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AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL TOUR IN ARIZONA
Summer Travel Special AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL TOUR IN ARIZONA
By David Grant Noble
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As driving trips go, the jaunt from Phoenix to Flagstaff,Arizona,is quick and easy. Hop on Interstate 17 in Phoenix by ten o’clock on a Saturday morning and you’ll be in Flagstaff in plenty of time for lunch.If you’re interested in archaeology, however, you’ll be hard pressed to fit the same trip into a full weekend.
In the tradition of the mythological Egyptian bird, which was reborn from the ashes of its own destruction, the City of Phoenix arose from the ruins of more than 50 long-abandoned Hohokam Indian settlements.Today, the remains of all but a few of these sites,as well as a vast canal system,lie buried beneath skyscrapers, factories, shopping malls, residences,streets,and freeways.Hohokam culture emerged more than 2,000 years ago and reached its apex between A.D. 1150 and 1350.By A.D. 1400,serious social or economic problems had begun to develop,which eventually caused the collapse of this vibrant and productive society.
Situated in the Sonoran Desert,Phoenix is one of the hottest and most arid cities in the United States.Its more than one million residents see average annual rainfalls of less than eight inches and experience 90 days or more of temperatures exceeding 100 degrees. One wonders how people,today or a thousand years ago,managed to make a viable life in such a climate.The answer lies in the presence of the Salt and Gila rivers, the fertile soils of the Phoenix Basin,and the fact that the region has periods of precipitation in both winter and summer.
Your first stop in Phoenix should be the Pueblo Grande Museum, located at 4619 East Washington Street (corner of 44th Street),near Sky Harbor International Airport.Here you will be introduced to the main themes of Hohokam culture and prehistory and enjoy viewing a fine selection of archaeological artifacts as well as ethnographic exhibits relating to the Tohono O’odham,Akimel O’odham, and other Indians whose reservations are located nearby. Many researchers believe these Native Americans are descendants of the Hohokam.
From the museum, an interpretive trail leads to the impressive platform mound of the Pueblo Grande site. Upon completion between A.D. 1200 and 1400,this huge walled stone-and-earth structure contained an estimated 32,000 cubic yards of fill and supported a complex of residential and ceremonial houses. From its top,a community leader could easily have surveyed the entire village— which covered approximately two square miles—and monitored activities around the all-important network of
Wupatki at sunrise. This Sinagua culture pueblo had roughly 100 rooms and was home to about 125 people. Some 3,000 sites have been identified within the monument. Numerous artifacts have been found that indicate the Sinagua traded with a variety of other cultures.
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Pueblo Grande Museum Park of the Canals Deer Valley Rock Art Center Montezuma Castle National Monument Montezuma Well Tuzigoot National Monument V-Bar-V Ranch Petroglyph Site Palatki & Red Cliffs Walnut Canyon National Monument Elden Pueblo Wupatki National Monument The Heard Museum Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park Jerome Museum of Northern Arizona Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument
Las Vegas
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Lake Mead
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KAIBAB IND. RES.
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NAVAJO INDIAN RESERVATION
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GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK HUALAPAI IND. RES.
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Lake Havasu City
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PRESCOTT NATIONAL FOREST Prescott
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SITGREAVES NATIONAL FOREST Show Low
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TOHONO O'ODHAM NATION IND. RES. ORGAN PIPE CACTUS NATL. MON.
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canals stemming from the nearby Salt River. Standing on the mound today, you can still see both ancient and modern canals.In the mid–1990s,conservation specialists reburied the mound and ruins to protect them from the potentially destructive effects of nearby airport traffic.
Another attraction you can view at Pueblo Grande is a restored Hohokam ballcourt, which probably was built two centuries or more before the platform mound.One of
A reconstructed Hohokam pithouse cluster and ramada are located on the Pueblo Grande Museum ruin trail. Hohokam pithouses were built in shallow pits about one and one-half feet deep. The thick mud walls over a wooden superstructure offered protection against the wide range of desert temperatures. hundreds known to be in Arizona, this 85-by-41-foot court once witnessed the enactment of public rituals,which had both religious and competitive connotations.The genesis of this ritual sport lay far to the south in the high cultures of Mesoamerica.
The crowning engineering achievement of the Hohokam Indians in the Phoenix Basin was their construction of a vast canal system,which transported water to their villages and fields.Canal building began after A.D. 700 and took centuries to fully develop.The Hohokam drew water from the Salt,Gila,and other rivers and dispersed it to their fields through a complex network of main canals and smaller ditches.Their crops included corn,cotton,beans, gourds, agaves,tobacco, and amaranth. The Salt River Valley alone had more than 500 miles of main canals and some 25,000 acres of irrigated farmlands.
