Contents:
August Field Activity Cancelled
PAAC Class Schedule For September-Historical Archaeology
Colorado Archaeology Society (CAS) Annual Meeting in Durango, Oct 9-10, 2004
San Luis Valley Archaeological Network Research Award
September 25 Field Trip to the Trickle Mountain Quartzite Source

SLV ARCHAEOLOGICAL NETWORK ACTIVITIES 2004

August Field Activity Canceled.The August field trip to the Creede area was canceled due to unforeseen scheduling problems. We hope to plan a trip to Creede next year.

PAAC CLASS SCHEDULE FOR SEPTEMBER

Historical Archaeology, the next PAAC class, is scheduled for September 24, 25, and 26. The Program for Avocational Archaeological Certification (PAAC) is designed to be a mutually beneficial educational program for avocational and professional archaeologists. It was established in 1978 by the Colorado Archaeological Society (CAS) and the Office of the State Archaeologist of Colorado (OSAC). It provides a means for CAS members and other citizens of Colorado to obtain formally recognized levels of archaeological expertise outside of an academic degree program. It also facilitates contributions by avocatioists to public service and assistance in education, governmental management of cultural resources, research, and the protection of archaeological resources in Colorado. The programs intent is to complement, not replace, existing university and governmental training programs. Historical Archaeology is important for any prospective field worker. The course offers the student information about the classification of historic sites and includes a survey of Colorado history from 1540 to 1940. The importance of research is stressed. Instruction pertaining to the analysis of historical artifacts and materials is provided. This course is necessary in studying the complete cultural history of a region. Themes to be covered include: historical American Indian groups, Spanish & American exploration, traders & trappers, the U.S. Military in Colorado, early civilian settlements, mining, roads & railroads, ranching & farming, logging, and water development. Class will be held on Friday evening, September 24, and all day on Saturday and Sunday, September 25 and 26 at the Alamosa County Courthouse Conference Room. Cost is only $12. Please contact Loretta Mitson at 719-843-5328 or by e-mail at lmmitson@bewellnet.comfor more information.

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Colorado Archaeological Society (CAS) Annual Meeting
in Durango, October 9-10, 2004

The San Juan Basin Archaeological Society will host the 2004 CAS Annual Meeting in Durango on October 9 & 10, 2004. A conference, featuring presentations on area archaeology, will be held on Saturday at the Center for Southwest Studies on the Fort Luis College Campus. There will also be a banquet, with a keynote speaker, on Saturday evening. There will be two field trips on Sunday; one to Aztec Ruins National monument, about 35 miles south of Durango, and the other to Ridges Basin, a short distance southwest of Durango. The Ridges Basin excursion will be to an area that will be eventually flooded by the waters of a large reservoir in the area encompassed by the Animas-La Plata Project. Current and previous archaeological studies demonstrate that Ridges Basin was intermittently occupied for long periods of time. Occupation included residence by Basketmaker people, from about 1,000 BC to AD 500, by Ute and possibly Navajo tribes subsequently, and still later traversed by Spanish explorers and then by historic ranchers and miners. Archaeologist Doug Bowman will give a tour of sites in and adjacent to the area to be flooded, and will discuss the prehistory of Ridges Basin. Both the Aztec and the Ridges Basin sites are on or near paved roads so 4WD or higher clearance vehicles will not be needed for access, although trip participants are encouraged to carpool. Both excursions will depart from Durango's Santa Rita Park at 9:00 AM Sunday. For more information about the annual meeting please contact Andy Simon at MSimnon183@aol.com or at 970-749-2972.

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San Luis Valley Archaeological Network Research Award

The SLV Archaeological Network will present Wade Broadhead with a $200 financial assistance award to source several obsidian flakes from a prehistoric site near La Garita. The flakes will be subjected to trace element analysis to help determine the source of the raw material used to make the artifacts. The major chemical composition of obsidian is silicon (about 75%) and aluminum (about 13%). Other major elements are Na, K, Ca, Ti, H, Mg, and Mn. These elements tend to occur in essentially the same proportions in all sources of obsidian. Trace elements (those in proportions of less than 0.01%) however, con be considered a function of chemical processes at work during the time of volcanic activity. The chemical composition of trace elements in a particular flow is usually relatively homogeneous because obsidian is formed in a molten state. Certain proportions of trace elements contained in a particular source can often be used to identify the specific source. X-Ray florescence spectrometry will be the method used to analyze the obsidian flakes from the site.

Information gained from the analysis will help in our understanding of prehistoric patterns of land use, mobility, and exchange. The newly documented site, located just west of the town of La Garita, has one of the most westerly occurrences of cord marked pottery in the United States as well as at least five flakes of obsidian. A radiocarbon date from one of the pottery shards came in at A.D. 1,200. The obsidian analysis will help determine if the people using the cord marked pottery were in direct contact with the Pueblos of northern New Mexico and southwest Colorado. We look forward to hearing the results of Mr. Broadhead's analysis.

September 25 Field Trip to the Trickle Mountain Quartzite Source

Jim Erdman, Ecologist/Biogeochemist, will lead a trip to the Trickle Mountain Quartzite Source, located about 25 miles west of Saguache. The intent of the trip is to study a site geologically unique in a area dominated by San Juan volcanics. Exposed rocks of Dakota Sandstone of Cretaceous age are found in a 1 square-mile area of public land. Such rocks are well over twice as old as the volcanics nearby that began their activity about 35 million years ago. The volcanism continued sporadically over the next 20 million years. The focus of the trip will be a visit to an outcrop of the orthoquartzite where Native Americans made tools of the lithic material. Orthoquartzite is a pure quartz sandstone in which the silica cement is so tight and complete that when the rock breaks the fracture cuts across the grains. Pure quartzite is white, but iron or other impurities sometimes give the rock a reddish or dark color. Nearby prehistoric stone structures will also be observed. The group, which will meet in Crestone at 8:00 AM, should be in Saguache by 9:00 AM. Four-Wheel Drive is needed for this trip. For further information, please call Jim Erdman at 256-4117 or e-mail jerdman@ctelc0.net

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