Meeting focus is the presentation of current research papers by archaeologists from all over America. The SAA represents professional, student, and avocational archaeologists working in a variety of settings including government agencies, colleges and universities, museums, and the private sector.

Selected presentations of interest include: "Recent Research in the Late Paleoindian Period", "Recent Developments in the Peopling of the New World", "Population Movements in the Northern Southwest", "Paleoindian Foraging Variability During the Early Holocene of the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains", Paleoindian Studies: Clovis and Folsom", The Archaeology of the Great Basin", and "The Archaic Period of the Southwest". If you are interested in attending you can get more information by contacting the Society for American Archaeology at 202-789-8200 or by viewing the SAA webpage at http://www.saa.org/Meetings. For lodging information contact the Mark Adams Hotel at 800-893-3333 and ask about the SAA rate.

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