Post by Moon Seeker on Dec 27, 2005 12:24:37 GMT -5
On Foot: Getting my pot shard fix at Homolovi Ruins
By Laurie Kavanaugh
HOMOLOVI RUINS STATE PARK, Ariz. -- Just about five miles east of Winslow off Interstate 40 sits a lonely little park overlooking the vast Navajo Reservation lands to the north.
We'd had a full day, starting out in Chino Valley to the west and covering the sites along the north-south corridor of Interstate 17 before turning east at Flagstaff to I-40.
Already, we'd been rockhounding at an ancient salt mine near Camp Verde, visited the Anasazi ruin of Montezuma Castle and hiked Boynton Canyon at Sedona. We had one more stop before spending the night in Winslow.
I had heard about Homolovi Ruins Park a few years ago. It was relatively new in the system of southwest parks dedicated to Anasazi ruins.
Unlike the larger parks that are overrun with tourists -- Mesa Verde in Colorado or Casa Grande in Phoenix come to mind -- Homolovi Ruins are situated on a quiet stretch of the interstate. Nearby Meteor Crater and Petrified Forest probably draw far more of the public's attention than this windswept rise where 800 years ago Anasazi farmers took advantage of the soil enriched by overflows of the Little Colorado River.
And, unlike Mesa Verde or Casa Grande that have been stripped clean of any pottery shards or other artifacts, Homolovi Ruins are still full of little bits and pieces left by the people who lived here.
The site is now a center of ongoing research focusing on the late migration period of the Anasazi in the 13th and 14th centuries as they moved north to the mesas and eventually merged with the ancestors of today's Hopi.
Modern Hopi began working with Arizona State Parks in 1986 to set aside the area that was probably inhabited as early as 11,000 years ago and lived on as late as 1400. At that time, it was a farming center that developed as a result of the fertile soil deposited by the Little Colorado that flows to the west. Since 1993 it's been a state park, open to the pubic to walk the paved paths weaving among the crumbling walls. Because the research is still new, except for the tops of the ruins, the village remains covered with sand and sage in most places.
There are four main sites, one is on the outskirts of the park and the other is closed. Homolovi I and II are within a walk from the parking areas. Also an interpretive walk, the Tsu'vo Loop Trail, goes past some faded rock art sprinkled on a boulder outcrop at the top of a mesa that includes bear paw petroglyphs.
The ruin sites are just plain fun. They are filled with broken pottery pieces ranging from multicolored shards, some done in the typical black and white designs of the Anasazi; while others are the older, gray corrugated pieces that carry simple hash mark designs. I guess the two are the equivalent to the 21st century's China and Melmac.
Just as it is at any of the southwest ruins that are difficult to get to, the low walls at Homolovi are rich with pottery pieces, waiting for archaeologists to uncover the layers that can tell them about life before Spanish explorers arrived.
The thunderstorms that dampened us earlier in the day had bunched up on the horizon to the north. We put on our hats and jackets to shield against the wind on this breezy mesa and strolled along the paths between fallen walls and squares of stacked stones.
Visitors who had come before us had picked up pieces of pottery and left them in rows or in groups on flat rocks along the walkways. We checked them out, relying on our limited knowledge of pottery chronology, relishing when we spotted pieces still with traces of red or orange paint. I couldn't resist picking up a couple displayed on the rocks to look for a telltale fingerprint of the potter imprinted on its surface. Those are rare pieces indeed. Then, understanding the antiquity laws, I put them back exactly where I found them. I would have loved to bring home a handful, but I know better.
I've taken this information from a fun book, "Hiking Ruins Seldom Seen," by Dave Wilson, who states it is illegal to take pottery or other artifacts on state land without a permit.
The Archaeological Resources Protection Act allows permits to be granted to qualified archaeologists or anthropologists who have applied to federal land managers through a lengthy process.
Caught the first time, vandals and pothunters can be fined $10,000 or go to jail for up to a year. If the damage or object in question is worth more than $500, it doubles. In all cases, any restoration or repair costs are paid for by the person caught and any tools or vehicles used in the crime can be seized by the government.
The Arizona Antiquities Act also prohibits collecting pottery or other artifacts on state land without a permit. People who take shards can be fined up to $1,000 and sentenced up to six months in jail. Digging at a site may bring a fine of $150,000 and two years in jail.
We surveyed the pottery pieces along the trail. There must have been hundreds of thousands in this area, with more still hiding below the sand.
Our time at Homolovi Ruins was running out as dusk settled in. We stopped to take a picture of cottontail bunny staring at us from the door of its den atop a mound of covered ruins. It blinked, gave us about three seconds and then disappeared into the debris.
Next time On Foot, we take the Tsu'vo Loop Trail at Homolovi Ruins to see petroglyphs that predate the ruins.
