The State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) sponsors and supports a number of historic preservation programs for the public. The programs described in this section include information sharing, volunteer activities, and award programs. For more information about public preservation programs, please contact the State Historic Preservation Office at (602) 542-4009.
Initiated in 1983 by the State Historic Preservation Office and the Governor's Ad Hoc Archaeology Advisory Group (now the Arizona Archaeology Advisory Commission), Arizona Archaeology Awareness Month (AAAM) is a program of events and activities that takes place in March of each year. Activities are offered throughout the month to inform the public about archaeology in our state. This statewide celebration has grown into a major public education effort involving over 60 different federal, state, municipal, tribal and private organizations. Proclaimed by the Governor each year, this celebration annually features over 100 events including prehistoric site tours, exhibits, open houses, lectures, demonstrations and other activities throughout Arizona. A free Listing of Events is available by contacting Arizona State Parks at (602) 542-4174. This month of public education programming was the first of its kind in the United States and has now been replicated by many other states.
Starting in 1989, an annual Archaeology Expo was added to the Arizona Archaeology Awareness Month events. The Archaeology Expo is a pivotal event in the month-long celebration of AAAM and provides an opportunity for organizations involved in archaeology to provide exhibits, demonstrations of prehistoric crafts and archaeological techniques, and hands-on activities for both children and adults. Other activities at the Expo include: guided site tours, Native American arts and crafts, demonstrations, and living history re-enactments. These activities give visitors new insights into Arizona's many prehistoric and historic cultures. This successful public education event reaches out to thousands of people each year in an effort to instill a stewardship ethic toward our state's archaeological and historical resources. The annual Archaeology Expo is held in a different region of the state to benefit people throughout Arizona.
Arizona is a national leader in the development of Public Archaeology and Heritage Tourism programs. The Governor's Archaeology Advisory Commission (Commission) has played an important role in the development of Arizona's multi-component, award-winning educational programs in archaeology. The legislation creating the Commission was signed into effect by Governor Bruce Babbitt on March 26, 1985. The statutory Commission is composed of 11 members with expertise in prehistoric or historic archaeology, anthropology and/or ethnography, as well as tourism, public education, economic development, business, and Native American affairs. The purpose of the Commission is to advise the State Historic Preservation Officer on a variety of archaeological issues important to Arizona.
The Commission has assisted the SHPO in creating successful and unique public education programs, including Arizona Archaeology Awareness Month, the Archaeology Expo, and the Site Steward Program. The Commission is working with the Arizona Office of Tourism and the Arizona Humanities Council in promoting and expanding sensitive heritage tourism experiences. As part of this effort, the Commission has produced a document entitled "Guidelines for Archaeological Park Development" to assist public and private agencies in the appropriate and sensitive development of archaeological sites into interpretive public parks. The goal is to promote local economic development through archaeological heritage tourism, while fostering a stewardship ethic and the preservation of these irreplaceable archaeological and historical resources.
| Charles Adams, Ph.D. Director, Homol'ovi Research Program Arizona State Museum University of Arizona P.O. Box 210016 Tucson, AZ 85721 TEL: 520-621-2093 FAX: 520-621-2976 ecadams@email.arizona.edu (Term Expires 9/01/07) |
Jeffrey Altschul, Ph.D.Statistical Research, Inc. P.O. Box 31865 Tucson, AZ 85751 TEL: 520-721-4309 FAX: 520-298-7044 jhaltschul@sricrm.com (Term Expires 9/01/07) |
C. Michael Barton, Ph.D. Arizona State University Dept. of Anthropology P.O. Box 87287 Tempe, AZ 85287 TEL: 480-965-6262 FAX: 480-965-7671 michael.barton@asu.edu (Term Expires 9/01/05) |
| Vernelda Grant Tribal Archaeologist San Carlos Apache Tribe P.O. Box 653 San Carlos, AZ 85550 TEL: 928-475-2326 FAX: 928-475-2484 apachevern@yahoo.com (Term Expires 9/01/07) |
G. Donald Kucera 2623 N. Teresa Lane Tucson, AZ 85745 TEL: 520-792-0554 FAX: gdkanza@aol.com (Term Expires 9/01/05) |
Barnaby Lewis Cultural Resource Specialist Gila River Indian Community P.O. Box 2140 Sacaton, AZ 85247 TEL: 520-562-3570 FAX: 520-562-3576 bvlewis@gilariver.com (Term Expires 09/01/06) |
| Patrick Lyons, Ph.D. Center for Desert Archaeology 300 E. University, Ste. 230 Tucson, AZ 85705 TEL: 520-882-6946 FAX: 520-882-6948 plyons@cdarc.org (Term Expires 09/01/06) |
Chris M. Roll Civil Deputy Pinal County Attorney's Office P.O. Box 887 Florence, AZ 85232 TEL: 520-866-6912 FAX: 520-866-6521 Chris.roll@co.pinal.az.us (Term Expires 09/01/07) |
Jon M. Shumaker Historic Preservation Specialist Arizona Department of Transportation 206 South 17th Avenue Phoenix, AZ 85007-3213 TEL: 602-712-8858 FAX: jshumaker@dot.state.az.us (Term Expires 9/01/07) |
| Michael Sullivan Assistant Forest Archaeologist Tonto National Forest 2324 E. McDowell Road Phoenix, AZ 85006 TEL: 602-225-5233 (H)623-386-5807 FAX: 602-225-5295 msullivan@fs.fed.us (Term Expires 9/01/05) |
Gary Yancy State Chair Arizona Archaeological Society 6561 E. Regina Street Mesa, AZ 85215 TEL: 480-830-6055 FAX: bgyancy@aol.com (Term Expires 9/01/06) |
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE ETIQUETTE GUIDE
State Historic Preservation Office, Arizona State Parks
Welcome to the past! Arizona contains some of the nation's -- and indeed the world's -- greatest archaeological and historical sites. Please take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with this site etiquette guide that will facilitate an enjoyable visit for you, AND for others who follow you!