In recent years, the nearby City of Mesa has set aside a small park featuring the remnants of several examples of ancient canals as well as historical and modern ones. You will find the Park of the Canals (which includes a small botanical garden) at 1710 N. Horne Street,between McKellips Road and Brown Street. From a footbridge adjacent to the parking lot,you will find a good view of one large Hohokam canal. From there, follow signs to another Hohokam canal,which was restored and used by Mormon pioneers in the 1870s,and a modern canal,which remains in use.
The Kissing Deer petroglyph is found at the Hedgpeth Hills site on the grounds of the Deer Valley Rock Art Center. This Hohokam-style petroglyph was made using the direct pecking technique, whereby a small rock is used to peck the design into the face of a boulder.
By the early 1100s,when the Sinagua began construction of the “castle,”the Verde Valley already was heavily populated.They situated the cliff dwelling in a protected alcove high above Beaver Creek,building,with meticulous care,its walls of small limestone blocks and its ceilings of sycamore timbers overlaid by poles,sticks, grass, and mud.Residents reached their home by means of two precipitous trails.
Archaeological investigations within the cliff dwelling were limited due to the intensive looting that took place in the 1880s. Research,however, has been much more fruitful in a pueblo site (Castle A) along the public trail at the base of the cliff. Your visit begins at the visitor center, which includes a small museum. From there,allow at least half an hour to walk the scenic,handicapped-accessible trail to view the spectacular cliff dwelling and trail-side ruins.
From Montezuma Castle,drive another six miles north to Montezuma Well.This “well” is actually a deep lime-
Your next stop in Phoenix is the Deer Valley Rock Art Center at 3711 Deer Valley Road.To reach it from I-17, take the Deer Valley Road exit and continue 3.5 miles west.Established in 1994, the center is an educational and research facility with a museum and interpretive trail.The museum has a permanent exhibit on rock art as well as two short educational videos and an interactive computer program.Along the 1.2-mile trail (guided or self-guided) you will be able to view many examples of Archaic,Hohokam,and Patayan petroglyphs.
The center emphasizes activities for children and school groups,including a summer day camp.The adult programs include lectures, workshops,and field trips.The archives of the American Rock Art Research Association,which are available to qualified students and researchers,are also housed here.
From the Deer Valley Rock Art Center, return to I-17 and continue north approximately 90 miles to the Camp Verde exit (289),and follow signs to nearby Montezuma Castle National Monument.Legend once assigned this dramatic cliff dwelling to the king of the Aztecs.In fact,it was the home of Sinagua Indians,who lived and farmed in the Verde Valley from around A.D. 600 to 1400.At an elevation of 3,500 feet, this fertile valley provided a more moderate climate than the Phoenix Basin and offered a superb environment for agriculture, foraging, and hunting.
PUEBLO GRANDE MUSEUM (602) 495-0901 • www.pueblogrande.com Hours: Mon.–Sat. 9 a.m.–4:45 p.m., Sun. 1–4:45 p.m. Fees: $2 adults, $1.50 seniors, $1 children PARK OF THE CANALS (480) 827-4700 Hours: Open dawn to dusk Fees: Free admission DEER VALLEY ROCK ART CENTER (623) 582-8007 • www.asu.edu/clas/anthropology/dvrac Hours: Tues.–Sat. 9 a.m.–5 p.m., Sun. 12–5 p.m. Fees: $4 adults, $2 seniors and students, $1 children MONTEZUMA CASTLE NATIONAL MONUMENT (928) 567-3322 • www.nps.gov.moca Hours: 8 a.m.–5 p.m. daily, 8 a.m.–7 p.m. Memorial Day through Labor Day Fees: $3 adults, children free
V-Bar-V Ranch Petroglyph Site TUZIGOOT NATIONAL MONUMENT (928) 634-5564 • www.nps.gov/tuzi Hours: 8 a.m.–5 p.m. daily, 8 a.m.–7 p.m. Memorial Day through Labor Day Fees: $3 adults, children free V-BAR-V RANCH PETROGLYPH SITE (928) 282-4119 http://aztec.asu.edu/aznha/vbarv/main.html Hours: 9:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Friday–Monday (entrance gate closes at 3:30 p.m.) Fees: $5 per vehicle, can also be used at Palatki and Red Cliffs PALATKI AND RED CLIFFS (928) 282-4119 http://aztec.asu.edu/aznha/palatki/palatki.html Hours: 9:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. daily Fees: $5 per vehicle, can also be used at V-Bar-V Ranch Petroglyph Site WALNUT CANYON NATIONAL MONUMENT (928) 526-3367 • www.nps.gov/waca Hours: 8 a.m.–5 p.m. daily, 8 a.m.–6 p.m. June through August Fees: $3 adults, children free
ELDEN PUEBLO (928) 527-3600 http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/volcanic/ elden_special.html Hours: Open every day Fees: Free admission WUPATKI NATIONAL MONUMENT (928) 679-2365 • www.nps.gov/wupa Hours: 8 a.m.–6 p.m. June to September, 8 a.m.–5 p.m. September through May Fees: $3 adults, children free
Places of Related Interest
THE HEARD MUSEUM 2301 North Central Avenue, Phoenix (602) 252-8840 • www.heard.org An excellent museum and research facility emphasizing Southwest Native American art and culture.