On Foot is all about walking and occasionally the joys of Bidwell Park. Style Editor Laurie Kavenaugh can be reached at 896-7765 or lifestyle@chicoer.com.
www.chicoer.com/features/style/ci_3346018
By Laurie Kavanaugh
HOMOLOVI RUINS STATE PARK, Ariz. -- Just about five miles east of Winslow off Interstate 40 sits a lonely little park overlooking the vast Navajo Reservation lands to the north.
We'd had a full day, starting out in Chino Valley to the west and covering the sites along the north-south corridor of Interstate 17 before turning east at Flagstaff to I-40.
Already, we'd been rockhounding at an ancient salt mine near Camp Verde, visited the Anasazi ruin of Montezuma Castle and hiked Boynton Canyon at Sedona. We had one more stop before spending the night in Winslow.
I had heard about Homolovi Ruins Park a few years ago. It was relatively new in the system of southwest parks dedicated to Anasazi ruins.
Unlike the larger parks that are overrun with tourists -- Mesa Verde in Colorado or Casa Grande in Phoenix come to mind -- Homolovi Ruins are situated on a quiet stretch of the interstate. Nearby Meteor Crater and Petrified Forest probably draw far more of the public's attention than this windswept rise where 800 years ago Anasazi farmers took advantage of the soil enriched by overflows of the Little Colorado River.
And, unlike Mesa Verde or Casa Grande that have been stripped clean of any pottery shards or other artifacts, Homolovi Ruins are still full of little bits and pieces left by the people who lived here.
The site is now a center of ongoing research focusing on the late migration period of the Anasazi in the 13th and 14th centuries as they moved north to the mesas and eventually merged with the ancestors of today's Hopi.
Modern Hopi began working with Arizona State Parks in 1986 to set aside the area that was probably inhabited as early as 11,000 years ago and lived on as late as 1400. At that time, it was a farming center that developed as a result of the fertile soil deposited by the Little Colorado that flows to the west. Since 1993 it's been a state park, open to the pubic to walk the paved paths weaving among the crumbling walls. Because the research is still new, except for the tops of the ruins, the village remains covered with sand and sage in most places.
There are four main sites, one is on the outskirts of the park and the other is closed. Homolovi I and II are within a walk from the parking areas. Also an interpretive walk, the Tsu'vo Loop Trail, goes past some faded rock art sprinkled on a boulder outcrop at the top of a mesa that includes bear paw petroglyphs.
The ruin sites are just plain fun. They are filled with broken pottery pieces ranging from multicolored shards, some done in the typical black and white designs of the Anasazi; while others are the older, gray corrugated pieces that carry simple hash mark designs. I guess the two are the equivalent to the 21st century's China and Melmac.
Just as it is at any of the southwest ruins that are difficult to get to, the low walls at Homolovi are rich with pottery pieces, waiting for archaeologists to uncover the layers that can tell them about life before Spanish explorers arrived.
The thunderstorms that dampened us earlier in the day had bunched up on the horizon to the north. We put on our hats and jackets to shield against the wind on this breezy mesa and strolled along the paths between fallen walls and squares of stacked stones.
Visitors who had come before us had picked up pieces of pottery and left them in rows or in groups on flat rocks along the walkways. We checked them out, relying on our limited knowledge of pottery chronology, relishing when we spotted pieces still with traces of red or orange paint. I couldn't resist picking up a couple displayed on the rocks to look for a telltale fingerprint of the potter imprinted on its surface. Those are rare pieces indeed. Then, understanding the antiquity laws, I put them back exactly where I found them. I would have loved to bring home a handful, but I know better.
I've taken this information from a fun book, "Hiking Ruins Seldom Seen," by Dave Wilson, who states it is illegal to take pottery or other artifacts on state land without a permit.
The Archaeological Resources Protection Act allows permits to be granted to qualified archaeologists or anthropologists who have applied to federal land managers through a lengthy process.
Caught the first time, vandals and pothunters can be fined $10,000 or go to jail for up to a year. If the damage or object in question is worth more than $500, it doubles. In all cases, any restoration or repair costs are paid for by the person caught and any tools or vehicles used in the crime can be seized by the government.
The Arizona Antiquities Act also prohibits collecting pottery or other artifacts on state land without a permit. People who take shards can be fined up to $1,000 and sentenced up to six months in jail. Digging at a site may bring a fine of $150,000 and two years in jail.
We surveyed the pottery pieces along the trail. There must have been hundreds of thousands in this area, with more still hiding below the sand.
Our time at Homolovi Ruins was running out as dusk settled in. We stopped to take a picture of cottontail bunny staring at us from the door of its den atop a mound of covered ruins. It blinked, gave us about three seconds and then disappeared into the debris.
Next time On Foot, we take the Tsu'vo Loop Trail at Homolovi Ruins to see petroglyphs that predate the ruins.
On Foot is all about walking and occasionally the joys of Bidwell Park. Style Editor Laurie Kavenaugh can be reached at 896-7765 or lifestyle@chicoer.com.
www.chicoer.com/features/style/ci_3346018