Wednesday, January 25, 2023
Virtual Presentation by the
Agave Chapter of the Arizona Archaeological Society

"The Best of the Best - Archaeological Recording on Mesa Prieta completed in 2021"

Candie Borduin
Recording Coordinator, Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project
 The most spectacular, well made, unique, well documented selections of petroglyphs and other archaeological features are featured in this presentation.
 This is a rare opportunity to see images on several parcels of private land that are not seen by the general public.
Mesa Prieta is now known to be the largest petroglyph site in New Mexico, surpassing better known sites such as the Albuquerque’s Petroglyph National Monument and Three Rivers.  Most of the images are on private land and protected in their isolation.  The 80,000 images recorded to date include about 5% Archiac images made thousands of years ago, 70% Ancestral Pueblo images made by the ancestors of today’s nearby Pueblos and 25% Historic images made by the Spanish and other Europeans who came to the area in 1598 and later.
Candie has volunteered with MPPP since 2002 and has served as Petroglyph Recording Trainer and Coordinator since 2008.  She considers working on the mesa to be a rare privilege and the opportunity to work with MPPP volunteers to be equally rewarding. 




The Mesa Talks lecture series is made possible by generous grants from the following:

      New Mexico Humanities Council                   National Endowment for the Humanities

2022 Mesa Talks

April 27, 2021
Chasing the Plumed Serpents of the Southwest
Ron Barber, Stone Calendar Project
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 into the Four Cornia region. In some locations the crested serpents appear to have horns, while in others they have a combination of both horns and plumes, and in some cases the crest is unclear. The plumed or horned serpent appearance in the southwest has widely been attributed to infusion of the Mesoamerican plumed serpent ideology such as Quetzalcoatl, from the highlands of Mexico. However this is challenged by horned serpent imagery, which appears very early in the Southwest, particularly in Utah Basketmaker and Barrier Canyon Style sites, which likely had an early influence on the ancestral puebloan cultures. The early horned serpent ideology may have fused together with the plumed serpent, to form the combined horned and plumed serpent imagery seen at discrete locations in the southwest. This presentation will summarize the crested serpent rock art locations, regional styles, temporal sequence, and compare them to other mural and ceramic images.

2021 Mesa Talks

April 28, 2021
Dig Historia: A Public Archaeology Project
Carlyn Stewart, Los Luceros State Historic Site
As archaeologists, it is our responsibility to engage and educate the public about archaeology while demonstrating its relevance in the world today. Archaeological projects that include the public in a hands-on approach can be a successful means of doing this. However, some may be concerned that archaeological standards or data might be negatively affected by this approach. Dig Historia!, a public archaeological project located at Coronado Historic Site in Bernalillo, NM, sought to prove that immersive public archaeological projects provide a means of education that is engaging for the public and can safely contribute high-quality data. Dig Historia! occurred during the Fall semester of 2019 in which over 30 volunteers and graduate students worked together to try and answer the question, "does the rumored 17th-century Spanish hacienda lie buried beneath the railroad bed?" In this paper, I examine the effectiveness of a public archaeology format in answering this archaeological question.

May 26, 2021
Sensory Archaeology: Quantitative and Humanist Ways of Engaging with the Past
Chester Liwosz, Ph.D. , MPPP Project Archaeologist
As social scientists, archaeologists often struggle to convince the broader STEM audiences of our discipline's objectivity and rigor. This tension has led many archaeologists to under-appreciate or altogether abandon the humanities, leaving a large body of research resting wholly on measurements and mathematical projections, to the exclusion of grounded sensations. More recently, archaeologists who pioneered studies of the senses have come under fire for neglecting said rigors, revealing rifts within specialized archaeological subfields. The STEM v. humanities factionalism is counterproductive to the inherently interdisciplinary field of archaeology. Here we explore examples of archaeologists worldwide whose work successfully straddles this divide. Studies from Stonehenge to South America to the Southwest showcase archaeologies of color, sound, music, and more. I break down heady theoretical and philosophical concepts into lay terms and relate these ideas to the aforementioned successes. Case studies covered here (including my own work) exemplify how rigorous STEM methods combined with qualitative evaluations enrich archaeological communication, humanizing the past and the processes we use to study it. Likewise, humanities disciplines studying religion, philosophy, language, history, and the arts can guide better informed and more ethical research design, while simultaneously encouraging methodological innovation using the tools adopted from STEM.

July 14, 2021
Hispano Heritage of Northern NM/Southern CO
Charles Nicholas Saenz, Ph.D. an Associate Professor of History at Adams State University.
       During the 1760s and 1770s, the present Los Luceros Historic Site was situated amid the thrust of a forceful Comanche expansion into northern New Mexico. While powerful raids provoked a defensive crisis, they also stimulated new social partnerships that were central to the region's prosperity in later years. This lecture seeks to understand those events as they relate to the growth of Los Luceros in the nineteenth century.

July 27, 2021
Best of the Best - Petroglyph Recording in 2021
Candie Borduin, MPPP Petroglyph Recording Coordinator
     Each year, a selection of the best petroglyphs recorded over the previous year is curated to share with you all.  This is a lecture you don't want to miss. The most spectacular, well made, unique, well documented selections of petroglyphs and other archaeological features are featured.
     Candie Borduin has been with MPPP for over 19 years, and is responsible for driving our monumental recording effort.  She has provided yearly training to our volunteer recording teams and manages their assignments across the many proveniences of private land on Mesa Prieta.

August 25, 2021
Prehistoric Dogs of the Southwest
Dr. Amanda Semanko
Over the last 20,000 years, dogs have followed their human companions to every continent, holding a wide array of roles in human society. In the American Southwest, archaeological evidence of dogs spans the region and shows this species took part in everyday life as well as ritual activities. Because of their close relationship with humans, analyzing the skeletal remains and deposition context of these dogs provides insight into the lives of prehistoric people. A case study focusing on a ritual dog burial dating to AD 600 from the Mimbres Mogollon site of Kipp Ruin demonstrates the significance of this relationship. The results of contextual and morphological studies, as well as chemical analyses of bones and tooth enamel, offer clues into the everyday lives and ritual practices of the prehistoric inhabitants of Kipp Ruin.

September 29, 2021
Borderland Images of Athapaskan New Mexico, 1600-1900 CE
Professor Severin Fowles, Barnard College
When the Spanish ventured into the Rio Grande valley during the sixteenth century, they encountered a pluralistic society composed not just of sedentary, village-based agriculturalists (the “Pueblos”) but also mobile bands of Athapaskan-speaking hunters, traders, and craft-specialists. The Spanish uneasily called the latter “barbarians” (bárbaros)—a reference to both their mobility and the significant military threat they posed—but they quickly came to appreciate their crucial role in the political life of the region. Not only did migratory Athapaskan bands prove vital allies in military campaigns, they also provided essential economic access to the bison resources of the Great Plains in the east. Moreover, Spanish missionaries found the Athapaskans unusually willing to adopt at least a superficial Catholicism, presumably as a result of their long history of pragmatically navigating intercultural relationships.
In this presentation, I consider the impact of Spanish colonization on Athapaskan image production in New Mexico, using rock art as a window onto the unfolding cultural exchanges between settler and Indigenous societies. I focus on two types of Athapaskan images: the so-called Biographic Tradition images pioneered by Apache artists during the late seventeenth century and the distinctive Mountain Spirit (Gaan) imagery, the latter of which may have begun to develop during the 17th or 18th century but only attained its classic form during the nineteenth century. Such images, I suggest, emerged in response to the new aesthetics of colonial occupation, among an Indigenous community with a long pre-colonial history of innovation, cultural appropriation, and creative reinvention.

