Sacramento Archeological Society, Inc.

Newsletter

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www.sacarcheology.org. January 2007

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Mysterious South America

6:00 p.m. Dennis Fenwick’s home

Enjoy the investigation of ancient culture in South America on Saturday, March 3 at Dennis Fenwick’s home on 2825 Butler Court, West Sacramento, Phone: 916/274-2909. Society members, Gordon and Carolyn McGregor will be sharing their most recent experiences at Machu Pichu, Plains of Nazca and Galapagos. Through pictures they will extend the exploration of Peru and Galapagos Islands.

Bring your favorite dish for a potluck 6:00 p.m. The presentation will follow dinner at approximately 7:00 p.m.

8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

On March 24^th Society members will be joining Diana Almenderiz, the Native American "Tule Lady" in an "easy" hike to explore the Spring plants of Sutter Buttes. Diane will tell about the plants the Native Americans found and gathered and how they used them. The cost of the hike is $35/ person. Since the tours fill very quickly, call Middle Mountain Foundation at (530) 671-6116 to place your reservation.

Ridgecrest, California 93555

The weekend of April 21-22 society members are planning a tour to Ridgecrest area of Southern California to see rock art in the Little Petroglyph Canyon and visit Maturango Museum. Little Petroglyph Canyon, (actually Lower Renegade Canyon), a National Historic Landmark, is located in the rugged volcanic Coso Range of the Upper Mojave Desert, on the test ranges of the Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS), China Lake, California. The canyons in this area contain what has been described as "the highest concentration of rock art in the Western Hemisphere." Thousands of designs have been chipped into the dark desert varnish over the past 16,000 years and the images are as varied as the artists who created them. The images include bighorn sheep, snakes, atlatls, anthropomorphic figures and abstract 'entopic' designs. Little Petroglyph Canyon has well over 6000 images for you see! It is the canyon that is little, not the petroglyphs! There are at least a dozen canyons with inscriptions in them scattered throughout the Cosos, but the Navy only allows public access to this one - and it is THE BEST! For more information refer to http://www.maturango.org/.

8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

On April 29^th Middle Mountain Foundation is offering a workshop on the making of Elderberry flutes. Enjoy the Sutter Buttes landscape while learning the Native American ways.

The cost of the workshop is $35/ person. Since this workshop is expected to fill very quickly, call Middle Mountain Foundation at (530) 671-6116.

Sacramento Archeological Society Book Club

Don’t forget the society’s next book to discuss will be Before California by Brian Fagan. This meeting will be in May.

Scholarship(s) will be awarded this year to worthy applicants. Applications are due May 1, 2007. For more information refer to www.sacarcheology.org.

To date we have over 40 members. These include student, individual family and sponsor memberships. Please welcome Darlene Carlson as a new member. Membership lists are available from Dennis Fenwick Fenwick_lewis@msn.com.

Thank you Chuck Kritzon for speaking to 30 plus people at the Maidu Interpretive Center on California rock art and native California tool technology. In addition to a review of rock art in the area Chuck showed the basic mineral pigments used in the creation of rock art and discussed how they were processed and stored. After the presentation Chuck lead a tour of the petroglyphs at the Center. At dusk shadows highlight the figures. If you haven’t visited the Maidu Interpretive Center (916 774-5934), add it to your list of excursions.

Mark Your Calendars