FIELD TRIP AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL ACTIVITY IDEAS FOR 2003

It is time to start thinking about ideas for field trips and archaeological investigations for 2003. Each year we have an organizational meeting, in February, to determine activities for the upcoming year. Last years activities were well attended and we hope that participants enjoyed themselves and learned about the archaeology of the area. Several possibilities for next year's activities include:

• A visit to the Ute Mountain Tribal Park near Towaoc (to the south of Cortez). The park encompasses approximately 125,000 acres, along a 25 mile stretch of the Mancos River, where there are hundreds of surface sites and cliff dwellings. There are also Ancestral Puebloan and Ute petroglyphs. The Tribal Park is operated by the Ute Mountain Ute Indian Tribe as a primitive area in order to protect its cultural and environmental resources. Emphasis is placed on experiencing the natural setting and sites tend to be left as discovered, often with in-place artifacts and features. Ute tour guides have a broad knowledge of Ute and Ancestral Puebloan cultures. Full day tours to four magnificent cliff dwellings require a three-mile walk on unpaved trails. The scaling of ladders is also required. Tours begin at Tribal Park headquarters located approximately 20 miles south of Cortez on Highway 666. Round-trip drive from the Visitor Center, on gravel and dirt roads, is 80 miles for the full-day trip, and 40 miles for the half-day trip. If we have 12 people the cost is $18 for a full day guided tour.

• Trip to the Salida area to view rock art and other archaeological sites including the Trout Mountain Chert Source, an area where high quality chert was quarried to make stone tools since at least Folsom times, over 10,000 years ago. Also in the area is the high-altitude game-drive system on Monarch Pass.

• A trip to view archaeological sites in the Taos area, including the San Antone Mountain basalt source and stone quarries. The Taos Archaeological Society may host this trip.

• Trip to Punche Valley, in the San Luis Hills of the southern San Luis Valley, to monitor stone structure sites and to record associated artifacts.

• Another visit to the Valarde Rock Art site in to view some of the best examples of rock art in the state of New Mexico. Over 6,000 images at the site are documented. We will schedule this trip in the spring when it is not as hot as last years trip.

• Test excavation of historical deposits at the McIntire Ranch. The impressive adobe ruin of the ranch of former Colorado governor Albert W. McIntire is located on the banks of McIntire Spring several miles from the town of Sanford in the southern San Luis Valley. The architecturally significant adobe house and the spring, which forms a river-like stream, must have been quite the sight when it was built around 1880.

• Cultural resource inventory of the Rito Hondo area to the west of Antonito. This area has a demonstrated high occurrence of Late Archaic and older sites where numerous stone tools of chert, basalt, and obsidian can be found along with grinding stones, pottery shards, and hearths.

If you would like to suggest a trip or activity please call Vince Spero at 719-873-591 or e-mail at vspero@peoplepc.com

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