October 27, 2021
Fire and Archaeology on the Jemez Ranger District of the Santa Fe National Forest
Rebecca Baisden, Jemez & Cuba Ranger Districts, Santa Fe National Forest
There are over 3,000 known pre-contact and historic cultural resources within the Southwest Jemez project boundary located on the Jemez Ranger District of the Santa Fe National Forest. Approximately 90% of these sites are considered fire-sensitive and include: pre-contact fieldhouses, pueblos, rock art, rockshelters, and historic and pre-contact sites with wooden components. A majority of fire-sensitive sites are pre-contact fieldhouses constructed out of volcanic tuff rock which make up 75% of the sites in the Jemez Ranger District. This material is highly susceptible to fire; effects to structural stone include cracking, spalling, discoloration, and increased erosion.
In 2010 the Jemez Ranger District proposed the Southwest Jemez Mountain Landscape Restoration project after Congress established the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Project (CFLRP). The purpose of the project is to restore forests to historic conditions and increase resilience to undesirable, large-scale disturbances such as high-severity wildfire. Due to the nature of the restoration activities taking place, in particular prescribed burning, there needed to be a way to mitigate the effects of fire on archaeological sites and it needed to be done quickly and efficiently. This led to the Southwest Jemez Archaeological Site Thinning Project which has resulted in fuels treatment on thousands of cultural resources on the Jemez Ranger District.

 MESA TALKS 2020 - lectures given

MESA TALKS - "The Emergence of Navajo Polychrome Ceramics: The Social Implications of Technological Style of Gobernador Polychrome Pottery" with Tim Wilcox, Crow Canyon. 
​September 29, 2020

The production of Navajo Gobernador Polychrome pottery during the 17th and 18th centuries marks a significant deviation from the well-established Navajo grayware pottery technology of northwest New Mexico. Originally attributed to Pueblo refugee potters living with Navajo families following de Vargas’ Reconquista of 1692, it is now accepted that Gobernador Polychrome pottery is a distinctly Navajo creation that predates the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. Notably, the rise of this new Navajo ceramic style circa AD 1630 echoes similar technological and stylistic developments in Eastern Pueblo pottery traditions that extend west to the Hopi Mesas during the 17th century. These data support Navajo participation in the development of an anti-colonial ideology that spreads throughout the northern Southwest during the 1600s and is expressed through ceramic media in the lead up to the Pueblo Revolt.
This crossing of social boundaries has implications for the contemporary political concerns that are the bane of contemporary Navajo cultural heritage efforts. Recent developments in Navajo archaeology have shown that Gobernador Polychrome’s emulation of Puebloan ceramic technology is not evidence for one-way, acculturative exchanges between Navajos and non-Navajos, but rather another line of evidence that supports the strength and diversity of long established, cross-cultural interactions throughout the greater Four Corners region. , Just as Puebloan peoples adopted Apachean bows or Navajo rock art incorporates older pan-Southwestern religious iconography, the development of parallel ceramic technological styles throughout the 17th century Southwest can tell us much about the relationships between past peoples a different points in time. In this regard, Gobernador Polychrome stands as a Navajo interpretation of Puebloan painted pottery practices that helped to unite tribal nations as allies against the Spanish in 1680.

MESA TALKS - "Best of the Best Recording for 2019" with Candie Borduin, MPPP Recording Coordinator.  August 25, 2020

     Each year, a selection of the best petroglyphs recorded over the previous year is curated to share with you all.  This is a lecture you don't want to miss. The most spectacular, well made, unique, well documented selections of petroglyphs and other archaeological features are featured.
     Candie Borduin has been with MPPP for over 18 years, and is responsible for driving our monumental recording effort.  She has provided yearly training to our volunteer recording teams and manages their assignments across the many proveniences of Mesa Prieta.

     In 2014, Candie was recognized with a New Mexico Heritage Preservation Award for her work with recorders on Mesa Prieta and in 2017, was recognized by the New Mexico Archaeological Society with a Bice Award for Archaeological Achievement.
     Mesa Prieta is now known to be the largest petroglyph site in New Mexico, surpassing better known sites such as the Albuquerque’s Petroglyph National Monument and Three Rivers.  Most of the images are on private land and protected in their isolation.  The more than 60,000 images recorded to date include about 5 - 10% Archaic images made thousands of years ago, 70% Ancestral Pueblo images made by the ancestors of today’s nearby Pueblos and 20% Historic images made by the Spanish and other Europeans who came to the area in 1598 and later.
     Candie has volunteered with MPPP since 2002 and has served as Petroglyph Recording Coordinator since 2008.  She considers working on the mesa to be a rare privilege and the opportunity to work with MPPP volunteers to be equally rewarding.  

MESA TALKS: "The Archaeology of Hunting" with Matthew Barbour
July 28, 2020
Hunting has always played a pivotal role in Native American subsistence and culture. While much is made of the megafauna hunters of the Paleoindian Period, later agriculturalists created their own specialized hunting practices. This presentation explores the archaeology and history of hunting in New Mexico from the arrival of hunters and gatherers to the twenty-first century.
MESA TALKS: "Conserving Sonic Heritage" with Dr. Chester Liwosz, MPPP Project Archaeologist 
June 30, 2020
The most common questions any archaeologist will get about their work are where do they 'dig,' and what is their favorite 'find.' Archaeology has earned a reputation for being about the tangible, material, and visible relics of the past. Our experiences as humans, however, are multisensory. Recently, archaeologists have begun addressing the intangible and fleeting experience of sound. This talk will cover the methods we use to tease the fleeting phenomenon of sound out of the past, the ways in which sound reinforces the importance of cultural sites, and examples of challenges and successes in preserving such an invisible and intangible aspect of cultural heritage. Spoiler alert: no shovels are involved.
MESA TALKS: "A Tewa Story: Phioge Owingeh" with Arthur Cruz, Ohkay Owingeh
May 26, 2020
MESA TALKS: "Los Luceros: How Our State's Newest Historic Site Came to Fruition" with Ethan Ortega, Los Luceros
April 28, 2020

MESA TALKS: Life on the Rocks Q&A with Katherine Wells
May 1, 2020

2019 Presentations

Na’inbi Owingeh, Our Place: Pueblo Voices, Stories and Remembrance
Featuring Dr. Matthew Martinez, Bernard Mora, and Andrea Kha Povi Harvier

Join us for a panel discussion presented and moderated by Dr. Matthew Martinez (Ohkay Owingeh), the Deputy Director for the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. This panel includes perspectives of Pueblo people involved in the creation of intellectual and responsible cultural practices. Bernard Mora (Tesuque Pueblo) works in the area of cultural preservation and will talk about language and cultural survival at Taytsugeh Oweengeh. Andrea Kha Povi Harvier (Pojoaque/Santa Clara) will discuss her work on traditional pottery of Santa Clara Pueblo and the social changes that led to contemporary forms. Dr. Martinez holds a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in American Studies and American Indian Studies. Dr. Martinez has formerly served as First Lieutenant Governor of Ohkay Owingeh where he worked to develop initiatives across local, state, and federal governments. During his tenure, he developed relationships with tribal leaders across the state of New Mexico, ensuring a cohesive working platform for new and continued community partnerships.

