97th Annual Meeting of the Texas Archeological Society
October 2-4, 2026 University of North Texas Gateway Center Denton, Texas Hosted by the North Texas Archeological Society |
|
Thursday: Informal happy hour at East Side Denton 5:00 pm Friday Night Public Forum: Free and open to the public 5:30-7:30 Saturday Night Banquet: 7:00 pm Last day to sign up is September 18 Silent Auction & Book Room: Friday (8:00 - 5:00) and Saturday (8:00 - 4:30) Early registration: Ends September 18 Parking: UNT Lot 20
scroll down for more details...
|
|
Denton Is Ready to Welcome TAS!
Denton is a college town, a county seat, a music town, and just enough of an oddball to make exploring worthwhile. The historic Courthouse-on-the-Square anchors a downtown filled with locally owned restaurants, bars, coffee shops, record stores, bookstores, shops, live music, and plenty of places worth discovering after the last session of the day. We strongly recommend leaving the Gateway Center at least once while you're here. | Commemorative T-shirts The North Texas Archeological Society is celebrating the 97th Annual Meeting of the Texas Archeological Socity with a limited run of commemorative T-shirts and bandanas designed especially for Denton 2026. Featuring a bison skull and the Aubrey Clovis point, the shirts come in three colors and will be available at the NTAS table during the Annual Meeting, along with commemorative bandanas. Quantities and shirt sizes are limited, so stop by early if you have a favorite. Proceeds support NTAS archeological programming, education, and public outreach across North Texas.
|
|
Friday Night Public Forum 5:30 -7:30 Reid Ferring - Aubrey Clovis Site From Pleistocene to Holocene: The Paleoenvironmental Context of The Public Forum is free and open to the public, so bring a friend - or several.
Friday night takes us back to the end of the Ice Age with Reid Ferring and the remarkable record preserved at the Aubrey Clovis site in North Texas. Discovered during construction of the Ray Roberts Lake spillway, Aubrey has provided an extraordinary window into Clovis people, animals, landscapes, and environments near the close of the Pleistocene. Few people know that story better than Ferring, Professor Emeritus at the University of North Texas, whose decades of work have helped make North Texas an important part of the larger story of the First Americans. | Saturday Night Banquet and Speaker 7:00 Myles Miller Communities, Landscapes, Beliefs, and Symbols across the Jornada Region of West Texas and Southern New Mexico A century after some of the earliest archeological investigations of Jornada Mogollon pueblos and the rock imagery of the El Paso region, archeologists are returning to these landscapes with new questions, new technologies, and a view that extends well beyond pueblo walls. Myles Miller will take us into a landscape of shrines, caves, processional trails, rock art, sacred geography, ancestors, spirits, and communities stretching across West Texas and southern New Mexico. Recent investigations - including radiocarbon dating of pictographs and objects from shrine caves - are revealing just how deep some of these traditions run, with elements of regional cosmologies appearing as early as A.D. 600 or 700. It is a story that connects places, symbols, beliefs, and communities - and places the Jornada region firmly within the larger Southwestern Pueblo world. TAS Member -- $65 TAS Student Member -- $55 Nonmember -- $75 Student Nonmember -- $65 Speaker only -- $20 Last day to register for the banquet is September 18 |
|
Silent Auction: Bring Something. Bid on Something. Take Something Home. Friday 8:00 - 5:00 Saturday 8:00 - 4:30 Contact: am-auction@txarch.org Jewelry, books, art, crafts, field gear, gift baskets, collectibles, experiences, and other treasures are all welcome. TAS members have always been remarkably creative about what turns up on the auction tables, and the proceeds help support the important work of the Society. Raid your library, jewelry box, attic, garage, or creative workspace and bring something fellow TAS members will be excited to bid on. An Important Note for Donors: Items brought for the Silent Auction are contributed for sale; the items themselves are not donated to TAS. The proceeds from successful auction sales benefit the Texas Archeological Society. If an item you contribute does not sell, you are responsible for picking it up before the close of the Annual Meeting. Neither TAS nor the Local Arrangements Committee can store, transport, ship, dispose of, or assume ownership of unclaimed auction items. Please check the auction before you leave and take any unsold contributions home with you. Bidders: check back often. Nothing is worse than discovering Saturday afternoon that somebody outbid you by five dollars three hours ago. |
|
ARRIVING THURSDAY? |
Thursday happy hourJoin fellow TAS early birds for an informal Thursday afternoon happy hour beginning at 5:00 pm at East Side Denton. No presentations, no agenda - just a chance to catch up with old friends, meet some new ones, grab a drink, and settle into Denton before the Annual Meeting begins Friday. East Side's large outdoor beer garden sits alongside the Austin Street food-truck park, so there are plenty of options for dinner, drinks, and hanging out. Thursday, October 1 at 5:00 p.m. East Side Denton Come when you can and stay as long as you like. Also Keep an Eye Out For a Sunday Excursion...A Sunday excursion concerning Denton's historic Quakertown community and present-day Quakertown Park is being developed by archeologist Douglas Boyd. A fuller description and tour logistics will be shared once details are finalized. | HAUNTED HISTORY WITH A POUR Join Doc of Lil' d-Tours and Denton Haunts for a special late-night walking tour of Denton's notoriously haunted taverns and pubs. The two-hour downtown walkabout pairs true local ghost stories with opportunities to sample spirits responsibly. Thursday, October 1 at 8:00 p.m. Meet at Oak Street Draft House & Cocktail Parlor Must be 21+. Rated NC-17 for anachronistic language, potentially triggering content, and salty sailor lingo from past and present. Tickets: Reserve through Eventbrite TAS attendee discount: Use code 97TAS when reserving by September 24 to receive the Dr. Henry Jones Sr. Research Grant discount.
|
