back All Posts

Wupatki, MNA and Petroglyphs

Note: This post refers to an event that took place on Jun 23, 2017.

Join us for a cool weekend in Flagstaff. On Friday afternoon June 23rd we will tour the amazing repository at the Museum of Northern Arizona. ($5.00 fee).

On Saturday archaeologists Dana Brown and Alex Neumann will lead us on a front-country tour of Wupatki National Monument visiting four different Ancestral Puebloan sites while learning about the areas rich prehistoric history combined with a look into how cultures such as the Sinagua, Cohonina, and the Kayenta survived and thrived on the semi-arid Colorado Plateau. The tour will start off at the Lomaki-Box Canyon Pueblos, swing around the corner to walk thru Nalakihu and up to Citadel Pueblo. Here we will discuss how ancestral Puebloan would have incorporated the surrounding landscape for agricultural purposes while overlooking Antelope Prairie, Citadel Sink and the Painted Desert.  From there, we will travel to Wupatki Visitor Center and  break for lunch. Afterwards we will take a Wupatki Pueblo tour, detailing why it was an regionally important ceremonial center and trading hub, evident by key architectural features (Chacoan influence rooms) and significant trade goods (Pacific Ocean shells, Macaw burials, ceramic sherds). Closing out the tour, the group will take a hop and skip across the road to Wukoki. Here we will view Wukoki’s splendid architectural construction accentuated by its 3-story tower while NPS staff incorporates the importance of the National Park Service mission into the discussion.

On Sunday morning rock art researchers Evelyn Billo and Robert Mark will take us on a 2-3 hour hike through Picture Canyon, a petroglyph site and Natural and Cultural Preserve on the east side of Flagstaff. It is on the National Register of Historic Places, in part due to the early archaeological work in 1919 by Harold and Mary-Russel Colton, founders of the Museum of Northern Arizona. In addition to 123 panels of petroglyphs, over 170 bird species and over 200 botanical species, many of which are known to be used by Native Americans, are found in the preserve.

The trip is limited to 20 people. To register email Katherine Cerino.