Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
On Tuesday, October 7, 2025, at Archaeology Southwest Headquarters in downtown Tucson, Paul F. Reed (New Mexico State Director & Preservation Archaeologist) presented “A Very Special Landscape: Trails and the Lava Fields of El Malpais National Monument.”
The cultural landscape of El Malpais National Monument holds great significance for Indigenous groups of the Southwest. Within this extraordinary landscape lie many kilometers of specially constructed trails that allow access to remote parts of the area. In this presentation, Paul Reed explores this phenomenal geography and the trails that connect it.
Archaeology Café is made possible by BMO and The Smith Family Trust.
This presentation was part of Archaeology Southwest’s Archaeology Café series—an informal forum that brings lifelong learners together with experts.
2025–2026 Archaeology Café: Tread — The Where, How, and Why of Trails & Foot Travel
Step into the 2025–2026 season of Archaeology Café: Tread. This year, we’re following the routes people have taken across time—on foot, through memory, and across landscapes.
From ancient migrations and sacred trails to trade paths, historical expeditions, and everyday travel, this season explores how movement shapes cultural landscapes in the Southwest and beyond. Trails connect people to place, carry meaning, and leave lasting marks on the land and in our stories.
This season, we’re coming home: Archaeology Café is returning to the headquarters of Archaeology Southwest in downtown Tucson—and adding a live Zoom Webinar option so you can join the Café in real time from wherever you are.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and talks begin at 6:00 p.m.
Can’t make it in person? Recordings are posted here on our YouTube channel a few days later.
History has many paths—let’s walk a few together.
Archaeology Café is made possible by BMO and The Smith Family Trust.
Photo: Trail crossing El Malpais lava field, New Mexico.
On Tuesday, October 7, 2025, at Archaeology Southwest Headquarters in downtown Tucson, Paul F. Reed (New Mexico State Director & Preservation Archaeologist) presented “A Very Special Landscape: Trails and the Lava Fields of El Malpais National Monument.”
The cultural landscape of El Malpais National Monument holds great significance for Indigenous groups of the Southwest. Within this extraordinary landscape lie many kilometers of specially constructed trails that allow access to remote parts of the area. In this presentation, Paul Reed explores this phenomenal geography and the trails that connect it.
Archaeology Café is made possible by BMO and The Smith Family Trust.
This presentation was part of Archaeology Southwest’s Archaeology Café series—an informal forum that brings lifelong learners together with experts.
2025–2026 Archaeology Café: Tread — The Where, How, and Why of Trails & Foot Travel
Step into the 2025–2026 season of Archaeology Café: Tread. This year, we’re following the routes people have taken across time—on foot, through memory, and across landscapes.
From ancient migrations and sacred trails to trade paths, historical expeditions, and everyday travel, this season explores how movement shapes cultural landscapes in the Southwest and beyond. Trails connect people to place, carry meaning, and leave lasting marks on the land and in our stories.
This season, we’re coming home: Archaeology Café is returning to the headquarters of Archaeology Southwest in downtown Tucson—and adding a live Zoom Webinar option so you can join the Café in real time from wherever you are.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and talks begin at 6:00 p.m.
Can’t make it in person? Recordings are posted here on our YouTube channel a few days later.
History has many paths—let’s walk a few together.
Archaeology Café is made possible by BMO and The Smith Family Trust.
Photo: Trail crossing El Malpais lava field, New Mexico.