The Best of the Best - Recording on Mesa Prieta in 2018
Candie Borduin, Petroglyph Recording Coordinator, MPPP

At the beginning of each year, 40 trained MPPP recording volunteers are invited to participate in voting for the “best of the best” of the previous year’s recording on Mesa Prieta.  The top twenty five selections are featured in a Land Owner Report prepared for the Richard Cook Family. Similar Land Owner reports are prepared for other private land owners as recording on their land is completed.  The most spectacular, well made, unique, well documented selections of petroglyphs and other archaeological features are featured in these reports.
     For the August presentation of Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Talks, Candie Borduin, Petroglyph Recording Coordinator for Mesa Prieta will present many of these “best of the best” images.  This is a rare opportunity to see images on several parcels of private land that are not seen by the general public.
     Mesa Prieta is now known to be the largest petroglyph site in New Mexico, surpassing better known sites such as the Albuquerque’s Petroglyph National Monument and Three Rivers.  Most of the images are on private land and protected in their isolation.  The 55,000 images recorded to date include about 5 - 10% Archiac images made thousands of years ago, 70% Ancestral Pueblo images made by the ancestors of today’s nearby Pueblos and 20% Historic images made by the Spanish and other Europeans who came to the area in 1598 and later.
     Candie has volunteered with MPPP since 2002 and has served as Petroglyph Recording Trainer and Coordinator since 2008.  She considers working on the mesa to be a rare privilege and the opportunity to work with MPPP volunteers to be equally rewarding.  
​

Prehistoric Musical Instruments 
Emily Brown, Ph.D.  Aspen CRM Solutions

Studying music from an archaeological perspective may seem counterintuitive because the music cannot be reconstructed, but much can be learned about music in the past by examining instruments found in archaeological sites, analyzing the contexts in which they were found, and by supplementing with additional lines of evidence such as imagery, ethnographic information, and written accounts from the contact period. This presentation provides an overview of the different musical instruments found in archaeological sites from the Southwest.


Di Wae Powa: They Came Back - Acquisition of Tewa Pottery from the Smithsonian.
Linda Romero Poeh Cultural Center Collections Manager

Lynda Romero will present Co-Stewardship: Di Wae Powa: They Came Back – A Community loan to bring 100 Tewa pots from the collections at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian to the Poeh Cultural Center to reconnect Tewa peoples with their ancestral works for the continuity of cultural expression. For more than 100 years Tewa Pueblo ancestral pottery has been collected, shipped away, and housed, largely in private collections and within the renowned Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI).  Several years ago, the Poeh Cultural Center began talks with NMAI in a concerted effort to bring these pots “home.” Along the way, many Tewa Pueblo artists, elders, and community members worked tirelessly to help bring this homecoming to fruition.

Plumed and Horned Serpents of the Southwest
Ron Barber – The Stone Calendar Project​ 

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 serpents, and ethnographic records also provide contemporary images for comparisons to prehistoric rock art images. 

Remote Area Recording Project

Janet MacKenzie - Chief Archaeologist MPPP

     The Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project was fortunate to receive a grant in 2018 from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a national non-profit that provides support for a variety of heritage-related activities. The Heritage Center provided matching funds to make completion of this project possible.
     The challenge presented to obtain the grant was:  How can petroglyph recording occur in extremely remote areas of the mesa requiring a two hour drive each way to the work areas, drastically reducing time of recorders in the field? Climate change with resulting high daytime temperatures negatively affects our volunteer recorders, some of whom are no longer as young as they were! Janet hatched an idea to camp out overnight during the spring and fall and work during the cooler hours of those seasons and process recording data during the hot months of summer. Several trips were needed to identify access points from the mesa top to the east escarpment. The first outing was instructive: after spending the night sleeping in the backs of our trucks at the mesa’s edge, we awoke to find many large cougar and elk tracks. Each field day, the remote recording team hiked down over the edge and were gratified to find many beautiful images, as well as trails and constructed remains. Hot work, but well worth it! Recording teams found new and unique findings which Janet will share with you Tuesday evening.
     As a special note - Janet will be retiring at the end of April. Please come and help celebrate her many accomplishments with the Project and wish her bon voyage.

2018 Presentations . . .

Genetic Genealogy Confirms Native American Histories Among Nuevo Mexicanos
Miguel A Tórrez, Administrator of the NM Genealogical Society’s DNA project.

     The deep roots and migration patterns of population groups can be discovered from DNA testing. Within this field of research is New Mexico genetic genealogy, an ongoing effort for over ten years. DNA testing has been employed to answer many questions regarding family lineages, surname origins, links and distinctions of surnames, paper trail roadblocks, but most of all has given the contemporary New Mexican a view into their past which historical documents alone can’t do. New Mexico’s early colonists settled under various settlements; most notable are those who came with Juan de Oñate and later the don Diego de Vargas period. Among these Colonists were a Native American supporting cast. The NMGS DNA Project is employing genetic genealogy to investigating the origins of the New Mexico Colonial lineages to gain a better understanding of the contemporary New Mexican’s ancestry.
      Miguel A. Tórrez is a Research Technologist at Los Alamos National Laboratory working in Material Science. He earned his BS in Environmental Science from Northern New Mexico College. Tórrez also serves as the administrator of the New Mexico Genealogical Society’s (NMGS DNA Project) DNA project.

The Best of the Best - Recording on Mesa Prieta in 2017
Candie Borduin, Petroglyph Recording Coordinator, MPPP

     At the beginning of each year, 40 trained MPPP recording volunteers are invited to participate in voting for the “best of the best” of the previous year’s recording on Mesa Prieta.  The top twenty five selections are featured in a Land Owner Report prepared for the Richard Cook Family. Similar Land Owner reports are prepared for other private land owners as recording on their land is completed.  The most spectacular, well made, unique, well documented selections of petroglyphs and other archaeological features are featured in these reports.
     For the August presentation of Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Talks, Candie Borduin, Petroglyph Recording Coordinator for Mesa Prieta will present many of these “best of the best” images.  This is a rare opportunity to see images on several parcels of private land that are not seen by the general public.
     Mesa Prieta is now known to be the largest petroglyph site in New Mexico, surpassing better known sites such as the Albuquerque’s Petroglyph National Monument and Three Rivers.  Most of the images are on private land and protected in their isolation.  The 55,000 images recorded to date include about 5 - 10% Archiac images made thousands of years ago, 70% Ancestral Pueblo images made by the ancestors of today’s nearby Pueblos and 20% Historic images made by the Spanish and other Europeans who came to the area in 1598 and later.
     Candie has volunteered with MPPP since 2002 and has served as Petroglyph Recording Trainer and Coordinator since 2008.  She considers working on the mesa to be a rare privilege and the opportunity to work with MPPP volunteers to be equally rewarding.  