Archaeological sites in Arizona are the remains of a long occupation of prehistoric, protohistoric, and historic cultures. They are a fragile and non-renewable resource. You are responsible for the stewardship of these ruins, both for public enjoyment and education, and for preserving their scientific values. The following guidelines will help you minimize impacts to archaeological sites when you visit them:
1. Walls are fragile and continually deteriorating. That is why they are called “ruins.”
Climbing, sitting or standing on walls can damage them. Also, picking up or moving rocks alters the walls forever.
2. Artifacts, where they lay, tell a story. Once they are moved, a piece of the past story is destroyed forever.
Digging, removing artifacts, or piling them up, changes what can be learned from these pieces of the past.
3. Cultural deposits, including the soil on an archaeological site, are important for scientific tests and are used in reconstructing past environments. For instance, from such information we can learn what kinds of plants were be used by the past inhabitants.
Please carry out any trash (especially organic remains) you may have while visiting a site.
4. Fragile desert plants and soils that are part of archaeological sites are destroyed when you stray from the trail. Also, snakes and other small desert animals make their homes in the bushes and under rocks and in burrows . . . you may disturb them.
Please stay on trails . . . they are there for your protection and the
protection of fragile cultural remains.
5. Fire destroys prehistoric organic materials, such as wood, ruining the dating potential of structures and artifacts, and can damage or even destroy rock art.
Absolutely no fires, candles, or smoking should occur at archaeological and historical sites.
6. Oils from even the cleanest hands can cause deterioration of prehistoric drawings and ruin the dating potential for future scientists trying to unravel the meaning of symbols painted and pecked on stone.
Please refrain from touching rock art.
7. Graffiti (drawing/painting, scratching, and carving) is destructive and can destroy rock art, as well as deface wooden/stone historical buildings.
Graffiti destroys rock art as well as other values.
8. Pets damage sites by digging, urinating and defecating in them. They can destroy fragile cultural deposits and frighten other visitors and native animals.
Please do not bring pets onto archaeological sites.
Finally, be aware of your surroundings when you are outdoors. Avoid driving or riding your vehicle through sites; pitching your camp in a site; dismantling historic buildings for firewood or any other use; and, camping, or making campfires, in historic buildings. If you like to play geo-caching games, please do not place geo-caches on archaeological or historical sites as you can inadvertently damage important values of those sites.
All archaeological sites on public (federal and state) land in Arizona are protected by the Archaeological Resources Protection Act and various state laws that prohibit digging, removing artifacts, and damaging and/or defacing archaeological resources; these laws provide for felony and misdemeanor charges with jail time, confiscation of property, and large fines. Arizona state law also protects graves (human remains) and grave goods located on state and private lands.
If you see people vandalizing sites, please report it as soon as possible to the public land manager (i.e., the Forest Service, the Arizona State Land Department, etc.) or their law enforcement entity.
Archaeological site locations are also protected under federal and state laws. Please do not disclose information about where sites are located, as it could potentially lead to those sites being vandalized or looted.
By following these simple guidelines, YOU can help preserve these unique and fragile remains of OUR American heritage. Remember, THE FUTURE OF THE PAST DEPENDS ON YOU! Thanks for your cooperation, and we hope that you enjoy visiting archaeological sites in Arizona!
If you have questions, please feel free to contact the
Arizona State Parks/State Historic Preservation Office at 602/542-4009.
