Heading west!

In a few weeks, I will be traveling to the Tonto National Forest in Arizona to volunteer on an archaeological project. The U.S. Forest Service runs a fantastic heritage resources volunteer program called Passport in Time (http://www.passportintime.com). I was first introduced to this program when I volunteered in 1998 on another Arizona project in the Coronado National Forest.

This is a description of the Surveying the Bathtub Ring project:

Lake Roosevelt continues to be at low levels due to the protracted drought that has lasted for more than 5 years. For the last 2 years we’ve advertised a PIT project as the Black Mountain Archaeological Survey but have moved it to Lake Roosevelt at the last minute to take advantage of the continuing lower lake levels. Once again—this time planning it from the beginning instead of changing at the last minute—we’re going to continue surveying at Lake Roosevelt. Volunteers will assist FS archaeologists in locating and recording sites that were inundated after the completion of Theodore Roosevelt Dam in 1911. These sites are associated with the Hohokam and Salado cultures dating from ca. A.D. 800 to around 1400. Access will be by either four-wheel-drive vehicle or boat.

I'm really looking forward to the experience, as I haven't had the chance to do archaeology outside the northeastern U.S. in several years. Of course I'll be posting some photos from the project here - check back in a few weeks...