The Comanche Petroglyphs on La Vista Verde Trail in Taos County
 Gary Grief

      In 2007, Severin Fowles, Phd. and his Barnard Field School found and identified an extensive amount of Comanche Rock Art in the Rio Grande Gorge area.    
     Comanche Rock Art was found on the La Vista Verde Trail in Taos County within the boundaries of the new Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. This site is well situated within the Rio Grande Gorge near the Taos Junction Bridge. For many years Comanche Rock Art was overlooked by the BLM because of the very light scratched style. We will review examples of Comanche Rock Art on the La Vista Verde Trail and examples that Dorothy Wells and Gary found while recording the 7-acre site at the Taos Junction Bridge site.

Re-thinking 17th century New Mexico
Dr. Scott Ortman

     Recent studies of the initial century of Spanish contact in New Mexico have been grounded in Post-Colonial theory and have tended to focus on population decline, resistance and revitalization. The hardships brought on by Spanish colonization were real, but contemporary Pueblo tradition also incorporates ideas and practices that were introduced by Spanish settlers. This suggests a deeper understanding of the Columbian encounter can be obtained through study of this incorporation process.
     In this talk, Dr. Ortman reviews archaeological, ethnographic, and linguistic evidence to examine why certain elements of Spanish culture were incorporated into Pueblo tradition while others were not, to document the effects of introduced domesticates for Pueblo settlement and land-use, and to determine the extent to which Spanish introductions affected material standards of living, or what Pueblo people refer to today as “abundance.”

Himalaya Bound - One Family's Quest to Save Their Animals and an Ancient Way of Life
Michael Benanov

      Michael Benanav, author and photographer, discussed his journey with a tribe of forest-dwelling nomads in India. Welcomed into a family of nomadic water buffalo herders, he joined them on their annual spring migration into the Himalayas. More than a glimpse into an endangered culture, this superb adventure explores the relationship between humankind and wild lands, and the dubious effect of environmental conservation on peoples whose lives are inseparably intertwined with the natural world.       
       The migration Benanav embarked upon was plagued with problems, as government officials threatened to ban this nomadic family―and others in the Van Gujjar tribe―from the high alpine meadows where they had summered for centuries.    
https://himalayabound.com

Valles Caldera National Preserve Dendroglyph Project
Colleen Olinger

    Colleen Olinger is Volunteer Liaison working with the Valles Caldera National Preserve Dendroglyph Project, directed by Dr. Ana Steffen, VCNP Interdisciplinary Scientist/Communicator.
      Since 2008, volunteer crews averaging 3-5 people have entered designated Valles Caldera National Preserve areas to locate and document historic dendroglyphs (tree carvings) found on aging aspen trees and snags. Carvings include a very few left from the 1890s. Names, initials, home locations, dates, and even human figures, religious symbols, horses, and birds appear. Erotica is common in certain locations. The survey is racing against time, animal damage, and nature. Wildfire has burned seven of ten surveyed areas.

2017 Presentations . . .

The San Gabriel Historical Society: Celebrating Our Past – Inspiring Our Future
Lennett Rendón

      The San Gabriel Historical Society was established in 1966 by a group of concerned citizens that wanted to preserve the local history of Northern New Mexico. The Society invites speakers, provides tours and on occasion has special exhibits of artifacts and collections related to local history.
     After working for over 35 years in Los Alamos, Lennett happened to attend a “Ladies Tea Party" in conjunction with an “Antique and Vintage Fashion Exhibit” at the Bond House that was sponsored by the San Gabriel Historical Society (SGHS) May 2014. She was so impressed with the exhibit that she wanted to find out more about the San Gabriel Historical Society so she decided to join in 2015 and is now the President, which keeps her very busy. She credits two individuals that have been members for over 30 years and have kept the SGHS doors open helping out the Española City as docents.

A rare view of images recorded on private land on Mesa Prieta in 2016
Candie Borduin, MPPP Petroglyph Recording Coordinator

     At the beginning of each year, 40 trained MPPP recording volunteers are invited to participate in voting for the “best of the best” of the previous year’s recording on and near Mesa Prieta.  The top twenty five selections are featured in a Land Owner Report prepared for Mr. Cook and his family. Similar Land Owner reports are prepared for other private land owners as recording on their land is completed.  The most spectacular, well made, unique, well documented selections of petroglyphs and other archaeological features are featured in these reports.
     For the September presentation of Pláticas, Candie Borduin, Petroglyph Recording Coordinator for Mesa Prieta will present many of these “best of the best” images.  This is a rare opportunity to see images on several parcels of private land that are not seen by the general public.
     Mesa Prieta is now known to be the largest petroglyph site in New Mexico, surpassing better known sites such as the Albuquerque’s Petroglyph National Monument and Three Rivers.  Most of the images are on private land and protected in their isolation.  The 55,000 images recorded to date include about 5 - 10% Archiac images made thousands of years ago, 70% Ancestral Pueblo images made by the ancestors of today’s nearby Pueblos and 20% Historic images made by the Spanish and other Europeans who came to the area in 1598 and later.
     Candie has volunteered with MPPP since 2002 and has served as Petroglyph Recording Trainer and Coordinator since 2008.  She considers working on the mesa to be a rare privilege and the opportunity to work with MPPP volunteers to be equally rewarding. 

"A Photographer’s Journey through the Sacred Valley of Peru to Machu Picchu."
Norman Doggett

     In May 2017 Norman traveled to Peru and spent two weeks hiking and capturing images in Cusco, along the Lares Trek to Ollantaytambo and along the iconic Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.  Come share in his photographic journey in the Sacred Valley of the Incas through numerous archeological sites and many Quechuan villages.
      Norman Doggett is a scientist in the Bioscience Division of Los Alamos National Laboratory and has lived in the Española Valley for the past 28 years.  His work at LANL has included research for the Human Genome Project, diagnostic assay development for the CDC and DHS, and environmental microbiology projects.  Norman joined the MPPP Board in 2015 and has been the Board’s Secretary since 2016. Norman is an avid self-taught photographer with a special interest in landscape photography.  Some of his petroglyph images can be seen in MPPP’s 2017 calendar.