BOYCE THOMPSON ARBORETUM STATE PARK 37615 Highway 60, Superior (520) 689-2723 • http: //ag.arizona.edu/bta/btsa.html A scenic botanical park with a wide variety of plants, trees, and interpretive trails, along U.S. 60, 48 miles east of Phoenix.
JEROME (928) 634-2900 • www.jeromechamber.com An historic hilltop mining town and tourist attraction, 10 miles south of Tuzigoot National Monument.
MUSEUM OF NORTHERN ARIZONA 3101 N. Fort Valley Road (928) 774-5213 • www.musnaz.org A museum and research center featuring archaeology, ethnography, natural history, and art, located three miles north of Flagstaff along U.S. 180.
Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument
SUNSET CRATER VOLCANO NATIONAL MONUMENT (928) 526-0502 • http://www.nps.gov.sucr A geologic park with stunning volcanic landscape, located off U.S. 89 north of Flagstaff, on the way to Wupatki National Monument.
stone sink,whose spring produces a million and a half gal- Ottens Pueblo,and Hatalacva Pueblo. lons of 76-degree water daily. The Sinagua who lived around From Tuzigoot, follow U.S.89A northeast toward Sethe sink and in nearby pueblos directed the water to their dona.Palatki and Red Cliffs,an archaeological site recently crops by means of a ditch.A short trail leads from the park- opened to visitors, is the next stop.To reach the site from ing area to the rim of the sink and down to the shore,where 89A, follow Forest Road 525 north for six miles and then go masonry dwellings are located.The scenic beauty and lush two miles on Forest Road 795 to the site’s entrance.This exenvironment of this unusual place is impressive. cursion on improved back roads takes you through a por-
From Montezuma Well, you can return to Camp tion of the Sedona region’s famous red rock landscape. Verde and pick up Arizona 260 north to Cottonwood and In 1895, local settlers led the noted anthropologist go on to Tuzigoot National Monument. If you have Jesse Walter Fewkes to these sites.Today, a short trail leads time,you might first make a six-mile detour north to visit from the parking lot to the visitor center, and from there the V-Bar-V Ranch Petroglyph Site. Recently opened to another trail leads to Palatki. Palatki consists of two multithe public by the Coconino National Forest,this site con- storied sandstone pueblos built at the base of a sheer cliff sists of 13 panels of Sinagua petroglyphs on the face of a in a box canyon.The dwellings were inhabited by Sinagua cliff.There are more than 1,000 glyphs there,including an- Indians between around A.D. 1100 and 1300.Another thropomorphic figures, animals,snakes,birds,and geo- short trail leads from the visitor center to a series of almetric forms.The site is managed by volunteer stewards, coves containing a rich array of rock art.This is the Red who also act as guides and interpreters for visitors. Cliffs site.As you take this walk,you will find examples of
Like Montezuma Castle,Tuzigoot National Monument pictographs and petroglyphs made by the prehistoric Aris a must-see for archaeology enthusiasts.Located along U.S. chaic and Sinagua as well as by the Apache and Yavapai In89A between Cottonwood and Clarkdale,the remains of this dians that later inhabited the area. ancient Sinagua hill town overlook the Verde River and Valley. The monument’s highlight is the quarter-mile-long interpretive trail through Tuzigoot ruins,and there is also a fine archaeological museum.
