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GOAT CAMP EXCAVATIONS FALL 2025

Hey, Goat Campers!

I really hate doing this, but I’m cancelling our workday on Sunday, Nov. 22. It’s been wet all week with over 2 inches of rain, the ground is pretty saturated, it’s too cold to properly dry out, and it’s still supposed to rain tomorrow and Sunday. Even though it’s not supposed to be much, the place will be too wet to chase floors.

I tried. I asked my old ancestral gods Thor, Taranis, and the hero twins Killer of Enemies, and Child of Water to “have words” with Tlaloc about his unrelenting attack on our project. I was informed that, yes, they all knew each other, all of them having come from the same myth factory in that human stewpot of Ancient North Eurasians around Lake Baikal that produced both my Indo-European and Athabaskan ancestors as well as Tlaloc’s Uto-Aztecans, but there was some bad blood between the Uto-Aztecans and the Athabaskans from the old days that needs to be worked out. However, they all belonged to the same union and assured me that they could bring it up for arbitration under the union’s rules and regulations regarding dispute resolution but noted that the process was rather cumbersome (and that Tlaloc was a bit nasty), and so, regrettably, they would be unable to resolve the situation in our favor in time to redeem this weekend.

Therefore, let us hope that their efforts may pay off in the future and persuade Tlaloc to let us at least have our next session at Goat Camp and Bear Flat, December 13 and 14, without either rain or snow. On the other hand, gods being as capricious and mischievous they are, I suspect that they are all in on this and are rolling around the celestial mead hall having a big laugh at my expense. Gods... Darn it!

I am truly sorry about this; it’s frustrating, I know. And JD was finally gonna be able to drag his wife and daughter up there to prove that he’s actually been doing what he’s been saying he’s been doing on the weekends. Oh well…

Anyway, thanks for hanging in there. Everybody have a good Thanksgiving and hopefully we’ll be able to get back to work in a couple weeks.

Cheers,

Scott Wood, retired Tonto archaeologist and Rim Country Adviser, leads the excavations at Goat Camp and Bear Flat.

Goat Camp:

December 13

We will also be continuing our work at Bear Flat, hopefully on these (Sun)days, assuming they work out for Art:

December 14 if needed

Online from April 23, 2022 drone view of Goat Camp

Online from April 10, 2022 “Goat Camp Virtual Field Trip” with archaeologist J. Scott Wood sponsored by Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society (AAHS), Tucson

Online from June 17, 2021 “The Goat Camp Ruin Project Volunteer Archaeology in Central Arizona” with J. Scott Wood for Old Pueblo Archaeology Center

AAS Goat Camp Tour Sept. 17, 2022

Goat Camp Ruin is located in Payson and was occupied from about 750 to 1280 AD. The site was originally a Hohokam colony that continued to be occupied through the Classic Period. The Classic Period occupation is called "Payson Tradition" or "Northern Salado". After several changes in ownership and extensive pot-hunting, the city of Payson took over ownership of the site. The Rim Country Chapter, with Scott Wood’s assistance, proposed creating an archaeological interpretive site as well as a hiking trail for this 6-acre parcel of land, similar to that of nearby Shoofly Ruin. Scott has led groups of volunteers each spring and fall for the past few years excavating and interpreting areas within the overall complex. The goal is not rebuilding or total excavation, but knowledge and public education through an interpretive package. Shoofly excavation reports are at the bottom of the Rim Chapter webpage.