"Rock Art on the Kaibab Plateau: Applying Legacy Data to Heritage Management"
Jana Comstock 

     This presentation summarizes Jana Comstock's Masters thesis which focuses on applying legacy data, existing documentation, to heritage resources management.  She outlines a preservation and analytic process applicable to all types of archaeological legacy data.  A case study of the rock art of the Kaibab Plateau, which lies on the north rim of the Grand Canyon in northern Arizona, demonstrates this methodology. This thesis examines the 261 known rock art sites of the North Kaibab Ranger District (NKRD), a management area of the Kaibab National Forest, through statistical and spatial analyses. 
     Jana is an Assistant Zone Archaeologist on the Santa Fe National Forest where she has worked on the Española and Coyote Ranger Districts for four years.  She has a Bachelor's degree in Psychology with a minor in Anthropology from Texas State University-San Marcos and a Master's degree in Anthropology with a focus in Applied Archaeology from Northern Arizona University.  Jana has also worked on the Kaibab National Forest and at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Life on the Edge:  Microbes in Rock Varnish
Dr. Chris Yeager, Los Alamos National Laboratory

     The newly discovered high concentrations of rock varnish-like surfaces on Mars opens up new possibilities for habitability on that planet. Rock varnish is a thin (micron-scale), dark brown or black, often shiny layer on rock surfaces that forms in arid regions all over the Earth. Its dark appearance comes from the presence of manganese- and iron-oxides that make up ~30% of its composition. Despite its ubiquity on the Earth, the formation mechanism of varnish is not well understood. Microorganisms occupy crevices, pores and layers within rock varnish and it is probable that the concentration of manganese in many rock varnishes is mediated by microbial activity. However, the relationship between microbes and varnish remains a source of long-standing controversy that has important implications for our understanding of how life on Earth has evolved to capture and harness energy. Additionally, signatures of life that may be present in rock varnish on Mars cannot be definitively identified without first being identified on Earth. In this presentation, Dr. Yeager will discuss historical research on rock varnish, the current state of knowledge (Earth and Mars) and the aims of our research program.     
     Dr. Chris Yeager is a broadly-trained microbiologist with a research background in molecular biology, microbial ecology, genomics and soil science. Over the past 12 years he has served as a Staff Scientist within the Department of Energy National Laboratory system, first in the Environmental Biotechnology Section at Savannah River National Laboratory (2005-2011) and then in the Biosciences Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory (2011-current). As a staff scientist, he has developed and managed a variety of research programs, focusing on microbial communities involved in processes relevant to climate change, fate and transport of radionuclides in the environment and bioenergy production.

Historic Period Heritage Features at the Northern Terminus of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro in New Mexico
Janet MacKenzie - Director, MPPP

     Mesa Prieta, at the northern end of the Spanish Royal Road to explore the interior lands north of Mexico, features the largest assemblage of Historic Period petroglyphs in New Mexico. With many unique images dating from the early 1600s, these fascinating petroglyphs are an important component of the culture and lives of the state’s early and more recent Hispano peoples, an area of study deserving of more attention.
     Janet MacKenzie has done archaeological excavation and survey in Britain, Canada, Peru and New Mexico since 1972, especially on fortified sites associated with a walled trade route on the continental divide in the northern sierra of Peru. Janet became the MPP Project Director in 2015 and oversees archaeological recording and award-winning Summer Youth Intern and 4th to 7th Grade Curriculum programs, docent-led tours of the Wells Petroglyph Preserve, and other MPPP activities in the community. She has volunteered with the Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area, Archaeological Records Management Section of the New Mexico Heritage Preservation Office, and the Archaeological Society of New Mexico and its Rock Art Council.

Ringing Rocks of the Southwest
Ron Barber - Founder:  The Stone Calendar Project

   The Stone Calendar Project has been studying rock art sites throughout the Southwest and northern Mexico identifying glyphs that mark specific times of the year using unique light and shadow interactions. Many of the rock art sites exhibit evidence of additional cultural rituals that occurred at the calendar sites. One of the interesting findings is the presence of "ringing rocks", sometimes referred to as gong rocks in other parts of the world. These rare basalt and granite rocks have a unique microstructure that generates a ringing acoustic sound when struck. Most of the ringing rocks identified have been raised and placed on elevated supports, providing free edges that are less damped, producing a clear bell-like ringing tone. The points at which the rocks are struck are easily identified by markings and produce a wide range of tones. Even at the locations where ringing rocks are found, only a small fraction of the rocks exhibit these unique acoustic properties. The ringing rocks are generally located at rock art sites, occasionally with some glyphs and cupules engraved onto the ringing rocks. Due to the close proximity of the ringing rocks to the stone calendar sites, there was most likely an important cultural relationship. Ethnographic reports from the southwest reveal use of these rocks, but have limited descriptive information on rock composition or range of applications. The study has identified multiple ringing rock sites and quarries in New Mexico and Arizona, occurring in Puebloan, Hohokam, and Patayan cultures.

     Ron Barber was born and raised in the oilfields of South America and enjoyed many adventures among indigenous cultures and ancient sites. He is an engineer with 30 years’ experience at national laboratories in California and New Mexico. Ron has developed a systematic approach to surveying and identifying petroglyphs for study, particularly those potentially related to early astronomical knowledge.

Looking Over the Artist's Shoulder - Multi Spectral-Imaging the Segesser I Hide Painting
Mark MacKenzie - Director of Conservation, Department of Cultural Affairs

   Created between 1693 and 1730, the Segesser I hide painting portrays a punitive expedition comprising Pueblo Indian and Spanish troops against the Apache Indians. Now on display at the Palace of the Governors, the 18 ft. long bison hide painting is undergoing multispectral imaging to identify materials, changes over time and painting techniques. In order to image the huge architectural mural that is Segesser I, a computer controlled travelling imaging gantry table was designed and built.  Called the “Franken-Camera”, it allows the painting to be imaged flat and with .001” positioning accuracy.  It will take 3817 images to complete this project and create files totally more than 4 Terrabytes.
     Mark MacKenzie is the Director of Conservation, Museum Resources Division, Department of Cultural Affairs. His academic background is in art conservation, anthropology, archaeology, microbiology and history. His passions are historical photography, microcomputing, materials science and woodworking.

2016 Presentations . . . .

Pueblo Lifeways and Traditions
Marlon Magdelena, Instructional Coordinator, Jemez Historic Site
     This presentation focused on the Pueblo People, and more specifically, the Jemez People. Beginning with an orientation on Pueblo languages and cultures, and delving into personal experiences as a Jemez Pueblo Tribal Member. Artifacts and replicas will be utilized to discuss their usage and meaning in Pueblo Culture, while also explaining the reason why some Pueblo Peoples do not indulge in the sharing of cultural knowledge with “outsiders.”

Lost on the Way:
Recording the Trails Networks on Mesa Prieta
by Janet MacKenzie
     The ancient people who lived on the east and west sides of Mesa Prieta often travelled along established routes to visit each other. During the Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project’s recording work, which began in 2002, several major trail networks across proveniences on the mesa have been discovered and mapped.

