Mule Creek

I love being in the field.  I think I could actually be a shovelbum for the rest of my life and be happy.  I won't, for domesticity's sake, but I would probably enjoy it.  I spent the last two weeks in a small place called Mule Creek, New Mexico.  It's not a town so much as it is a small area of ranches and farms (to their credit, they do have a post office, but no other amenities of any kind- the closest soda/booze/snacks is a 20 minute drive).  6,000 feet above sea level, beautiful rolling hills, a series of small creeks, abundant wildlife, and no phones, television, or internet to speak of.  It was pretty fantastic.

I have two friends doing work in this area for their dissertation projects.  This summer, our objective was to help Katherine get a better idea of the layout of the Fornholt Site, a ~50 room masonry pueblo which appears to date to the Tularosa Phase (A.D. 1125- 1300).  We spent two weeks chasing and exposing the tops of walls across the site so that she might be able to make a clear map of the wall alignments and have a clear picture of how the site was arranged.  From the maps we made Katherine can then formulate her work proposal for next summer, which will include her plans for test excavations in the structure.  Since excavating an entire site is neither realistic nor responsible, she'll use the new maps to figure out the best areas of the site in which to dig in order to address some of the questions she has about the site (which have to do with ritual architecture).  [And maybe, if I play my cards right, I'll be able to return again next summer to help with the excavations.]

So I got to spend two weeks in a beautiful place, do relatively low-intensity work, hang out with some really fun people, and eat really well.  The site sits on private land and we are only able to work there because the landowners have given us permission to do so.  In fact, the landowners are wonderfully supportive of archaeologists in addition to being really sweet people.  The animals on this ranch are spectacular-- they include, among many others: a herd of four-horned sheep, three different kinds of goats, alpacas, and both a 160- and a 240-pound Mastiff.  Yes, a 240-pound dog.  His name is Striker.

Deb and I managed to get in one decent bike ride while we were in Mule Creek.  It was hilly, and hot, and windy, and hard.  I felt great afterwards, but it was really hard to motivate myself for a repeat performance after working everyday in the sun and wind... mostly all I wanted to do once we returned to camp was drink a cold beer and take off my shoes.  And that's what I did.

So, I had a great time in the field and now I'm back to Tucson just in time for a week of 105+ temps.  I will post more photos of the site and the crew once some of the others get around to passing out their pictures.
Oh yeah, and the snake count jumped up by 5.  But still no rattlers.

Back to the routine!