RESEARCH AND GRANTS 2009 NMAC Grants The NMAC Grants Program, begun in the late 1990s, was established to provide much needed funding for out-of-pocket research, preservation efforts, travel, or publication expenses directly related to the mission and purposes of the Council. Grant requests specifically targeting New Mexico archaeology are given first priority. Since its inception, this successful program has distributed over $24,000 to worthy causes. A few examples include: * INAA of Chuska Gray Ware ceramics consumed in Chaco Canyon * Obsidian procurement at Zuni Pueblo * AMS dating of atlatls in the MIAC collections * Petrographic analysis of sherds from Plaza Montoya Pueblo * INAA on sherds from Chaco Canyon and the San Juan Basin * Publication assistance for Thirty-Five Years of Archaeological Research at Salmon Ruins. * Dendrochronology studies on culturally modified trees * Travel assistance to research Blackwater Draw projectile points housed in Texas * Lead isotope analysis for glazeware ceramics on the Pajarito Plateau * Residue analysis of White Mountain Red and Smudged Wares * Canada Alamosa ceramic studies * Faunal analysis for Chamisal Pueblo The NMAC Grant Committee will review all applications received on or before October 30, 2009, and notify submitters by November 30, 2009. All NMAC members are eligible to apply for these grants. NMAC does not directly fund salaries but would cover volunteer expenses. Up to $3000 will be available for distribution this year. Individual grants may be made for all or a portion of the total amount available. Applications will be considered and amounts will be awarded at the sole discretion of the NMAC Grants Committee. NMAC grant funds are disbursed up to the amount of the award upon receipt of bills, invoices, or other proof of payment. Proposals should be in the form of application letters (no more than three pages if possible), although supplemental information and articles are welcomed. Student applications should be endorsed by a faculty member. Send requests and supporting documents (brief vita, authorization of landowner/ interested parties, etc.) to the Grants Committee Chair via email at Chris.Turnbow@NMGCO.com. Conditions of the awards include (1) acknowledgment of NMAC in any paper, publication, or presentation resulting from the project for which funds were awarded and (2) preparation of a brief project summary for publication in NewsMAC upon project completion. Chris Turnbow NMAC Grants Committee Chair Chris.Turnbow@NMGCO.com This research was funded by NMAC Grants New Mexico Atlatl Research Continues Sponsored by NMAC Ron Fields, Research Associate MIAC/LAB September 4, 2005 Over seventy-five years ago three atlatls were discovered by H.P. Mera in the Guadalupe Mountains of the Lincoln National Forest, Eddy County, New Mexico. These specimens are identified as Little Pine Cave #1 Atlatl (Cat. # 13427/11), Little Pine Cave #2 Atlatl (13440/11), and Rock Fall Cave Atlatl (Cat. # 13533/11). Unfortunately these specimens were only briefly mentioned in Mera's (1938) Reconnaissance and Exploration in Southeastern New Mexico and no research had been performed on these atlatls since that time. With the help of the Museum of New Mexico’s Conservation Department and the Laboratory of Anthropology, this research is focusing on describing the morphological characteristics of the Mera atlatls and determining their residue and pigments. In 2002 and 2003 NMAC awarded grants to radiocarbon date these specimens. With NMAC’s support, research is addressing the following questions: • How old are these atlatls? • Were the Little Pine Cave and Rock Fall Cave sites occupied contemporaneously? • Do the atlatls from these sites exhibit temporally or regionally sensitive characteristics? • Were atlatls still used after the adoption of the bow and arrow and if so, in what context? Download the entire article HERE (1.6 megs) Tracking the Trachyte: Origins and Development of Chuska Pottery Technology Kathy Niles Hensler Lori Stephens Reed Animas Ceramic Consulting, Inc. Andrea J. Carpenter, Petrographer A previous version of this paper was presented at the 66th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology New Orleans, Louisiana Since the 1960s, researchers working in the San Juan Basin of northern New Mexico have been intrigued by the origin, technology, and distribution of trachyte-tempered pottery---also known as the Chuska pottery tradition. Chuska pottery, which derives from a fairly small source area, was extensively traded across the San Juan Basin. For example, more that 50 percent of the Pueblo II cooking pots in Chaco Canyon assemblages are in fact Chuskan (see Toll 2002). Yet until recently, most data concerning Chuska pottery derived only from survey and limited excavation in the source area. In truth, the initial identification of trachyte temper by Anna Shepard occurred while analyzing ceramics from the La Plata Valley and Chaco, not from the Chuska Valley proper (Shepard 1939, 1963; Stoltman 1999). Unlike most ceramic traditions in the Anasazi region, the use of crushed trachyte temper, the hallmark of Chuska pottery, was a late addition to the local ceramic tradition, and the timing of its adoption is variable (Reed and Goff 2003). After AD 825, potters in the central Chuska Valley began consistently crushing trachyte for temper. By this time, the transition from sand to trachyte was relatively fast, with over 90 percent of assemblages having trachyte temper by late Pueblo I. Contrary patterns in the northern and southern Chuska Valley, however, suggest that the adoption of trachyte temper has a complex trajectory. In this paper, we will first demonstrate the origin of trachyte temper as part of a suite of crushed-rock materials used in the northern Chuska Valley during the Basketmaker III period. Second, we will show that, contrary to previous expectations, the spread of crushed rock technology in the central Chuska Valley was very slow prior to the late Pueblo I period. Finally, we will demonstrate that once started the central valley sources came to dominate Chuska ceramic production. We will also touch briefly on those technological aspects of Chuska pottery that contributed to its desirability, as well as the social impacts that the adoption, spread, and trade in this ceramic type implies. Download the entire article HERE (1.0 megs)

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