Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Talks
Presented the last Tuesday of each month, April through September, Arrive at 6:00 for
​refreshments and socializing - lecture begins 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. 
Please watch for our Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Talks listings for 2019!

Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Talks, formerly called "Pláticas," continue our mission of providing education about the history and archaeology of Mesa Prieta and the Northern Rio Grande Valley and contextualizing the petroglyphs on Mesa Prieta.  Presented on the last Tuesday of each month April through October at the Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Center north of Alcalde, the gatherings provide an opportunity for learning as well as socializing. 

April 30th – MPP Talks,  Janet MacKenzie, MPPP Chief Archaeologist – Remote Area Recording Project on Mesa Prieta. 
Arrive at 6:00 for refreshments - lecture begins at 6:30PM. $5 suggested donation. The Heritage Center, Hwy 68, Alcalde, NM.

May 28th – MPP Talks, Ron Barber – ​ Plumed and Horned Serpents of the Southwest 

Chasing the Plumed Serpents of the Southwest The Stone Calendar Project has been studying rock art sites throughout the Southwest and northern Mexico identifying glyphs that record specific times of the year using unique sun light and shadow interactions. We encounter a wide range of glyph images at all of the sites, helping us to identify the cultural origin of the rock art. The plumed and/or horned serpent is found at many sites, up and down the Rio Grande corridor, down into Mexico, and in the Four Cornia region. In some locations the crested serpents appear to have horns, while in others they have both horns and plumes, and in some cases the crest is unclear. The plumed serpent appearance in the southwest has largely been attributed to infusion of the Mesoamerican plumed serpent such as Quetzalcoatl, from the highlands of Mexico. Horned serpents appear early in the Southwest and may have fused together with the plumed serpent to form the horned and plumed serpents seen at discrete locations in the southwest. This presentation will summarize the crest- ed serpent rock art locations and regional styles, and compare them to other mural and ceramic images. Religious practices in the Pueblo World still include the crested ser- pents, and ethnographic records also provide contemporary images for comparisons to prehistoric rock art images. 

June 25th – MPP Talks, Lynda Romero From the Poeh Cultural Center discusses Acquisition of Tewa Pottery from the Smithsonian.
Arrive at 6:00 for refreshments - lecture begins at 6:30PM. $5 suggested donation. The Heritage Center, Hwy 68, Alcalde, NM.

July 30th – MPP Talks, Emily Brown – Prehistoric Musical Instruments. 
Arrive at 6:00 for refreshments - lecture begins at 6:30PM. $5 suggested donation. The Heritage Center, Hwy 68, Alcalde, NM.

August 27th – MPP Talks, Candie Borduin, MPPP Recording Coordinator - Best of the Best 2018 Recording. 
Arrive at 6:00 for refreshments - lecture begins at 6:30PM. $5 suggested donation. The Heritage Center, Hwy 68, Alcalde, NM.

September 24th – MPP Talks, Matthew Martinez hosts a panel discussion - Na’inbí  Owingeh, Our Place: Pueblo Voices, Stories and Remembrance. 
Arrive at 6:00 for refreshments - lecture begins at 6:30PM. $5 suggested donation. The Heritage Center, Hwy 68, Alcalde, NM.

Refreshments are served.
A donation of $5 per person is suggested.

Please Note:  Change of Venue

  Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Talks are now held at our new location,
the Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Center
(formerly the Oñate Center) in Alcalde
on State Road 68 across from La Tiendita gas station.
We hope to see you there.

Directions to the the Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Center : drive north of Española on Hwy 68. Continue one and one half mile north of the sign for Alcalde. Alternatively, from Taos, drive south on Hwy 68 through Velarde. Continue south 7 miles from the Alta gas station. The National Heritage Center is located on the east side of Highway 68.  Look for the statue of a Spaniard on a horse in the front of the facility.  Drive to the south of the building to park and enter the east entrance. 

Past Mesa Prieta Talks Presentations