Mammoth Rub Update - Society for California Archaeology

10
Bob Bryson, NPS archaeologist, speaks at the Saturday class at the Barstow BLM Field Office.
CASSP Training
Workshops
Beth and Chris Padon
A training workshop for new site
stewards was held on November 6-7,
2005. Amy Lawrence, archaeologist
for the Barstow BLM Field Office,
hosted the Saturday classroom session.
Bob Bryson, archaeologist for the
Mojave National Preserve, presented
an overview of the local archaeology,
and David Lee, from the Sweeney
Granite Mountains Desert Research
Center, spoke on rock art.
For the Sunday field trip, we
traveled about 80 miles east of
Barstow to visit archaeology sites at
the Mojave National Preserve and the
Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert
Research Center with Amy and David,
and with David Nichols, an NPS
archaeologist. We began the tour at a
site that is easily accessibly to visitors.
Here, we learned first-hand how
important their monitoring visits can
be for site protection and for adding to
the new information to the record. One
of the site stewards spotted the first
point that has been seen at this site.
We spent four hours on the tour,
stopping at two sites within the
Preserve and three sites within the
Center. David pointed out the
SCA Newsletter 38(4)
Chris Padon
archaeological and historic features
and spoke about the background and
conditions of each site. David told us
about special concerns for rock art
because of its fragile nature. The field
trip ended with a very special treat—a
great BBQ dinner at the Center with
the rest of the staff.
Amy will supervise the new
volunteers who work on BLM lands in
this area, and Bob and David will
supervise the new volunteers at the
Preserve and the Center, respectively.
More training workshops for new
volunteers will be offered in 2005; the
locations and dates will be posted on
the CASSP website at
and printed in the CASSP newsletter as
they become available. Each
workshop consists of a classroom
session on the first day and a field trip
on the second. Training materials and
lunch are provided for the class
session, snacks and drinks for the field
trip. Participants must sign a
confidentiality form before going on
the field trip. They also complete
volunteer forms for CASSP and for the
agency they are working with. Minors
can participate, if accompanied by a
parent or guardian. The workshop costs
$25 per person, payable to the Society
for California Archaeology (SCA).
Registration is required; provide your
name and contact information to Beth
Padon or Chris Padon by phone (562)
432-1801, fax (562) 432-1811, or email
bpadon@discoveryworks.com. All
CASSP volunteers who are not already
members of the SCA receive a first
year membership at no additional cost.
CASSP volunteers also are eligible to
attend the advanced workshops.
An advanced workshop in lab
techniques for historical artifacts will
be held for CASSP volunteers on
January 22-23, 2005, at The Presidio
of San Francisco. It is very exciting to
return to The Presidio for the third
year in a row, and we thank Sannie
CASSP volunteer Michael Kuhn spotted this point, the first one recorded at this site.
Chris Padon