Clovis found on Lincoln National Forest

News Flash!



While conducting a survey in the Guadalupe Mountains of southcentral New Mexico, Lincoln National Forest Archaeologists recently located the proximal portion of a Clovis projectile point. Diane White, commented "I've been doing archaeology for 20 years" and thought she would never find anything as important as a Clovis artifact. Shortly after recovering the stone point, LNF archaeologists suffered from a temporary scare as the Clovis point was discovered missing by Amanda Sanchez. It turns out that one of the staff members had set the artifact next to the office candy dish, where it was picked up by another conscientious archaeologist, and locked up for safekeeping.

The Clovis point fragment is made of tan chert. It measures 2.5cm in length, 2cm wide, and .5cm in width just above the flute. There is a distinct flute on one side, and what appears to be a partial flute on the obverse. The point was broken ~3mm beyond the full flute. There appears to be at least two separate breaks, one of which is hinged.

Archaeologists are yet unsure of the total significance of this recent find. The site appears large and boundaries have not been completely identified. At least one archaeologist, forest service SCEP and Graduate student at New Mexico State University, Agnes Castronuevo hopes to find more associated with the site, perhaps even mammoth bones! "Blackwater Draw anyone?"

Mt. Baker Snoqualmie Photo Gallery

http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/mbs/photo_gallery/

Here is a great album of photos from Mt. Baker Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington State!

Wenatchee National Forest Photos

http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/wenatchee/photographs/index.shtml

These are some photos from the forest in Eastern Washington!

Wenatchee NF Fall 2007 Photos

http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/wenatchee/fallcolor/

A great collection of photos from Washington State!

Bio-definitions

Biogenic – material originating in organisms.

Bioluminescence – production of light by biota.

Biomass – weight of living material per unit area.

Biome – an ecological zone that extends over a large region.

Biomonitoring – the evaluation of environmental conditions through the use of living organisms.

Biosphere – that portion of the surface of the earth in which life exists.

Biota – living organisms.

Biotic community – the organisms in a given habitat.

(just a list of definitions related to "bio")

New Mexico Mines and Minerals ... Being an Epitome of the Early Mining History and Resources of New Mexican Mines, in the Various Districts, Down to the Present Time ... By Fayette Alexander Jones

New Mexico Mines and Minerals ... Being an Epitome of the Early Mining History and Resources of New Mexican Mines, in the Various Districts, Down to the Present Time ... By Fayette Alexander Jones: ""

The Arrowhead

THE ARROWHEAD by John Homer Luffman1910-1987
I FOUND A FLINTY, GLIST'NING ARROWHEAD IMBEDDED IN A HILL IN TENNESSEE. DID SOME BRAVE WARRIOR, NOW AMONG THE DEAD DEFEND HIS LAND - LAND OF THE CHEROKEE? WAS IT INTENDED FOR AN UNKNOWN FOE OR MEAT WITH WHICH TO FEED A HUNGRY CLAN? AND DID IT HIT THE MARK OR DID IT GO AMISS, CONTRARY TO THE MARKSMAN'S PLAN? HOW LONG WAS THIS BEFORE THE TRAIL OF TEARS, WHEN NATIVE SONS WERE FORCED TO LEAVE THEIR LAND. NO ANSWERS FELL UPON MY LIST'NING EARS FROM THIS SMALL THING I HELD WITHIN MY HAND. IT COULDN'T SPEAK AND I WILL NEVER KNOW ALTHOUGH, IT IS A FACT, I WONDER STILL WHO AIMED THE ARROW ONCE SO LONG AGO I FOUND IMBEDDED IN THE RED CLAY HILL.

An Ancient Place to Wonder about our Survival

'It’s a fairly pristine desert landscape. When former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt recommended national monument status for the area to President Clinton, he said, “this landscape offers us a chance to study an entire culture, one that may have been as rich and diverse as the one we have today.” He argued that archaeological sites should not just be protected individually, “but rather as part of a landscape or ‘anthropological ecosystem.’”'

He said, “The real science on these landscapes doesn’t come out of digging out a room and extracting a few pots. The real discoveries today come from asking the deeper question of ‘How did communities live in spiritual and physical equilibrium with the landscape?’”

...a question I often ask; a question relevant for the past, as well as for the present. Native Americans seem to have lived as part of the landscape, as part of the entire universe. They did not command control over the earth, rather they showed immense respect for the environment that supported them through their lives. The footprint left by prehistoric and modern Native American peoples is slight compared to that being created by non-natives of today. Compare the pueblo dwellings with the concrete and skyscrapers of modern American urban environs.

http://www.archaeologynews.org/Link.asp?ID=306241

Here's to Matt Punke, fellow archaeologist, who was chased down the mountain by another "wild, angry pig!" only to be saved by another fellow SuperArchy, Ryan, with a very big stick (tree trunk)!

Aggie

archaeologist, Lincoln National Forest

History of an ancient symbol

http://www.collectorsguide.com/fa/fa086.shtml (article)

http://www.collectorsguide.com/fa/fa040.shtml (history)

"Visitors to New Mexico in the late 19th century would have been pleased to purchase a souvenir rug, pot or piece of silver jewelry decorated with a swastika. "The tourists loved the motif," wrote Margery Bedinger in her popular 1973 book Indian Silver: Navajo and Pueblo Jewelers. "Between July, 1905 and 1906, 60,000 swastikas in various forms, some by Indians and others not, sold to tourists in New Mexico as genuine Indian articles.""

Legend of the Crystal Skull

http://www.archaeology.org/0805/etc/indy.html


"Sixteen years ago, a heavy package addressed to the nonexistent "Smithsonian Inst. Curator, MezoAmerican Museum, Washington, D.C." was delivered to the National Museum of American History. It was accompanied by an unsigned letter stating: "This Aztec crystal skull, purported to be part of the Porfirio Díaz collection, was purchased in Mexico in 1960.... I am offering it to the Smithsonian without consideration." Richard Ahlborn, then curator of the Hispanic-American collections, knew of my expertise in Mexican archaeology and called me to ask whether I knew anything about the object--an eerie, milky-white crystal skull considerably larger than a human head..."

Friends of Washoe

One summer, as I took an archaeological field school with Dr. Pat Lubinski at CWU, the class took spears and a spearthrower (archaeologists call it an atlatl) to a large open field near the CHCI building and began to practice hurling the spears. Suddenly, an assistant from CHCI rushed outside, pleading for us to stop, as the spears had frightened the chimpanzees. Washoe, dear friend, please understand we didn’t mean any harm.

I offer my thoughts and prayers to Washoe’s family, and especially to those whose hearts she has touched over the years. Live free, Washoe, and take care…

Agnes F. Castronuevo

Washoe passed away on October 30, 2007 at the age of 42 at Central Washington University surrounded by family. She is survived by Tatu, Dar, Loulis, and Debbi and Roger Fouts, and countless members of her primate family...



Friends of Washoe