SLV ARCHAEOLOGICAL NETWORK 2003 ACTIVITY SCHEDULE

The annual San Luis Valley Archaeological Network activity meeting was held on February 22 in Monte Vista. There was a good turnout and we decided on activities that we hope you will enjoy.

Saturday, April 26, Rock Art of Velarde, New Mexico. Plan on attending the second visit to Velarde, New Mexico to view some of the best examples of rack art in the state of New Mexico. Lee Coats, who is very familiar with the area, has graciously offered to lead this trip again. The site covers close to 200 acres and you can hardly walk a few yards without viewing petroglyphs. There are also rock circles, the outlines of fields, and visible catch dams used for irrigation that are hundreds of years old as well. Petroglyph styles range from Archaic, through Basketmaker, to the Pueblo periods. You will be free to explore on your own or follow in a group. A time limit is only dependent on weather and your own schedule. This is one of the foremost sites in New Mexico with over 6,000 images documented. You will be amazed at the variety of images. Be sure to bring plenty of water, as no facilities will be available. Wear hiking boots, long pants (this is major cactus country, and of course, rattlesnakes are always a possibility) and bring rain gear. A walking stick can prove to very helpful. Bring a sack lunch if you plan to explore for over 2 hours. Please contact Lee Coats at 719-672-4010 or e-mail at coats@vanion.com with any questions. We will meet at 10 AM at the property of Katherine Wells.

Directions from the San Luis Valley; Drive south on U.S. Highway 285 through Ojo Caliente, NM to just before the junction of U.S. Highway 84 (the road south to Espanola). Make a left at the sign for Chamita (NM Road 74) and drive southeast for about 2 miles to NM Road 582. Turn left and drive about 6 miles north to the Katherine Wells property on the left. Lee Coats' white vehicle will be parked at the meeting place at 10 AM. Driving time is about 2 1/2 hours. **Directions from Taos; Take New Mexico Highway 68 to the turn for Lyden (the town south of Velarde). Turn right and drive across the bridge over the Rio Grande to Lyden. Turn left on NM 582 and drive south about 2 miles to the site on the right. Look for Lee Coats' white vehicle.

Sunday, May 18. Trip to San Antone Mountain (hosted by Taos BLM Archaeologist Paul Williams). We will visit sites just over the border into New Mexico. Sites will include a stone structure village at Punche Lake and sites recorded by E.B. Renaud. Renaud, Director of Archaeological Survey at Denver University from 1930 to 1947, performed archaeological inventories in the upper Rio Grande drainage in Colorado and northern New Mexico. Renaud defined what he termed the "Upper Rio Grande Culture" in 1944. Recorded sites were classified as campsites and crescent-shaped rock windbreaks sheltering identified work areas. Artifact types reported by Renaud, usually of black basalt or obsidian, consisted of cores, unifacial side-scrapers, oval shaped bifaces, large choppers, drills, gravers, pounders, and various styles of grinding stones. We will meet at the junction of US Highway 285 and Colorado Highway 17 (just south of Antonito) at 9:30 AM. There is a turnout on the right at the road junction. We will be able to drive directly to the sites, but a high clearance vehicle is needed for this trip. We will be done at approximately 2:00 PM. If you have questions please contact Vince Spero at 719-853-6242 (work), 719-873-5916 (home), e-mail vspero@peoplepc.com

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Saturday, June 14 and Sunday, June 15. Visit to the Ute Mountain Tribal Park near Towac (to the south of Cortez) *NOTE: At the scheduling meeting we thought tat a 1/2 day tour would be good for our group but according to information received from the park the 1/2 day tour only includes viewing rock art and does not include visits of cliff dwellings. The full day tours require additional driving (80 miles round-trip on a gravel road) and effort (a three mile walk on unpaved trails with the climbing of 5 ladders in Lion Canyon). Thoughts are that if we go that far we should take advantage of the full-day tour. Cost is $40 per person if we have less than a group of 12 people and $20 per person if we have a group of at least 12 people. If we go on Sunday we can leave Saturday morning and visit sites in the Cortez area before retiring to our motel for the evening. We will drive back (about 4 hours) to the Valley after the tour is completed. If we are going to do this trip I will need to know how many people are interested by May 1. Please respond if you would like to participate. Vince Spero 719-852-6242 (work), 719-873-5916 (home), or vspero@peoplepc.com

The Ute Mountain Tribal Park encompasses 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.

July 15 to July 24, High Country Corridor Survey, Great Sand Dunes Monument and Preserve. There is an opportunity for a few, physically fit volunteers to participate in an archaeological inventory of the Sangre de Cristo high country this July. Work will focus on the Medano and Mosca Creek corridors and the upper Sand Creek drainage. Most of the effort will involve backcountry camping and working at high elevations. It will not be possible for crewmembers to travel on a daily basis. It is hoped that volunteers can work for the entire session. Participants will need to have all of the gear necessary for working and camping in the high-country safely. Project training will occur on the morning of July 16 prior to going to the field. If you wish to participate please contact Vince Spero at 719-852-6242 (work), 719-873-5916 (home), or e-mail vspero@peoplepc.com

Saturday, August 23. Cultural resource inventory of Big Horn Creek to the west of Antonito. This area has a demonstrated high density of lithic sites with a variety of stone tools. See the next Archaeo-Update for details.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, September 19, 20, and 21. McIntire Ranch Complex Historic Test Excavation. The impressive adobe ruin of the ranch of former Colorado governor Albert W. McIntire is located on the banks of the equally impressive McIntire Spring several miles from the town of Sanford in the southern San Luis Valley. Historic archaeological deposits relating directly to the occupation of the dwelling are an important feature of the site. A test excavation will be done in order to determine the sub-surface content of the dump and its association with the ranch complex. Look for details in upcoming Archaeo-Updates.

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