     Prehistoric and Historic period artifacts including Archaic and Ancestral Puebloan lithic artifacts, ceramic sherds, glass sherds, metal objects, and animal bones have been found along these trails. Manmade features like corrals, rock cairns, rock walls and other structures speak to the use of the mesa over thousands of years. Some of the petroglyphs and artifacts that have been found are associated with these trails, some as trail markers. 
     The trails themselves are fascinating evidence of the activities of those who came before and they are still being used today. Their form and function have evolved over hundreds of years, from simple transportation trails to water management features that may be related to the heavy sheep grazing on Mesa Prieta’s grassy benches into the 1930s.
     Janet MacKenzie is an archaeologist who has excavated and surveyed in Britain, Canada and Peru since 1972, particularly on fortified sites associated with a walled trade route on the continental divide in the northern sierra of Peru. At first a volunteer with the Mesa Prieta Petrogylph Project, she became Project Coordinator in 2010 and Director in 2015. Janet oversees all MPPP programs and activities including the Summer Youth Intern Program for Pueblo and Hispano youth. This unique program won a national Take Pride in America Award in 2011. Janet has increased the efficiency, transparency and reporting of MPPP activities and has developed many professional relationships and partnerships. She has been instrumental in improving the scientific quality of archaeological recording done by the project and ensures the preservation of MPPP recorded data.

Citizen Science—Revolution and Renaissance
Sharman Russell, Author

      Revolution, renaissance, and transformation. These are the words Sharman Apt Russell uses to describe the new world of citizen science, a world in which hundreds of thousands of volunteers are following their bliss tracking bird migrations, collecting water samples, monitoring archaeological sites, and cataloging galaxies. The author of the award-winning Diary of a Citizen Scientist: Chasing Tiger Beetles and other New Ways of Engaging the World will explore the role of citizen science and emphasize projects here in New Mexico. As Sharman says, “This is science, and this is love, and I have always believed they are the same thing.” This discussion may well inspire you to join one of the many citizen scientist projects online or in your own backyard.
      Sharman Apt Russell is a nature and science writer with a dozen books translated into a dozen languages. Her recent Diary of a Citizen Scientist has been given the 2016 John Burroughs Medal for Distinguished Nature Writing, whose recipients include Rachel Carson and Aldo Leopold, as well as the WILLA Award for Creative Nonfiction. Other new books include the eco-science fiction Knocking on Heaven’s Door, set in northern New Mexico, and the YA historical fantasy, Teresa of the New World, set in the dreamscape of the sixteenth-century American Southwest. Sharman is the recipient of a Rockefeller Fellowship and Pushcart Prize. She is emeritus faculty at Western New Mexico University in Silver City and also teaches in the low-residency MFA program at Antioch University in L.A. She loves to writes and aims for a life full of gratitude and astonishment. For more information, please go to www.sharmanaptrussell.com.

On the Interpretation of Archaic Rock Art
Dr. Severin Fowles, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Barnard College and Columbia University

     What are we to do about Archaic rock art? For most specialists, Pueblo iconography is already difficult enough. Sober archaeologists often look at the image of a deer or a horned serpent or a masked figure and conclude that we will never really know what the artist intended to convey when he or she pecked the boulder centuries ago. And if this is the case, should we even attempt to explore the meanings behind of all those vastly older dots, squiggles, and meandering lines that mysteriously occupy the same landscape? 
     “Archaic” rock art was produced by nomadic hunter-gatherers long before the iconographic revolutions that went hand-in-hand with the arrival of agriculture and village life. It is almost impossible to date with any resolution, though it is typically much more heavily repatinated than diagnostic Pueblo imagery, which leads us to assume that most Archaic rock art panels are millennia rather than centuries old. Lichen has frequently eaten away at the pecked pattern; in other cases the very surface of a boulder has exfoliated in places; and heavy patina development almost always limits the graphic contrast between figure and ground. All of this tends to make Archaic rock art decidedly un-photographic. Moreover, the non-representational abstraction of most Archaic panels makes it difficult to say much about the glyphs even when they can be seen. Thus have the millennia of Archaic rock art quietly faded into the margins of archaeological conversations. 

     Severin Fowles is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Barnard College and Columbia University, who visits New Mexico each summer as a resident scholar at the School for Advanced Research and as a fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies. He is the author of "An Archaeology of Doings: Secularism and the Study of Pueblo Religion" (SAR Press, 2013) and the co-editor of the forthcoming "Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the American Southwest" (Oxford University Press, 2016). His articles are freely available at: https://barnard.academia.edu/SeverinFowles


Sustaining the Local Fiber Arts Heritage
Olimpia Newman, Development Director, Española Valley Fiber Arts Center

     Shepherding of Churro sheep was introduced by Spanish colonists and continues as part of farming to this day in the Northern Rio Grande valley. Beginning in the mid-20th century, local wool processing facilities began to disappear. As a result, shepherds focused on meat production. Ironically, traditional weavers in Chimayó and elsewhere use non-local yarns produced from non-Churro wool. The gap between Churro wool raised by local farmers and the use of other wool yarns becomes starker with every passing year. Española Valley Fiber Arts Center (EVFAC) is raising awareness and stimulating demand for locally made products out of natural raw fiber by preserving local shepherding traditions, creating demand for local fiber, sustaining wool processing regionally, upholding weaving skills in the community, and contributing towards economic development -  especially in rural areas where shepherding is most common. In addition to a colorful presentation, many of these issues will be shown in the educational documentary An Unbroken Thread: Wool & weaving in Northern New Mexico.

     Olimpia Newman, is a former textile designer who has worked with numerous mills in the US and Germany. After completing her MBA in Paris she managed projects in African and Asian countries for the United Nations focusing on upgrading the entrepreneurial skills of women and sectoral business development. Since her arrival in New Mexico in 2011, she has concentrated on working with fiber artists and their businesses. Olimpia is presently EVFAC’s Director of Development where she is responsible for fund and donor development, program design and implementation. 

A Genetic View at Colonial New Mexico - Tracing Ancestries with DNA
Miguel Tórrez, Project Director,
New Mexico Genealogical Society’s Genetic Genealogy Project

     Miguel A. Tórrez is a New Mexico Historian and Genetic Genealogist. He is the The New Mexico Genealogical Society’s DNA Project administrator, NMGS Board Member, as well as member of the Santa Cruz de la Cañada Historical Working Group. Miguel currently works as a research technologist at Los Alamos National Laboratory and has his degrees in Natural Resources and Southwestern Studies, and is currently nearing completion of a BS in Environmental Science.
      “I feel that self-pride and a sense of belonging can be fostered through knowing one’s history. To be here today is a testament of our ancestors resilience and not an accident” – Miguel A. Tórrez

      New Mexico settlements occurred in different waves, both in large groups and in family units. Some genealogies are traceable all the way back to the 1598 Oñate settlement, while others can only trace to the Reconquest, Mexican or Territorial periods. In some cases, they are traceable to Native American ancestors. DNA is a tool that can help confirm or distinguish branches of the same surname, and help reduce paper road blocks by possibly linking them to surname lineages or family branches that have been confirmed using the paper trail and DNA comparisons. The New Mexico Genealogical Society’s DNA Project’s goals are to validate genealogies tracing back to their known origin in New Mexico using Y-DNA and mtDNA testing.  Miguel Tórrez will discuss his work with the NMGS DNA Project as well as a brief overview of a book and DVD that the Santa Cruz de la Cañada Historical Working Group recently published. 