The State Historic Preservation Office in cooperation with the Arizona Preservation Foundation sponsors the Heritage Preservation Honor Awards, an annual celebration of Arizona's cultural heritage. Ten awards are given to individuals, organizations, and/or projects in recognition of outstanding achievements in preserving Arizona's prehistoric and historic resources. A Grand Award Winner is chosen from among those ten award recipients. Awards are presented at the annual Arizona Heritage Preservation Awards reception in the spring.
As part of Arizona Archaeology Awarness Month each year, the Commission recognizes individuals and/or programs that have contributed time and energy to promoting the protection and preservation of, and education about, Arizona's non-renewable archaeological resources. Four awards are presented each year in the categories of professional archaeologist, avocational archaeologist, Site Steward, and Program/Other category. The award ceremony is held at the Archaeology Expo each year.
Mr. Kucera is the founder and coordinator of the Spanish Colonial History programs at the Tucson Museum of Art. Don has been a driving force in the creation of the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail and currently serves as the President of the Anza Trail Coalition of Arizona and Coordinator for Pima County. He is currently serving in his third year as a member of the Governor's Archaeology Advisory Commission and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Tucson Presidio Trust for Historical Preservation. Don is a member of many other preservation- and conservation-related organizations and has been a leader in many of them. He is an innovator who generates new ideas for practices and programs to advance the awareness and support for the archaeology and heritage of Arizona. He is a tireless worker for Arizona's historic preservation efforts.
Although Gary works a full time job, he joined the Site Steward Program (SSP) in 1990 and immediately began volunteering his time. In 1991, Gary Peet offered to become the State Records Coordinator for the Arizona Site Steward Program and designed a computerized database into which he could enter monitoring hours and other vital Program data. At that time, there were only 270 Site Stewards. In the subsequent 14 years, the Arizona Site Steward Program has grown to almost 800 volunteers. Gary volunteers, on the average, about 60 hours every quarter; during this time, he inputs all of the Stewards' Activity Log information into the database. In January of 2005 alone, Gary made over 6,000 individual entries in order to record Site Steward activity in the state. Without his database management, the SSP would not be able to fulfill one of its most critical functions: that of reporting important monitoring information back to the Land Managers and other partners in the Program so that they can better manage their sensitive heritage resources.
Dr. Bostwick has been the City Archaeologist for the City of Phoenix for 15 years. In this capacity, he interacts with the public in a wide variety of ways, including public programs, exhibits, video production, public art and humanities projects, teaching classes, ruins stabilization, the Arizona Site Steward Program, authoring articles and books, and serving on boards and councils. He has also mentored a number of college students. As City Archaeologist, he trains members of the public to help stabilize the prehistoric Pueblo Grande Platform Mound site in Phoenix. He has also been part of educational projects and programs that have won numerous public and civic awards. For example, he was awarded Special Recognition in 1995 from the State Historic Preservation Office for involving the local Chinese community in the excavation of the historic Phoenix Chinatown.
Since 2001, Brad Geeck (Arizona State Land Department Trespass Investigator) and Steve Ross (Arizona State Land Department Cultural Resources Manager) have been partners, along with personnel at SHPO and the Center for Desert Archaeology, in organizing and presenting archaeological law enforcement courses for Arizona State Peace Officers (county sheriff's deputies, county park police and rangers, city police officers, Arizona State Parks law enforcement rangers, tribal police departments, etc.), federal law enforcement officers, and prosecutors (Arizona Attorney General, county attorneys). They have helped put together five workshops in different parts of the state, resulting in the training of hundreds of law enforcement professionals in many different agencies. Brad and Steve build networks across agency boundaries, they speak with authority regarding resource management and law enforcement, and their dedication to the cause of cultural resource protection is an inspiration.
Empire Companies went “above and beyond” in reporting an archaeological site discovery at their Quailwood Meadows development in Yavapai County, Arizona. Empire had complete “clearance” for their project from the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps); in fact, no cultural resources had been found during the archaeological survey for the project. When Empire began development, a backhoe turned up a dark soil stain. The construction workers had enough knowledge to contact an archaeological consultant to determine how to proceed, but even before doing so, they put CAUTION tape around the entire area and informed all of their workers to stay out of the area until further notice. Empire should be commended for their ability to identify something of archaeological significance, and then to go the extra mile to have the resource professionally identified and protected, until an archaeologist could excavate the feature to recover the important information that it held. Empire paid for the professional excavation of this site. Empire's sensitivity to the value of cultural resources in general and particularly in the Prescott Valley area has also been lauded by the Corps and by the Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe.
Information and Technical Assistance
The State Historic Preservation Office provides a number of publications including Bulletins on National Register Properties, Preservation Briefs on treatments of historic properties, brochures on program areas and heritage tourism information. The staff also provide technical assistance on an individual basis and through workshops to property owners, consultants, municipal governments, and state and federal agencies.
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