The Sinagua settled this 120-foot limestone ridge around A.D. 1000 and by the 1300s their pueblo housed some 200 people.They raised cotton,corn,and other crops and mined argillite,salt,and copper, which they traded for turquoise,parrot feathers from Mexico,and shells from the Pacific Coast.By the early 1400s,Tuzigoot, Montezuma Castle, and other Sinagua pueblos of the Verde Valley were ghost towns. Their inhabitants are thought to have migrated north and east to Anderson Mesa and Chavez Pass and to have been the ancestors of some of the present-day Hopi clans.
During the Depression,Louis Caywood and Edward Spicer,two graduate students from the University of Arizona,directed a crew of up to 48 laborers that excavated Tuzigoot.Their fast moving pick-and-shovel approach to archaeology, so characteristic of their era,has long since been supplanted by less invasive,scientifically-oriented methods.In recent years,the Verde Valley has seen intensive growth and development with the result that many privately-owned archaeological sites became threatened. In response,The Archaeological Conservancy has acquired four highly significant sites in the valley:Atkeson Pueblo,Thoeny Pueblo,
At the visitor center,ask for directions to Honanki,or “Bear House,” another Sinagua cliff dwelling first recorded by Fewkes when he was exploring the Verde Valley. Although Honanki is the type site for the Honanki phase (A.D. 1150 to 1300) in the Southern Sinagua cultural sequence,the pueblo’s architecture has fallen victim to the vicissitudes of erosion and vandalism.
From Palatki, return to 89A and take the beautiful drive north through Oak Creek Canyon to Flagstaff and Interstate 40.You will leave the Verde Valley and climb 4,000 feet to the cool pine forests of the Colorado Plateau.When you reach I-40,go east,then take the second exit (no. 204) to Walnut Canyon National Monument.
Walnut Canyon offers stunning scenery along with ancient Indian ruins.Its scale and depth lend it a feeling of intimacy, which is reflected in the small dimensions of the dozens of cliff dwellings perched along ledges and tucked into shallow caves. Walnut Canyon was the home of a community of the Northern Sinagua,who first appeared along the slopes of the San Francisco Mountains between A.D. 500 and 700 and inhabited the region until around 1400.The Sinagua did not occupy Walnut Canyon,however, until sometime after A.D. 800.In contrast to the Wupatki area,where many Sinagua also lived,the canyon offered a sheltered environment with a rich variety of plant and animal life and access to water.
Beginning in the 1880s,settlers around Flagstaff discovered Walnut Canyon’s archaeological treasures and developed a Sunday pastime of exploring and ransacking its
ruins for artifacts. In addition, travelers on the new railroad were offered day tours of the canyon,which included all the pot hunting they could squeeze into a brief visit there.After the turn of the century, when Flagstaff civic leaders realized that the canyon could become a key component of a promising tourist industry, they assigned a custodian to protect the sites.This was the first step in what later became a comprehensive conservation, research, and interpretive program of the National Park Service. Sinagua culture reached its peak between A.D. 1150 and 1250,after a series of eruptions of the Sunset Tucked into the red rock canyons near Sedona are the archaeological remains of native cultures that have inhabited Crater Volcano.This period, the Verde Valley for at least the past 6,000 years. Palatki features two of these dwellings, which are sheltered by known as the Elden Phase,is a sandstone overhang. Visitors can enter these dwellings. named for a large Sinagua pueblo on the northern outskirts of Flagstaff. Elden Pueblo, which is open to the public, is located on the west side of U. S.89, 1.8 miles north of this highway’s interchange with I-40.With the participation of school and Arizona Archaeological Society groups and other volunteers, the 65-room pueblo has been turned into an educational archaeological site by the Coconino National Forest.Elden Pueblo thrived for more than a century in the ponderosa forest at the base of Mount Elden.Called Pasiwvi (pah SEE oh vee) by the Hopis,who consider the pueblo to have been part of their history, it is thought to have been a regional center in the 12th and 13th centuries. Pick up a trail guide at the entrance to the park and allow yourself half an hour to an hour to tour the ruins. Return to U.S.89 and head north and then east on Forest Road 545 for Wupatki National Monument.Wupatki Pueblo was inhabited by the Sinagua between roughly A.D. 1106 and 1225.Artifacts found within the monument indicate the Sinagua did a substantial amount of trading with other cultures such as the Anasazi and the Hohokam.In fact,a Hohokam-style ballcourt located near the pueblo is one of the northernmost examples of this type of structure. If you’re not ready to head home after seeing Wupatki,keep in mind that the Hopi Indian Reservation,the Petrified Forest National Monument,and the Grand Canyon are nearby. Happy travels. DAVID GRANT NOBLE is the author of Ancient Ruins of the Southwest: An Archaeological Guide.
