[Editor's Note: This article by Marilyn Markel was previously published in the Mimbres Messenger. Most of the photos were taken by Markel, except for the one of the entire group with their posters, which was pulled from the Western New Mexico University Facebook page.]
A group of twenty-five archaeologists and field school students arrived at the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site (MCHS) the last week in May and MCHS volunteers were on hand to greet the group and give a warm welcome to the "college kids." The field crew stayed at MCHS for about six weeks.
The students, led by Dr. Fumi Arakawa of IU, were researching an archaeological site on a ranch in the lower Mimbres Valley. The site dates to the post-Mimbres time period called the Black Mountain Phase (late1100s and the 1200s A.D.).
The students lived in tents, took camp showers with water warmed by the sun, and spent many hours hanging out on the porch, just like dozens and dozens of field school students before them.
Beginning way back in 1929-31, archaeologists camped next to the river while excavating the Mattocks archaeological site. In the 1970s, archaeologists from the Mimbres Foundation lived at MCHS for four field seasons. More recently, field school students from places like the University of Nevada Las Vegas and Eastern N.M. University, and now Indiana U, have carried on the tradition.
Dr. Arakawa plans on bringing his students back to Mimbres for the next few summers, continuing to research the history of the Mimbres valley and training students to be archaeologists.
Dr. Bob Stokes and Dr. Fumi Arakawa at the Agape Acres site
IU students at work at Agape Acres site 062426
Indiana University field school students' camp at MCHS
