Shumla Blog
Science in Translation Part III: pXRF, Pigments, and Pebbles, Oh My!
By Bec Heyman & Karen Steelman
Hi everyone! This post is about how Shumla uses pXRF to study prehistoric paintings….This time we’ll be talking about mobiliary or portable art objects aptly named painted pebbles from the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of southwest Texas.
Science in Translation Part II: X-Ray Blasts that Highlight the Distant Past
By Bec Heyman
Hi everyone! Bec here again to share some more information about pXRF and how we use it in the field! In my last blog post, (“Science in Translation Part I: What is Portable X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy?”), …
Science in Translation Part I: What is Portable X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy?
Helpful Abbreviation Key! pXRF: Portable X-ray Fluorescent Spectroscopy XRD: X-ray Powder Diffraction PRS: Pecos River StyleIntroductionThere are a lot of things about reading scientific journals, publications, and research reports that seem daunting. They might as...
Keep Calm and Love Plasma Oxidation
Hey, Shumla family! Rudy Banny here. I had the pleasure of interning with the Shumla team from January to March of 2020, training with Dr. Karen Steelman in Shumla’s Archaeological Chemistry Laboratory. During this time, I had the incredible opportunity to engage with...
Rock Art Exhibit for Public Archaeology Week
Welcome Shumla blog readers. A special welcome to those joining us for the SAA online Public Archaeology Week! If this is your first time to learn about Shumla, we are a non-profit archaeological center conducting rigorous rock art documentation along the United...
Summer in the Lower Pecos: A Tale of Three Interns
By Megan Blackburn, Kasia Cross, and Dee Morris
Welcome back to the Shumla blog! We’re the 2019 Shumla Summer Interns: Megan Blackburn, Deianira Morris, and Kasia Cross. We have organized our learning experience as interns at Shumla into four intertwined categories …
10 Days in Fate Bell Shelter
By Jerod Roberts and Vicky Roberts
We knew from the beginning of The Alexandria Project that documenting Fate Bell Shelter was going to be a monumental task. A typical rock art site may take us only a few hours to complete our baseline level of documentation, …
Time Does Not Heal All: Observable Deterioration in the Rock Art of Seminole Watering Hole (41VV72)
**This blog is based on the poster presented by Hailey LaRock and Caitlin Houle at the 2018 Texas Archeological Society Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas, titled: “Time Does Not Heal All: Observable Deterioration in the Rock Art of Seminole Watering Hole.” A...
Atlatls in Lower Pecos Rock Art
By Charles Koenig
One of humanity’s oldest weapon systems is the atlatl, or spear thrower. The atlatl functions as a lever to throw a dart (or spear) with greater speed, distance, and accuracy than a hand-thrown spear. Atlatls were used by humans as early as 20,000 ago, …
Documenting Satan Canyon Gallery: A Tale of Two Interns
By Hailey LaRock & Caitlin Houle
Hi Shumla friends, Hailey and Caitlin here! We’re the 2018 Shumla archaeological interns, and we wanted to share our experience documenting an incredible rock art site called Satan Canyon Gallery. Satan Canyon Gallery is located near the Devils River, …
Rancher Steward BBQ – A Birthday Celebration!
By Amanda Castaneda and Jessica Lee
In early June Shumla hosted our annual Rancher Steward BBQ, an event we hold to honor and thank the many landowners, stewards, and partners that we work with throughout the year.
A Recipe for Success: Experimental Archaeology and Paint Making
By Amanda Castaneda and Charles Koenig
One of the most frequently asked questions during a rock art site tour is, “How did these ancient artists create the paints they used?” And we usually throw the question right back and ask, “How would you create a paint if you were a hunter-gatherer …
Variation of Pecos River Style Antlered Anthropomorphs
By Charles Koenig and Amanda Castañeda
Over the course of the Alexandria Project, one of our primary objectives is to identify repeated rock art attributes, figures, and/or motifs. As explained in the Iconographic Inventory blog, we’re recording a limited number …
Shumla in Washington D.C.
We’re here at the 83rd Annual Society for American Archaeology Meeting!
Shumla’s Chemistry Lab Part II: Radiocarbon Dating Eagle Cave Rock Art
**This the second of two blog posts describing the Shumla Chemistry Laboratory. This post is based on the poster presented by Karen Steelman at the 2017 Texas Archeological Society Annual Meeting in Grapevine, Texas, titled: “Radiocarbon Dating Rock Paintings: New...
Shumla’s Chemistry Lab Part I: Plasma Oxidation & Radiocarbon Dating
**This post is the first of two blog posts describing the Shumla Chemistry Lab and our plasma oxidation system.** By Karen L. Steelman In my role as Shumla Research Director, I have been working alongside the team on The Alexandria Project, as well as pursuing...
The Hibiscus Shelter Rock Art Curtain
***This blog post does not deal directly with the Alexandria Project, but is a throwback to a Shumla – Ancient Southwest Texas Project (ASWT) collaboration at Hibiscus Shelter back in 2012.*** By Charles Koenig Hibiscus Shelter is located on the Ryes N’...
To Iconography… And Beyond!
By Amanda Castañeda and Charles Koenig
This blog post focuses on a key aspect of Shumla’s documentation methods and the Alexandria Project: iconography. Iconography includes the documentation, study, and interpretation of images and symbols. Archaeologists working …
High-Resolution Rock Art Documentation and Digital Preservation
As detailed in the last blog post, during the Alexandria Project we are collecting quite a bit of different data, and these data are helping us address our project goals and research questions. One of the primary goals of the Alexandria Project is to preserve the Lower Pecos rock art sites for future generations because many of the pictographs are deteriorating due to age (up to 4,000 years old) and natural weathering.
Welcome to the Shumla Blog!
Welcome to the first post of the new Shumla Blog! We started this blog to be able to share our ongoing research with our friends, colleagues, and collaborators around the world. All of us at Shumla are very excited for the ability to share our progress from our newest research program, the Alexandria Project.
eNews Archive
View our archive of eNewsletters and see what we’ve been up to!
Give to Shumla
Help us keep up the momentum!