Above Top: Slide Show from Sears-Kay and Agua Fria National Monument Field Trips with Scott Wood.
Above Bottom: Drone Video from Chaparrel Pines and Portal Field Trip Descriptions of Past Field Trips
Spring Goat Camp Excavation: AAS Members are continuing excavations at Goat Camp this spring. Sessions are on selected weekend days (9am-3pm) at the Goat Camp Ruin Site in Payson. Later, when It is too warm to be digging, there will be Lab Sessions for sorting and cleaning artifacts collected during the excavation season. Contact Scott Wood for details and participation. JJ Golio has posted two drone videos of the Goat Camp Excavation site (one a 3D rendering) made by Mike Golio. They are at the Goat Camp page under the Rim Country Chapter page of the AAS Website.
May 21 Verde Valley Archaeology Center Dyck Collection Tour: Rim Country Chapter is arranging for a Docent-led tour of the new VVAC facility and museum with the Dyck Collection of perishable artifacts. This includes the expanded Dyck Exhibits. For those of you not familiar with this collection, the Dyck collection contains a large number of well-preserved wooden, reed, hardshell squash, and gourd artifacts. Some of these are raw materials stockpiled for use later in time, others are modified and used for unknown purposes, while others were worked for specific tasks. These included digging sticks and wooden hoes for planting seeds, equipment to start fires, paddles for making pottery, wooden sticks and other flat tools, sticks used as applicators for applying pitch as an adhesive and other purposes, throwing sticks for hunting rabbits, and bows and arrow foreshafts for hunting small and large game. Mexican Restaurant for Lunch followed by Fort Verde State Historical Park. You must be a member to attend.
Goat Camp Information, Excavation, and Lab Opportunities
Fun Things to Do:
A group of geologists, archaeologists, and AAS members created the below guide for people who would like to enjoy the outdoors on Agua Fria National Monument during this pandemic. It's a 12 page, illustrated guide to a incredible area with a river at the end.
Geology, Archaeology, and History Guide to Badger Springs Trail More on Agua Fria National Monument
Ruins to Work at: Goat Camp Ruin
Archaeological Sites to Visit (hours may vary due to Covid):
Shoofly Ruin Tonto National Monument (big file)
Agua Fria National Monument Sears-Kay Ruin
Besh ba Gowah Ruin Verde Valley Sites Arizona Archaeological Sites
Youtubes: Drone Videos of Ruins Rim County Museum
Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) Heard Museum Sharlot Hall Museum SAR
Pueblo Grande Museum Verde Valley Archaeology Center Arizona State Museum AAHS Archaeology Southwest Amerind
Crow Canyon Grand Canyon NPS Museum of Northern Arizona
About our Chapter:
The Rim Country Chapter of AAS is located in Payson, AZ, at the base of
the Mogollon Rim. Meetings generally include a guest speaker presenting
an archaeological related subject. Refreshments are served. An outing to an archaeology site is normally scheduled for the afternoon following the general meeting. The RCC, under the guidance of Archaeologist Scott Wood, is participating in the excavation of the local Goat Camp Prehistoric Ruins Site. The completion of the excavation project will likely take several years, (Note: participation in the excavation, after meeting outings, and field trips is open only to current members of the Arizona Archaeological Society.)Meeting Time and Place:
The Payson Senior Center is currently closed due to the pandemic. Meetings are normally held the third Saturday of each month, (except June, July, & August.) We meet at 10 a.m. in the Payson Senior Center at 514 W Main Street. Guests are always welcome. Meeting Location MapMembership:
You can join the Rim Country chapter of AAS with a "Single" or "Family" membership. If you are already a member of AAS through a different chapter, you can add the Rim Country chapter to your membership by selecting "Single" or "Family" after "Dual Chapter". Contact Treasurer Dennis DuBose for membership information.2021 Speakers:
| Date | Speaker | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| Due to Covid, presentation zoom links will be emailed to members |
|
|
2021 Chapter Officers:
| President |
Sharon DuBose |
| Vice President | Chuck Eby |
| Treasurer | |
| Secretary | Diane Seago |
| Board Member |
Brent Reed |
| Board Member | Marianne Connors |
| Board Member | Chuck Howell |
| Chapter Advisor/Goat Camp Excavation | Scott Wood |
| Chapter/Goat Camp Webmaster |
JJ Golio |
Past Activities:
April 23 Field Trip to Prehistoric Payson & Pine Ruins in Two Gated Communities: Dale Bellisfield guided this tour of gated community sites, one in Payson and one in Pine. The Chaparral Pines site, contemporary with Goat Camp, includes a 12-room residential site, with two plazas. Tree ring dates put the last site activity around 1280, about when the general abandonment of the Payson area was in process. Photos Trip Report
The Portal IV site has a stunning view of the Mogollon Rim to the north. It consists of a walled compound, surrounding a three-room structure. It was initially thought to be a hilltop fortification, but evidence does not support that, nor that it was a habitation or a signal tower. Recent thought suggests possibly a hilltop ritual enclosure. It is believed that the site was built between 800 – 1100 AD with radiocarbon dates found between 1020 – 1224 AD.