Thursday, June 20, 2019
$90 for FOA members and $100 for non-members

The FOA has a unique opportunity to visit the ongoing excavation of the ancestral pueblo of Abiquiu being conducted by the University of California-Berkeley. The excavation is part of a larger ongoing effort called the Berkeley-Abiquiu Collaborative Archaeology Project. The collaboration has been requested by the community members of the Merced del Pueblo de Abiquiu to ascertain more information about the Abiquiu Mesa site because of its connection to their heritage and identity.

The project is also exploring the potential connection of the Abiquiu Mesa site to exchange systems during the Ancestral Pueblo period, with special emphasis on using x-ray fluorescence spectrometry to examine the origins of obsidian and rock art pigments. Larger research goals are to help the Merced del Pueblo de Abiquiu obtain federal recognition as an indigenous community, reassert water rights in the surrounding area and reclaim lost ancestral lands by documenting archaeological evidence of historical ties to surrounding areas.

The FOA group will leave from a rendezvous point in Santa Fe and carpool to Abiquiu where we will be met by members of the Merced Pueblo and University of California archaeologists. From there we take a 1-1.5 hr. strenuous hike up the mesa. Participants must be able to hike difficult uneven terrain uphill (elevation gain will be 800-1000 feet) and we will be in the hot sun for up to six hours. Please bring a sack lunch and at least two quarts of water. Soft drinks and snacks will be provided. This trip is limited to 16 participants. Further details will be provided to participants. Make reservations beginning Tuesday, May 14, 2019 at 7am by calling (505) 982-7799, ext. 7. Cost per person for FOA members is $90 and $100 for non-members.

Please check back on this website and the Museum of New Mexico Foundation's Friends of Archaeology website for updates.