The GCAS could not have asked for better weather on our last field trip of 2025. The day was cool, crisp, clear, and sunny for 15 members and their guests to explore the archaeological site of Old Town in the southern Mimbres Valley watershed. Site Stewards Alan Ragins and Marsha Sue Lusting led the group through the site – one of the larger prehistoric settlements in the southern Mimbres Valley – while Marilyn Markel (over there on the left) provided color commentary on the archaeological investigations that took place there in the 1990s and the archaeologists’ findings. The group examined the site’s early pithouse areas, the remnants of the later pueblo structures, and speculated about the steep cliffs that plunged from the edge of the Old Town site to the Mimbres River below.
The clear and dry day offered unlimited visibility and panoramic views of the surrounding landscape, allowing the group to appreciate how close the Old Town site is to other archaeological sites in the area, including the City of Rocks State Park where a recent archaeological field school discovered a stand-alone kiva.
We look forward to more such field trips in 2026 – thank you, trip leaders! Thanks also to field trip co-coordinator, Eduardo Argüello, for the group photo up top, and to Ken Driese for the other two photos!