GOAT CAMP EXCAVATIONS 2026 Hey, Goat Campers (and Bear Flatters)! Goat Camp After missing our first scheduled date, we will try again to start off the Fall season this Saturday, October 10, same time (0900-1500), same place. We’re in the end phase of major excavation, but we still have a lot of work to do! There is a chance of rain on Wednesday to soften things up a bit, and a slight chance for some drizzle on Saturday, but otherwise the weather looks like it will cooperate and give us a good day for digging – partly cloudy and cool. Hopefully, Tlaloc will continue to honor our current truce and hold off on any real rain while we’re working, but, as you know, he can be a treacherous bastard. If the forecast changes for the worse I’ll let you know, but I’m pretty sure we’ll be working. Our focus will be on Room 8 and exposing more of the floor, finishing the floor in Feature 30 if it’s dry enough, backfilling Room 43, and starting work on some of the other features – wall definition, test units, etc. And, of course, stabilization, assuming the moisture conditions on site are OK. If this will be your first time with us, the work site is easy to find. Bring your lunch, gloves, lots of water, sunscreen, maybe a jacket (just kidding), and wear sturdy footgear. We will have tools and provide OJT. Bear Flat As most of you know, we are still working on our small excavation at a site on private land in Bear Flat east of Payson along Tonto Creek. Tlaloc permitting, we will be going back there on Sunday, October 11, to see how close we can get to finishing that room. However, it is not clear if the truce still includes Bear Flat, since it is supposed to rain Saturday night and Sunday. If it looks like a fair amount of rain, I’ll cancel – not so much for the effect on the digging but because I’m not comfortable asking anyone else to drive in there and make the crossing of Tonto Creek when it’s raining. The site is small and appears to consist of one low rock wall founded jacal room. Our last sessions there managed to clear most of the multi-coursed wall and entrance. We’re getting some prehistoric artifacts out of it, but not many. It appears to be filled with undifferentiated and non-stratified flood deposits from Tonto Creek (one major event?), and may still have a recognizable floor, but we still have a lot of fill to remove and a bit of wall to define. We’ll be parking next to the site, so no hill to climb! We’ll probably work a similar schedule to Goat Camp and try to have everyone back to the highway by 1500. Or so. As always, please let me know if you are coming – and which day(s). And maybe make a small sacrifice to Tlaloc – nothing too gruesome, just pour a little beer on the ground and eat a chicken in his name. Burning human hearts on your backyard grill is strictly optional. Cheers, ScottGoat Camp Bear Flat 10/10 10/11 11/7 11/8 12/12 12/13 if needed That's all for now. I'll see y'all soon! Cheers, Scott 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 Ceramic Checklist First Season Report Master Development Plan Third Season Report Excavation and Stabilization Plan Fourth Season Report Goat Camp 2018 Fall Plan Fifth Season Report Goat Camp 2019 Spring Plan Sixth Season Report Goat Camp 2020 Spring Plan Seventh Season Report Goat Camp 2020 Fall Plan Rev Eighth Season progress impeded by pandemic Goat Camp 2021 Spring Plan Ninth Season Report Virus Protocol Rev Tenth Season Report
EXCAVATION
SCREENING CLEANING ARTIFACTS
SORTING AND IDENTIFYING ARTIFACTS
JIM BRITTON STABILIZING A WALL |
public education through an interpretive package. Shoofly excavation reports are at the bottom of the 