Highlights of Petroglyph Recording in 2015 
Candie Borduin, Recording Coordinator, Mesa Prieta Petrolgyph Project

     At the beginning of each year, 35 trained MPPP recording volunteers are invited to participate in voting for the “best of the best” of the previous year’s recording on and near Mesa Prieta.  The top twenty five selections are featured in a Land Owner Report prepared for Mr. Cook and his family. Similar Land Owner reports are prepared for other private land owners as recording on their land is completed.  The most spectacular, well made, unique, well documented selections of petroglyphs and other archaeological features are featured in these reports.
     For the April presentation of Pláticas, Candie Borduin, Petroglyph Recording Coordinator for Mesa Prieta will present many of these “best of the best” images.  This is a rare opportunity to see images on private land that are not seen by the general public.
     Mesa Prieta is now known to be the largest petroglyph site in New Mexico, surpassing better known site such as the Albuquerque’s Petroglyph National Monument and Three Rivers.  Most of the images are on private land and protected in their isolation.  The 55,000 images recorded to date include about 5 - 10% Archiac images made thousands of years ago, 70% Ancestral Pueblo images made by the ancestors of today’s nearby Pueblos and 20% Historic images made by the Spanish and other Europeans who came to the area in 1598 and later.
     Candie has volunteered with MPPP since 2002 and has served as Petroglyph Recording Trainer and Coordinator since 2008.  She considers working on the mesa to be a rare privilege and the opportunity to work with MPPP volunteers to be equally rewarding. 


Lava and the creation of Continents 
Scott Aby, Field Geologist

     All the geology we can easily see is on land, but the early Earth had no continents or oceans.  We think it was just an incandescent, homogeneous mass created by the collision of asteroids and comets.  How did the continents originate?  Were they created suddenly during some specific time in Earth's history?  Did they grow gradually? How can we even begin to know this kind of thing? Why are the continents sitting up higher than the oceans?  And perhaps most importantly, how is Earth like a big pot of spaghetti sauce?
     Scott Aby has been making maps and collecting fossils in northern New Mexico professionally for the last thirteen years.  Before that he worked for the USGS, planted trees for the forest service, and peeled quite a few vigas. Scott has a Bachelors degree from Humboldt State University in Northern California, where he studied local geology and worked in the Bahamas.  Scott has a Masters degree in geology from UNM where he studied faults and stream terraces in the Jemez Mountains. 

When Lighting Strikes Twice
John Pitts

     Have you ever wondered what happens when a lightning bolt strikes ground? Most people presume bolts hit trees, splitting the trunks or even incinerating the entire tree. Indeed, many forest fires are blamed on lightning strikes, particularly during drought periods. Others see boulders shattered by strikes and believe that the magnetic force of the rock has been altered.  In fact, based on extensive research, John Pitts had discovered that these powerful bolts of electricity leave permanent marks on rocks that appear as wavy while lines. The heat of the electricity hitting hard surfaces fuses the minerals on the rock causing these white lines. 
     How does that strike you? The early inhabitants of the Southwest were keen observers of nature and had strong beliefs about the relationship of nature and human survival. Did they take note of that phenomenon? How did they interpret those lines imprinted on rocks and cliffs where they lived?  John will offer some possible answers to these questions. 
    John has studied the phenomenon of lightning bolt tracks on rock surfaces, called rock furgulites, for years. His research has raised a number of questions pertaining to the frequency of those strikes, the dating of them and the possible connection to the associated rock art.  Since little has been established scientifically in relation to lightning bolt strikes to date, the field is wide open. John will put forth certain theories that will hopefully lead to a lively discussion on the topic and help to expand the understanding of the relationship between one aspect of nature and the life patterns of Native Americans. 

2015 Presentations . . . .

Indigenous Musical Instruments of the Southwest 
Marlon Magdelena

     Many of us associate the flute with the indigenous music of New Mexico. However, Pueblo peoples have a rich musical tradition that dates back thousands of years. Several types of musical instruments have been in continuous use and others have been long forgotten. Through the use of replicas derived from archaeological records and at the same time treating us to a mini performance, Marlon Magdalena will introduce a host of instruments used by indigenous people through the ages.

      Marlon Magdalena, aka Ælu'æki or aluaki (Young Elk) is an accepted tribally enrolled member of Jemez Pueblo, where his life is centered around his family and the community of Jemez. Marlon makes and sells three kinds of woodwind instruments found in North America; Rim-blown Flutes, Two-Chambered Block Flutes and small bone flutes and whistles.      Marlon fell in love with the sound, the construction, and ease of play when he bought his first Block flute at the 2007 Memorial Day Powwow at the Red Rocks north of his home. After that he knew he had to learn more about this wonderful instrument. Through buying and researching flutes he has learned more about his own cultural heritage. Marlon is the Instructional Coordinator at the Jemez Historic site, where he manages special events.

New Mexico Landscapes and Spanish Colonization
Emily Lena Jones

      When Spanish colonists came to New Mexico in 1598, they encountered landscapes shaped by centuries of intensive human use: the fields, water features, and towns of prehistoric New Mexico were all products of human activity, and both zooarchaeological and paleoethnobotanical data suggest significant human impacts on floral and faunal features outside of human settlement. And yet, these human-influenced prehistoric Southwestern landscapes were distinct from those that developed through the “Columbian exchange” and contact between indigenous communities and the Spanish. The Spanish colonists brought with them a suite of new taxa – both floral and faunal – as well as new land management practices that transformed New Mexican environments.

      In this talk, Ms. Jones uses zoo-archaeology – particularly data on the abundance and distribution of Old World domesticates, such as sheep – from sites across New Mexico to explore how the coming of the Spanish shaped the landscapes we live in today.

      Emily Lena Jones is Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Faculty Associate of the Latin American and Iberian Institute at the University of New Mexico. Her research focuses on understanding the relationships between past humans and the landscapes they lived in, particularly through animal remains from archaeological sites. Although she has conducted projects in Arizona, Mexico, Spain, France, Germany and Alaska, her current research focuses on the historical ecology of New Mexico's Rio Grande Valley. She is the author of numerous articles on the zooarchaeology of Paleolithic Southwestern Europe as well as the late prehistoric and early historic American Southwest. Her book, In Search of the Broad Spectrum Revolution in Paleolithic Southwest Europe, will be published by Springer International in Fall 2015.


