Jornada Research Institute

2025 Archaeoastronomy and Celestial Geometry Conference
2025-07-07 10:00 - 17:00 UTC | Ruidoso Convention Center, NM, 111 Sierra Blanca Drive, Ruidoso, NM, 88345, United States
Understanding the Mysteries of Ancient Astronomies – A Global 3-day Conference. Featuring speakers from across the American Southwest, greater North America, Mexico, UK and European Union. Please visit our page devoted to the Conference.

Looting, Vandalism and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
2025-09-16 09:00 - 16:00 UTC | Two-Day Training on Archaeological Looting and Vandalism, 555 Broadway Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM, 87102, United States
Following Jornada Research’s long tradition of offering continuing education classes, the Looting, Vandalism and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act class will be held in Albuquerque September 16 and 17 at the Bureau of Reclamation office. Class fee is $190.00. The registration form is attached with instructions for payment and location.

Looting, Vandalism and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
2025-09-17 08:00 - 17:00 UTC | U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Albuquerque, NM
Two-Day Training on Archaeological Looting and Vandalism

Training on the National Historic Preservation Act/Section 106
2026-05-05 - 2026-05-06 | Bureau of Reclamation, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 555 Broadway Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM, 87102, United States
Introduction
Working with federal statutes can be a challenging enterprise. This is especially true with the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) We respond to Section 106 actions to assess potential impacts on historic properties, design and implement Section 110-driven projects, make eligibility determinations, and write agreements documents, often on a project-to project basis. In conjunction with these activities there must be consultation with the appropriate federal and state agencies, federally recognized Native American tribes and other stakeholders (such as irrigation and conservation districts). It is important that cultural resources practitioners be grounded in historic preservation laws, and learn the various approaches to implement the National Historic Preservation Act. JRI’s two-day training course on NHPA is designed to provide a foundation for CRM professionals and the general public to learn, understand and implement the Section 106 process and other requirements of NHPA. It can also serve as a refresher for CRM professionals as circumstances allow and the laws are revised or changed. The course is designed for anyone who, at some time or another, will have to be part of the compliance and review process for projects covered under the NHPA There are many misconceptions about what NHPA covers and how it relates to other laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).
Jornada Research Institute Training Registration FormCourse Title: The National Historic Preservation Act
Where: Bureau of Reclamation, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
When: Tuesday, May 5th and Wednesday, May 6th, 2026.
Fee: 190.00 (180.00 for students)
Deadline: Registration forms and payment must be received by Wednesday, April 29th, 2026.Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.NAME: *FirstLastAFFILIATION: *ADDRESS: *
AFFILIATION:

EMAIL: *PAYMENT *By Check: Make payable to Jornada Research Institute, and mail it (and form) to: Jornada Research Institute, P.O. Box 684, Tularosa, NM 88352.By credit card: Go to online to: https://jornadaresearchinstitute.org, click on the “Donate” button at the bottom of the page and follow the instructions.Submit
For the CRM Professional
As a former federal archaeologist/land manager and CRM professional, I can tell you the frustration, for example, of reviewing archaeological inventory reports where the majority of sites eligibility recommendations were either “undetermined pending further testing” or redundantly stated as “eligible under criterion d” with no supporting rationale. I recall having to have large areas re-surveyed as a result. Eligibility recommendations are serious business and each recommendation for every site should be undertaken thoughtfully, because, from an agency perspective, if a site is determined “not eligible” it means that it is not longer involved in the Section 106 process and therefore is vulnerable to destruction. On the other hand, a casual recommendation of “eligible” has to be explained to an engineer or mid-level manager with little or nothing to go on. Thoughtful decision-making is based on a keen understanding of the law, what they require, their subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle manipulation, and philosophical approach.
Section 106 actions demand thoughtful consultation, but they can also be controversial. Clients and agencies depend on CRM professionals to provide the most thoughtful and insightful products that they can. Thus, it makes good business sense, as well as intellectual sense, to re-think these issues and our philosophical approaches to them. This is designed to educate and engage CRM professionals in the procedures, steps, approaches and pitfalls of working with NHPA. It combines instruction with open-ended discussions that allow participants to actively work on issues they will, or already have, confronted in their profession. Often there is more than one answer.

