The Verde Valley Archaeology Center and Museum is celebrating Arizona Archaeology and Heritage Awareness Month this March with a handful of events including Beaver Creek Heritage Days.
“Arizona Archaeology Month is a means to cultivate and honor the traditions of those who have been before us and perpetuate their legacies,” Executive Director Monica Buckle said. “We live in uncertain times where there’s a lot of knowledge that we can apply to our daily lives from the wisdom of the ancestral Native Americans and indigenous peoples.”
To kick off the month, VVAC hosted an all-day course on the archaeology of Sedona and the Verde Valley on March 1 and 2 with Director Emeritus Ken Zoll. The course covered the history of the region’s people from the Paleoindian and Archaic peoples to the arrival of the Yavapai-Apache.
The main event during the month will be Beaver Creek Heritage Days, formerly known as V-Bar-V Days, which will take place on Saturday, March 16, and Sunday, March 17, from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Crane Petroglyph Heritage Site at the V-V Ranch. The event was held annually prior to the pandemic and is returning for the first time since 2019.
The two day event will include many hands-on experiences for both kids and adults, including prehistoric atlatl throwing, flint knapping, tool technology, hunting technology, cordage making, fire making, fiber spinning, textile weaving and creating split twig figurines. There will also be rock art demonstrations and blade demonstrations, as well as information booths on 3D photo documentation of prehistoric sites, the ethnobotany of the region, a history of Homolovi, wilderness preservation, Native American Graves Repatriation and Protection Act compliance and American Indian Religious Freedom Act compliance.
On Saturday at 10 a.m., there will be a site renaming ceremony conducted by Stewart B. Koyiyumptewa, director of the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office, followed by another site renaming ceremony at 11 a.m. by Gertrude Smith, Yavapai Cultural Director at the Yavapai-Apache Cultural Resource Office. The site will be renamed from the V-V Ranch Heritage Site to the Crane Petroglyph Heritage Site.
The Madthii Swaddi Boys, a group of traditional bird singers and dancers, will perform on Saturday.
On both days at 12:30 p.m., Ken Zoll will present a talk on the spring equinox at the rock art panel. The rock art panel features over 1,200 petroglyphs and was used by the valley’s inhabitants as a solar and lunar calendar. It is the largest known petroglyph site in the Verde Valley.
The event is free, but a Red Rock parking pass is required. The site is located at 6750 Forest Service Road 618 in Rimrock.
“Archaeology furthers our understanding of our place and society,” Buckle said. “Studying the past, specifically Native American and indigenous cultures, helps to better appreciate the significant cultures that continue to thrive in the present day.”
“It’s wonderful for the Verde Valley and Sedona communities to attend our member events and our non member events,” Buckle continued. “Not only are you supporting the Verde Valley Archaeology Center and Museum, but you’re supporting the work of esteemed archaeologists, museum professionals, Native American artists and tribal nations. Coming out to events may further your understanding of your place within Sedona and the Verde Valley with its beautiful land, red rocks, sacred sites and heritage sites that we all know and respect and continue to further develop reverence for where we are.”
For a calendar of statewide Arizona Archaeology Month events, visit azstateparks.com/archy.
