The CTA is now accepting submissions for the Spring 2021 newsletter.

The deadline for newsletter submissions is FRIDAY, March 19, 2021 at 5 pm. Please submit your entries via email to our Newsletter Editor, Tina Nielsen, (cnielsen@swca.com) by that date; for editing purposes, word documents and photo jpegs are preferred to PDF documents. Late submissions will not be accepted, so please plan accordingly.

As a friendly reminder, you need to be a current member to submit, so please pay your membership dues for 2021 if you have not done so already.

CTA officers and committee chairs – please send your reports and any items that need to be reviewed and discussed and/or voted on during the spring meeting. Any items that will be up for vote will be posted prior to the meeting on the CTA’s members only page.

Thank you!

Exciting internship opportunity with the Padre Island National Seashore. Deadline to apply is February 7, 2021. 

https://latinoheritageintern.org/job/archives-intern/

The CTA is proud to announce its support of this year's Real Places Conference, hosted by the Friends of the Texas Historical Commission (https://www.thcfriends.org/), as a Partner in Preservation. 

Real Places is the premier historic preservation and heritage tourism conference in the Lone Star State, where anyone interested in protecting our past can work directly with industry-leading experts to learn practical, actionable solutions they can apply in their community. Presented by Phoenix I Restoration and Construction and hosted by the Friends of the Texas Historical Commission, Real Places 2021 will take place online, February 3–5, 2021.

Register for just $125. That’s more than $300 off the regular rate for the in-person event, and it comes without added lodging and travel expenses. Plus, you get the same exceptional educational experience Real Places always delivers. There will be 28 sessions on a variety of historic preservation and heritage tourism topics presented by 44 expert speakers from across Texas and the U.S.

Sessions will be available for at least 60 days following the conference. If you have to choose between two sessions happening at the same time or you have to step away for a while, no problem. You can catch up later at your convenience.

Also new this year, organizations with multiple attendees can save 25 percent on additional registrations purchased at the same time (meaning the first one is full price, and each additional is 25 percent off).

Full-time students with a valid ID can attend for just $50, thanks to the generous Real Places Student Scholarship Sponsors.

Learn more and sign up at realplaces.us

Academies offered by the Texas Archeological Society will be virtual in 2021. Register today! 

Please see the below message from Rick Pettigrew, Archaeology Legacy Institute, regarding a new streaming service called Heritage.

"Heritage Broadcasting Service, or just plain Heritage, will launch formally on January 1, but our Beta Launch period has already begun. Developed by nonprofit Archaeological Legacy Institute (that’s us, the people who created The Archaeology Channel at archaeologychannel.org), Heritage features more than 100 outstanding film titles from many countries, on familiar subjects such as ancient Egypt, Stonehenge, Mesoamerica, and Peru, but also on diverse and rarer topics ranging from prehistoric astronomers to the only Japanese bombing of the US mainland in World War II. Many more titles are in the pipeline. Subscribers will be able to watch all the shows on their smart TVs with Roku (beginning January 4, 2021), as well as on their desktop computers, tablets and smartphones. See our short video about Heritage at https://youtu.be/e8md5evVUro.

You can check out the Heritage site now at HeritageTAC.org, where you can watch many trailers already before subscribing and read descriptions of the dozens of titles posted there so far. Subscriptions ($5.99 per month, with discounts for longer terms) are available now during Beta Launch, as we push the site to a public environment for the purposes of testing and feedback. Gift cards (at http://heritagetac.org/gift_cards/new) are available already for immediate redemption. You can support this nonprofit service now by reserving gift cards as presents or even for yourself.

We are working to spread the word widely about Heritage. Please help us do that! Thanks very much."

The Fall Meeting will be held this Friday, October 23rd starting at 9am. Like our Spring meeting, this meeting will be held via Zoom. All details regarding how to join the meeting have already been sent to members. 

If you have not yet received an email regarding the Fall Meeting, please check your spam folders and/or confirm that your membership is current by accessing your account on this website. 

We look forward to seeing you on Friday! 

The Fall 2020 Newsletter is now available! 

Each October, Texas Archeology Month (TAM) features events such as archeological fairs, lectures, exhibits, demonstrations, and tours in collaboration with the Texas Historical Commission (THC) and our partners across the state. TAM is a vital educational program that the THC will continue to promote and support even under current circumstances. However, in response to the pandemic, the THC is currently working to reorganize TAM to be safer and more accessible by promoting and facilitating virtual events and activities on the TAM website . Events can take place on many platforms including videos, virtual tours, live-streamed presentations, and printable activities, and more. Check out the TAM website for a list of ideas and best practices for suggested ways to participate and contribute!

CALL FOR TAM 2020 EVENT AND ACTIVITY SUBMISSIONS!!

We are now soliciting contributions from our TAM partners, and the 2020 Texas Archeology Month Event/Activity Form is live! Please complete and submit it as soon as possible. **We understand you may not have all the information yet (tentative dates/times, still searching for speakers, etc.), and that’s okay! Just submit what you have now and send the TAM coordinator updates as needed.** Like previous years, we will provide free archeology-related printable materials, which you can receive by submitting the Public Outreach Materials Order Form or emailing Donna McCarver (donna.mccarver@thc.texas.gov ). Please feel free to share this e-mail with anyone you know who might be interested in participating!

The THC understands there can be difficulties with organizing online events, and we’re here to help. We can act as moderators, locate speakers, and help with technological issues. For more information about our resources, support, and the new structure of TAM, visit our website at www.thc.texas.gov/tam or contact TAM Coordinator Maggie Moore at Maggie.Moore@thc.texas.gov .

We look forward to celebrating TAM with you!

The CTA is happy to announce that research funded through a CTA Student Research Grant was recently published by Dr. Crystal Dozier (Wichita State University). Dr. Dozier was the recipient of the Student Research Grant in 2017.  

You can read more about the research in this press release and free access to the article "Chemical Residue Evidence in Leon Plain Pottery from the Toyah Phase (1300-1650 CE) in The American Southern Plains" is also available for next 45 days:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X20302418?dgcid=author

Congratulations, Dr. Dozier!