For the General Public and Non-CRM Stakeholders
Many entities are engaged in economic development projects that involve federal funding, permits, leases, or land transfers that kick in the Section 106 process. Private companies and city governments employ architects, engineers, construction personnel and others who are often unfamiliar, and in some cases blindsided, by the hoops they have to run through to complete the compliance process so they can get on with their projects. Many of them are unfamiliar with NHPA and may often perceive the Section 106 process as an “obstacle” which delays their projects. However, if they have a proper understanding of how the process works, what is required and what is not, they can stay ahead of the curve and meet their NRHP obligations in a timely fashion. However, this also demands that federal agency personnel are forthright, clear, and timely in their Section 106 activities.
For this class each participant will receive instructional materials that include: notebooks with Power Point handouts, articles and other documents; and a zip file containing cases of Section 106 Success Stories, Advisory Council documents, statutes and National Register guidelines.

Course Outline (Two days)
Day One
Morning– 9:00AM
I. Introduction
II. Overview of NHPA

The preservation-development paradox: the “push model” and “sustainability model”.
Historical Context: NHPA precursors and related legislation.

BREAK
III. Key provisions of NHPA

Sections 101, 106 and 110.
Consultation structures

LUNCH
Afternoon– 1:00PM
IV. Working with Section 106

The 106 Process
Adverse Effects
Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) and Programmatic Agreement
Data Recovery Plan

BREAK

Section 106 and NEPA

V. Background to Assignment 1

The Action
The Assignment.

Adjourn
Day 2
Morning- 9:00AM
I. Discussion of Assignment 1
II. “Emergency” Situations and Section 106

Executive Order (EO) 14154
Interior Directive 3418
ACHP Guidance.
Discussion

III. Working with Section 110

Historic Properties and State and National Register of Historic Places
Historic properties and issues of eligibility
Site management components the site evaluation cycle.
Eligibility criteria and the “d” problem.
What is “significance”?

LUNCH
Afternoon– 1:00PM
IV. Traditional Cultural Properties (TCPs)

Eligibility
Evaluation
Examples

V. National Monuments and the Antiquities Act

Statutory requirements
History of proposed changes.
Interior Directive 3418
Discussion

VI. Summation
Adjourn

A Bazillion Sherds: COMPARING MIMBRES CERAMICS AND JORNADA STYLE ROCK ART by MARGARET BERRIER
2026-05-19 08:00 - 17:00 (America/Denver)
Margaret Berrier is a Jornada Research Institute Research Associate who focuses on the study of Indigenous expressionism through examples in ceramic designs and petroglyph and pictograph images.

Abstract:
The Jornada Mogollon and the Mimbres cultures both use stunning similar imagery and share iconography, and many researchers have compared examples of the distinctive black and white Mimbres ceramics from southwestern New Mexico to the imagery of Jornada Mogollon rock art. Most of these comparisons were done without the benefit of the entire Mimbres Pottery Images Digital Database (MimPIDD) and depended on images of ceramics from publications and by viewing some collections. The researchers that did comparisons mainly used the well-known Three Rivers Petroglyph site. This is an excellent place to start these comparisons! Using over eighty trips to Three Rivers as well as comparison to photos and visits for almost four hundred other sites throughout the Jornada along with access to the entire Mimbres database (over 20,000 vessels) provides a more detailed look at the iconic similarities and hints at much more.

Bio:
Margaret Berrier received a BA in Art from Indiana University. She has been fascinated by archaeology and nature and has studied the ancient cultures of Central America and the Southwest for over forty years. Native American rock art caught her interest when she participated in a field trip in 1986 to sites in Utah. Since then, she has continued to research, record, and photograph other rock art sites in Utah as well as Arizona, California, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. She also visited sites in Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Baja in Mexico. Her interest has grew to include rock art of the world, and she visited rock art sites in the Kimberley and Arnhemland in Northern Australia, the Paleolithic caves in Spain and Egypt, Algeria in the Sahara Desert as well as much farther north in Scandinavia. She has also published numerous papers and done presentations at the Society of American Archaeology as well as 12 Zoom presentations during the pandemic. She uses her artist skills to illustrate her talks, help other researchers illustrate their presentations and papers, and document imagery for petroglyph and pictograph projects for various agencies.
