GOAT CAMP EXCAVATION 2021

Had enough fun over the winter sitting around waiting to find an open slot for vaccination? Well, I can't help you there, but a new season of fieldwork at GCR is rapidly approaching! Not quite a week after the FOTNF Open House at Sears-Kay Ruin (March 7) we'll be back in the dirt again.  I'll send out a call for signup later, but for now, here's the workplan for this Spring. Watch this space!

Looks like we’ll continue to be working under our COVID protocols for the foreseeable, so here’s the tentative schedule I’ve worked out for Spring:

March 13 and 27          field

April 10 and 24             field

May 8 and 22                field

June 5                           field or lab

June 12 and 26             lab

There is a (slight) possibility that we could start Feb. 27, but that will depend on the weather and the amount of work that we get done at Sears-Kay the week before.  As always, I’ll send out a notice the week before each session.  Basically, the plan for the Spring is going to be exactly the same as the plan for last Fall.

One new opportunity: Friends of the Tonto has taken on maintenance responsibilities for Shoofly. We will have several workdays there this Spring ahead of our planned first Open House there. The dates conveniently coincide with several Goat Camp sessions, so if you’d like to stay over after a day of digging to help cut brush and pull weeds and such, those dates are March 28, April 11, and April 25, tentative date for the open House.

So hang in there – we’ll be getting dirty again fairly soon!  As always, please let me know if you are planning to join us so I can put you on the list.  The Covid protocol limit is 10 people on the crew.

Cheers and stay safe,

Scott

Scott Wood, retired Tonto archaeologist and Rim Country Adviser, leads the excavations at Goat Camp.  Participants must be members of AAS.  Scott's contact information

Goat Camp Ruin is located in Payson and was occupied from about 750 to 1280 AD.  The site was originally a Hohokam colony that continued to be occupied through the Classic Period.  The Classic Period occupation is called "Payson Tradition" or "Northern Salado".  After several changes in ownership and extensive pot-hunting, the city of Payson took over ownership of the site. The Rim Country Chapter, with Scott Wood’s assistance, proposed creating an archaeological interpretive site as well as a hiking trail for this 6-acre parcel of land, similar to that of nearby Shoofly Ruin. Scott has led groups of volunteers each spring and fall for the past few years excavating and interpreting areas within the overall complex. The goal is not rebuilding or total excavation, but knowledge and public education through an interpretive package.

Ceramic Checklist                                 First Season Report

Site Map                                                Second Season Report

Master Development Plan             Third Season Report 

Excavation and Stabilization Plan       Fourth Season Report

Goat Camp 2018 Fall Plan           Fifth Season Report   

Goat Camp 2019 Spring Plan                Sixth Season Report

Goat Camp 2020 Spring Plan                Seventh Season Report

Goat Camp 2020 Fall Plan Rev           Virus Protocol Rev

Goat Camp 2021 Spring Plan

         EXCAVATION

         SCREENING                                                                            CLEANING ARTIFACTS

         SORTING AND IDENTIFYING ARTIFACTS