Acequia Systems in Northern New Mexico
Stanley G. Crawford

      Stanley Crawford divides his time between writing and farming in Northern New Mexico, where he and his wife Rose Mary have lived since 1969.  He's the author of seven novels, among which is The Log of the S.S. The Mrs Unguentine (Dalkey Archive Press, Champaign and London), and three works of nonfiction about Northern New Mexico, including: A Garlic Testament: Seasons on a Small New Mexico Farm (The University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque).  Two new novels were issued in spring 2015: Seed (FC2/University of Alabama Press) and The Canyon (University of New Mexico Press. 
      Environmentalist Bill McKibben suggests that the best way to cope with the extreme weather events we're likely to face in the future is to strengthen local communities. In Northern New Mexico we're fortunate to have a template in the traditional acequia system in which landowner participants govern the use of a basic resource, water, through democratically elected officials.  Other examples of locally governed institutions are farmers' markets, food coops, local self-help organizations such as volunteer fire departments, and most recently solar farms. Stanley Crawford will discuss his long experience as a parciante, comisionado, and mayordomo with Embudo Valley acequias, and other "relocalization" projects he has been involved with.
      In 2016 FC2 will also issue his novella, Intimacy.  Crawford has been the recipient of two NEA Writing Fellowships and a three-year Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Writer's Award, and has held residencies at the MacDowell Colony, the Bellagio Study Center, and Centrum in Port Townsend, Washington.  He has taught at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, UMass/Amherst, and Colorado College in Colorado Springs.
      Stanley has been active in the development of the Santa Fe Farmers' Market since the 1980s and directed the preliminary development phases of the Farmers' Market permanent site on the Railyard in Santa Fe.   

Geology and Fossils of Mesa Prieta
Scott Aby

     Like many mesas in New Mexico Black Mesa is topped by a thin layer of lava, which is resistant to erosion. That is why these mesas stand high in the landscape - because everything else has eroded away around them. The lava on Black Mesa is between 3 and 4 million years old, and is a type of lava that flows pretty easily, usually down valleys, so we know that the bottom of the valley was at the top of the mesa when that lava was erupted. This type of lava (called Basalt), when left out in the elements for a few million years, gets a coating on it called "desert varnish". Petroglyphs are made by chipping the varnish off the rocks to reveal the lighter colored "fresh" rock under it.   
     Black Mesa is also interesting to geologists because of the well-exposed sediments beneath it that has fossils of "savannah type" mammals in them. These include camels, horses, rhinos, ground sloths, elephants, giant tortoises and a whole bunch of other animals. These fossils may represent some of the first open grassland environments in Earth's history. The American Museum of Natural History collected many fossils from this area between 1920-1960 and ongoing projects with the BLM and New Mexico Museum of Natural history are adding to these collections.
     Scott Aby has been making maps and collecting fossils in northern New Mexico professionally for the last thirteen years.  Before that he worked for the USGS, planted trees for the forest service, and peeled quite a few vigas. Scott has a Bachelors degree from Humboldt State University in Northern California, where he studied local geology and worked in the Bahamas.  Scott has a masters degree in geology from UNM where he studied faults and stream terraces in the Jemez Mountains. 

Sustaining Culture and Traditions
Thomas Romero

     Thomas Romero, Executive Director of the Northern Río Grande National Heritage Area, provided a presentation on the work of the Heritage Area, which covers the area of Taos, Río Arriba, and Santa Fe Counties.  He focused on the work of the organization over the last three years in creating sustaining partnerships with other cultural organizations and discussed the Heritage Area’s grants program and project efforts to support education, community development, tourism and economic development, and the preservation of Northern New Mexico’s cultural heritage.  As a sustaining organization, the National Heritage Area brings Federal funding into the State, but it is through its collaborative partnerships that the Heritage Area intends to influence the preservation of culture and traditions. 

      Mr. Romero has been Executive Director of the National Heritage Area organization since August 2011.  He headed his own Management Consulting firm for over 30 years, working with government, Tribal entities, and businesses, throughout the U.S. and in Latin America.  He served as Deputy Secretary of several departments under the Richardson administration, and as Associate Vice President for Organizational and Community Development with the Santa Fe Community College.  For the last 18 years he has served on the Board of El Museo Cultural in Santa Fe, and on boards of other non-profits.

The Catholicization of the New Mexican Landscape
Dr. Severine Fowles

     One of the most exciting lines of research currently being undertaken by the Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project is its focus on Spanish colonial rock art, particularly the great diversity of Catholic imagery on the mesa. In this talk, Sev Fowles will contribute to their initiative by considering the patterns in Catholic imagery and related features just north of the mesa in the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. Sev’s comments will focus on two archaeological patterns: first, the extensive distribution of Penitente rock art associated with a 19th and early 20th century morada at the edge of the contemporary community of Pilar; second, the incorporation of Catholic imagery into local Pueblo and Jicarilla rock art traditions.
     Severin Fowles is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Barnard College and Columbia University, currently living in New Mexico as a resident scholar at the School for Advanced Research and as a fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies. He is the author of "An Archaeology of Doings: Secularism and the Study of Pueblo Religion" (SAR Press, 2013) and the co-editor of the forthcoming "Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the American Southwest" (Oxford University Press, 2016). His articles are freely available at: https://barnard.academia.edu/SeverinFowles .

Highlights of Petroglyph Recording in 2014
Candie Borduin
Our 10 petroglyph recording teams recorded over 5000 petroglyphs on four
parcels of private land in 2014!  We have chosen the most unique and
outstanding images for this presentation.  Candie has been a volunteer with Mesa Prieta for 13 years, and has led the recording efforts on the Salazar land, Wells Preserve and now the 6800 acres of Richard Cook's land.  She is also the Web Site Designer and Manager.

Pueblo Food Experience Project
Porter Swentzell
     Life-long Santa Clara Pueblo member and MPPP Board member Porter Swentzell spoke about his personal experiences as a participant and researcher for the Pueblo Food Experience Project. This project gathers volunteers from multiple Pueblo communities to eat pre-Spanish contact food while tracking the health benefits of this life-style change. The Pueblo Food Experience Project was sponsored by Flowering Tree Permaculture Institute located at Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico. 

Cotton Farming in New Mexico before 1492
Glenna Dean, PhD. 
     Glenna, trained in archaeology and botany, is the former New Mexico State Archaeologist and retired three years ago as Executive Director of the Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area.  She is also a spinner and weaver with a special interest in natural dyes.  Her professional and personal interests led her to study farming in Northern New Mexico, especially “farming with rocks” to grow crops - including  cotton - before the arrival of Spanish explorers.  Her talk, "Cotton Farming in New Mexico before 1492," explores botanical, ecological, historical, archaeological, and cultural aspects of an under-appreciated plant and some of its prospects in the future.

The History of Los Luceros
CJ Law, Manager of Historic Los Lucero
     A native northern New Mexican, CJ is one of the few gringos born at the Embudo Hospital. He was raised at Pilar, and on a small ranch at Glenwoody. CJ went off to study at NMSU in Las Cruces, getting a degree in Agriculture Education. Other degrees followed from Western New Mexico University and the University of Arizona. At the height of his academic career he served as the academic dean of Dawson Community College in Glendive, MT.  Returning to New Mexico, he worked for Phelps Dodge Corporation in their copper mining operation near Silver City, NM training trainers.
     Prior to coming to Los Luceros in October 2013, CJ managed the Fort Sumner State Monument, a position that brought him into the Department of Cultural Affairs. It was his first historical management position, having spent most of his career in education and administration.  He says, "This is the best job I have ever held."

The 2020 Mesa Talks lecture series (and much more) are made possible by the generous support of the following:

New Mexico Humanities Council
​
National Endowment for the Humanities