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2006 Amistad National Recreations Area Schedule

Rock Art and Archeology of the Lower Pecos
March 25-26, Joseph Labadie
Fee: $ 185 (Members $ 166.50)
Make-or-break date: February 25
Difficulty: Moderate

TWO-DAY SEMINAR
This seminar will provide a basic understanding of the material culture of the prehistoric inhabitants of the Lower Pecos River region and how they created their art, made tools, what they ate, and how modern techniques are being used to unravel the long-lost secrets of a culture that has no formal name.

The seminar will include detailed discussions on the four distinct prehistoric styles and two historic periods of Native American pictographs in the region. It will include a special guided tour into Seminole Canyon to see first-hand several of the best-known pictograph sites.

JOSEPH H. LABADIE is an archeologist who has been working for the National Park Service at Amistad National Recreation Area for more than a decade. He has a BA and an MA in Texas archeology from the University of Texas at San Antonio and has published numerous articles on Texas prehistory and history. He is an Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at Southwest Texas Junior College in Del Rio.

Tools of the Hunter, Tools of the Shaman
Nov. 11, Drs. Carolyn Boyd and Phil Dering
Fee: $ 95 (members $ 85.50)
Make-or-break date: Oct. 11
Difficulty: Easy

In the mind of the ancient forager and hunter, the material and spiritual were inextricably linked.  Many of the tools, plants, and icons of their daily lives served both utilitarian and ritual purposes.  This seminar will provide an overview of implements, icons, medicinal plants, and art from archaeological sites in the Lower Pecos region.

Many of the artifacts found in the Trans-Pecos region of Texas and much of the rock art resemble in motif similar finds throughout the American Southwest and northern Mexico .  We will discuss the multiple functions and meanings of the art and tools and how they helped ancient peoples relate to physical and spirit beings that populated their world.

DR. CAROLYN BOYD is an adjunct professor of archaeology at Texas A&M University where she received her B.A. and Ph.D. in Anthropology.  She is also  Executive Director of the SHUMLA (Studying the Human use of Materials, Land, and Art) School.  Her first book, Rock Art of the Lower Pecos , was published by Texas A&M Press in 2003.

DR. PHIL DERING is the archaeologist for the Texas Forest Service and teaches at Sul Ross State University .  He specializes in identifying plant remains from excavated sites and studies how people used plants for food, shelter, tools, and medicine.

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