ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE ETIQUETTE
Welcome to the past! Arizona contains some of the nation's—and indeed the world's—greatest archaeological 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 ruins at Homolovi
The ruins at Homolovi State Park are a good example of archaeological ruins that need to be visited with great care.
Help Us Preserve Archaeology Sites!
You will encounter numerous archaeological sites when hiking and off-roading on public lands in Arizona, including within our beautiful state parks. Because archaeological sites are fragile, non-renewable resources that have sacred value to Arizona’s descendant tribal communities, we ask that you follow these guidelines during your visit.
ARTIFACTS
Leave artifacts where you find them. Artifacts are the single-most tangible resource that connects Tribes to their heritage; as footprints of the past, their significance is reliant upon where they are located. Once they are picked up and displaced, the scientific value of artifacts is compromised and these footprints are effectively erased. If you do pick up an artifact, please try to put it back where you found it, when you are done looking at it.
ROCK PILES
Rock piles should not be altered or created. Don’t rearrange existing rock piles or collect rocks to form a new rock pile. Such changes to the landscape can affect how sites are interpreted.
CULTURAL AND NATURAL DEPOSITS
Cultural and natural deposits should be left intact. Soils and plants within archaeological sites have scientific and associated cultural values to Arizona’s tribes. When hiking, biking, or off-roading, stay on trails and within other defined recreation areas and corridors. Do not bring pets to archaeological sites. In the cases where you encounter a site with your pet, be mindful of unleashing them as they may disturb cultural deposits. Do not smoke or set campfires near sites.
ROCK ART
Rock art should be observed, not touched! Rock art includes pecked, carved and painted imagery that conveys ideas and stories considered highly significant to descendant tribal communities. Oils from our hands can cause deterioration, and graffiti of any kind is considered a highly destructive form of vandalism. Do not touch, peck, carve, etch, paint, spray, (etc.) any cultural features, especially surfaces that possess rock art.
WALLS & ROCK ALIGNMENTS
Walls and rock alignments should be observed, not touched. Rock and adobe walls are fragile and in a constant state of deterioration. Don’t climb, sit, step, lean or stand on the walls, remove any rocks, or rebuild fallen rock walls. Altering the formation of a room wall or rock alignment affects what can be learned about their placement and possibly their use or function.
PHOTOS
Don’t put photographs of sites on social media. While sites may be publicly accessible, their location is sensitive to descendent tribal communities. If you do post, please remove locational information and let others find these places for themselves!
RECREATE RESPONSIBLY
Don’t leave anything behind. Please take your trash with you and preserve the experience for others. Please be courteous and clean-up after your pets.
SITE CLEAN-UP
Although we encourage you to clean-up after yourself, please refrain from picking up other trash on the site. This trash may actually be historic in nature and add context to the site to help establish dates of occupation, as well as identify habits of the people that utilized the site in the past. Do not clear vegetation from sites, as plants may provide insight to why the site was chosen by past cultures, and may provide cover to protect the site from the elements or hide the site from looters.
METAL-DETECTING
Metal-detecting, rock-hounding and geocaching should avoid culturally and ecologically-sensitive areas.
NOTICE: Metal-detecting is not permitted in Arizona State Parks, and cannot be used to search for relics and artifacts on public lands.
Call 1-833-END-LOOT to report observed evidence of looting, vandalism or trafficking to law enforcement. For your safety, do not talk to or approach anyone causing damage to a site.
For damage caused by natural occurrences (i.e. fire, flooding, wind, etc.), email: azshpo@azstateparks.gov with location, description of damage and photos, if possible.
Download Site Etiquette Guide (NEW 2023)
Project Archaeology
Teaching Children About Protecting Cultural Resources Through Fun Educational Activities
Arizona Project Archaeology (AzPA) is a dedicated all-volunteer team of educators, archaeologists and museum professionals who, working with our partners in the National Park Service (NPS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), National Project Archaeology, Arizona State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and Arizona State Parks & Trails - Arizona Site Steward Program, provides a fully developed interdisciplinary and science based Archaeological curriculum to 3rd - 5th grade history teachers. This comprehensive curriculum uses archaeological inquiry to foster understanding of past and present cultures, improve social studies and science education and enhance citizenship education to help preserve our archaeological legacy. With grants from Arizona Humanities, The Institute of Heritage Education and the F. Lewis Orrell Jr Bequest, AzPA is busy developing online teacher workshops and Arizona specific curriculum.
AZPA is bringing the Project Archaeology Investigating Shelter curriculum to Arizona teachers! Doing our part to keep teachers safe and healthy, is developing an on-line teacher workshop complete with the Investigating Shelter guide and fun activities. This curriculum guides teachers and students through a complete investigation of shelter using artifact, maps, historic photographs, drawings and oral histories. The curriculum inspires students to respect and protect the rich cultural resources on public lands and to develop lifelong stewardship habits.
In conjunction with bringing Investigating Shelter to Arizona classrooms, AzPA is developing a comprehensive Hohokam Pithouse curriculum, to be added to the national Project Archaeology course catalog. This project will result in a culturally appropriate, Arizona specific, archaeology guide full of lesson plans for 3-5th graders. We have an outstanding team of educators and archaeologists working on this curriculum development project.
Are you an educator interested in joining our team? Please email us at azprojectarchaeology@gmail.com. And be sure to join us at https://www.arizonaprojectarchaeology.com/ and on our Facebook page.
