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Hello Friends,
This November the Shumla team has been on the move. In this eNews you'll find us not only hard at work in San Marcos and Comstock, but out in the communities of Midland, San Antonio, Austin, and Del Rio, presenting, celebrating and learning.
Each November the nation observes Native American Heritage Month, which highlights the cultures, traditions, and achievements of Native American peoples. At Shumla, we are committed to honoring both past and living Indigenous peoples. Through our work, we aim to inspire respect and reverence for the many Native peoples who created the painted landscape of the Lower Pecos Canyonlands Archaeological District.
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This year-end, please consider supporting your Shumla team. Invest with us in the preservation of ancient narratives that ground us and tie us to our past. | | |
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Thank you, from all of us,
Justin, Kelsie, David, Kari, Diana, Karen, Emil and Jessica
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The exhibit honors and presents the work of artist, architect and engineer Mary Virginia Carson who was hired by the Witte Memorial Museum in 1931 to join an expedition into the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of Texas. She was asked to capture the stunning rock art murals in watercolor. Perched on hot rocks beneath a blazing sun, Carson rendered her images with remarkable accuracy.
The event featured a book signing with Marise McDermott, Witte President Emeritus, Harry Shafer, Witte Curator of Archeology, and Carolyn Boyd, Shumla's founder (pictured below).
We were honored to be included in the celebration of Mary Virginia Carson and her contribution to the study of rock art in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands.
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Visit the Witte Museum to see this wonderful exhibit on display until March 23, 2025. | |
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Jessica Hamlin and Karen Steelman shared Shumla's story and mission with West Texas communities this month.
Karen spoke to the Del Rio Rotary Club about the work of documenting and radiocarbon dating the rock paintings of the Lower Pecos Canyonlands, offering a glimpse into the artistry and materials used by Indigenous peoples of this region.
Jessica traveled to Midland and gave a Brown Bag presentation at the Petroleum Museum about the ancient art, what it is revealing about the Archaic people of West Texas and Shumla's work to preserve it.
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While the murals of the Lower Pecos Canyonlands are internationally-known, we often find that West Texas residents have never heard of them! We're working to change that and bring awareness of this rich cultural heritage back home. | |
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This month Executive Director, Jessica Hamlin, and Shumla Board Secretary, Pansy Price, attended the screening of the film "The Stones are Speaking."
The film tells the story of Texas archaeologist Dr. Michael Collins and his determination and personal sacrifice to save the Gault Site, an archaeological site others had written off because of years of plundering as a pay-to-dig site. Dr. Collins knew the site still had enormous potential. His team unearthed more than 2.6 million artifacts at the Gault site, including scientific evidence of human activity in that place dating to at least 18,000 B.C.
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The Gault Site is now known as one of the most prolific Clovis and pre-Clovis sites in North American archaeology and has helped push back the earliest date of human occupation in the Americas to thousands of years earlier than previously thought.
Speaking of commitment and perseverance, the film's director and producer, award-winning journalist Olive Talley (pictured with Jessica below), showed a great deal of both. She found funding, wrote, directed and produced this film over the course of seven years, through the pandemic, to completion.
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Bravo to Olive, Dr. Collins and all those who have been involved in this outstanding project!
Do you want to see The Stone Are Speaking? Olive hopes it will be available to the public soon! Please follow this site for updates: https://gaultfilm.com/.
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Farewell Jess and Summer! | |
Shumla interns Jess Rugeley and Summer Siegler have completed their time at Shumla. We miss these hard-working and intelligent women already! Join us in wishing them the best in their future endeavors. | |
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During Jess's 20-week internship in Shumla's archaeological chemistry laboratory, working with Science Director Dr. Karen Steelman, she learned how to process paint samples for radiocarbon dating and operate the plasma oxidation instrument for extracting organic carbon from paint samples.
Jess also helped facilitate our Shumla Scholars program at Comstock ISD and participated in field work at rock art sites along the Pecos River and Rio Grande. We are so thankful for Jess's contributions to learning about the rock art of the Lower Pecos!
Jess is off to start a graduate program in Textile Chemistry. She has embraced interdisciplinary studies through her experience with Shumla and one day hopes to work for a sports company using chemistry to develop new textiles and materials for sports teams.
Best of luck to you, Jess!
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During Summer's 10-week internship with Shumla's archaeology team she created digital illustrations of Pecos River style pictographs for the Hearthstone Project and participated in baseline documentation fieldwork. In fact, she and her two fellow interns discovered a new rock art site last month!
Outside of Shumla, Summer has collaborated with Kim Cox on the Paint Rock Project and recently participated in the 95th Annual Meeting of Texas Archaeological Society, where her presentation “The Paint Rock Hummingbirds (41CC1)” received excellent feedback. She even gave a special presentation for Shumla staff at our San Marcos office.
Next fall, Summer will start the MA program at Texas State University under Dr. Carolyn Boyd. We look forward to see what Summer does next!
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We'll be back after the New Year with two introductory Lunch & Learns.
These Lunch & Learns are primers for anyone who would like to go back to the basics of the ancient paintings of the Lower Pecos Canyonlands and what Shumla does to preserve and share them.
These are perfect Lunch & Learns to invite friends and family to learn about the rock art for the first time, or to refresh your personal knowledge.
Register to attend. It's free and virtual. Join from wherever you are. When you register you'll receive a confirmation email and a link to join the Zoom call.
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JANUARY
Topic: An Introduction to the Rock Art of the Lower Pecos
Presenter: Jessica Hamlin
Day: Wednesday
Date: January 22, 2025
Time: 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM Central Time
Platform: Zoom
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FEBRUARY
Topic: Preserving the oldest known "books" in North America
Presenter: Jessica Hamlin
Day: Wednesday
Date: February 19, 2025
Time: 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM Central Time
Platform: Zoom
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Your gift will fund the preservation of the oldest "books" in North America. Any amount supports our skilled team, vast archive, archaeological projects and educational programming. | | |
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Or send a check to our administrative mailing address:
5706 E. Mockingbird Ln.
#115-363
Dallas, TX 75206
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Another way to give to Shumla is through our Amazon Wishlist. | | |
Our YouTube channel houses our Lunch & Learn presentations as well as other presentations Shumla has done online and in person. Get caught up! And share them! | |
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Shumla eNews is a free eNewsletter published by Shumla.
Copyright © 2023 by Shumla. All Rights Reserved.
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