Sunday, April 7, 2019, provided fine and sunny weather for a field trip. At least 14 members joined trip leader Greg Conlin on a two-pronged visit to the Old Town archaeological site and later, to the petroglyphs on the Bureau of Land Management’s site at Fluorite Ridge. [Tip o’ the hat to the GCAS’s own Chris Overlock, for sharing the photos in this post!]
The most recent archaeological excavations of the Old Town site spanned the period from about 1989 through 2003. Researchers gleaned a trove of scientific and cultural information from their work, but like many other Mimbres sites Old Town had previously suffered from decades of heavy looting. These days the casual observer might call the area nondescript, but the loosened soil and scattered rock walls the looters left behind provide an ideal habitat for rattlesnakes who guard their territory from any and all would-be 21st-Century pothunters.
The petroglyphs at Fluorite Ridge appear among mortar holes along a broad, rounded stone outcrop. The panels include familiar symbols of the planet Venus, snakes, and water symbols (or could those zigzag lines be lightning?). There are as many interpretations of the symbols as there are visitors.
As a final reminder, with Fluorite Ridge or any other site on public land, please always take care to avoid standing, walking, or driving over sensitive archaeological features, and most definitely avoid collecting or defacing these features in any way. These are non-renewable resources we all have the opportunity to enjoy.