ARARA 2023 Conference - overview

This page is a work in progress. Return often for updates.

Covid Policy
Registration
Fieldtrips
Fieldtrip Meeting Location 
Workshop
Art Show
T-Shirt
Agenda
Speaker Abstracts
Vendors

Covid Policy
The Board of Directors recognizes the complexity of dealing with Covid-19 and the difficulty of predicting what will be happening several months in the future. The Board has developed the following policy for all attendees at this conference: "Each attendee agrees to have taken a negative Covid-19 test within 24 hours of attending the conference." The test can be any test that is recognized by the government and health professionals including at home nasal swabs that are available for free from the U.S. government or can be purchased at most major department stores and pharmacies. You will be required to agree to this policy when you register and will be sent a reminder email before the conference. However, you will not need to demonstrate proof of a negative test at the conference itself. We will rely on your honesty and concern for fellow members.
ARARA recommends these best practices to combat Covid and keep our membership safe: Have up-to-date vaccinations; wear masks while traveling (especially on planes) and while in close meeting spaces; bring extra rapid tests in case you develop symptoms and to test before the meeting.
Anyone registered for the conference can receive a full refund of their fees if they have a positive test for Covid. Just send us a photo or copy of your test results along with the refund request.

Registration
We anticipate registration to open about January 15, 2023. Emails announcing registration will go out to our members and non-members in our database when registration opens. To go directly to our registration page click here.
Registration is open to both members and non-members. Registration is $95 per member and $155 per non-member. If registering through this website you may pay by credit card (use the online option) or by check (use the invoice me option). Once you have registered you will receive an email confirming your registration. This email will include a code you can use to register for field trips. This allows field trip registration to be on a first-come, first-served basis.
You may cancel your registration and receive a refund up to two weeks (end of day Feb 24) in advance of the symposium. A charge of $15 will be applied to cancellations. If you cancel your registration please also cancel your registration for field trips.
In-person registration will be limited to credit card payments and will only allow Monday field trips.
A note for non-members: We recognize that not all of you will want to become ARARA members. However, the pricing is such that it is cheaper to become a member and attend the conference. In addition, you receive all of the other benefits of being part of ARARA including our American Indian Rock Art volume that will have written, peer reviewed versions of many of this year's presentations. To join click the link at the top center of this page.
Conference pre-registration closes February 20, 2023.

Fieldtrips
There is no cost for field trips. They are included in your registration fee although some field trips have additional charges that will be noted in their description. You can't register directly from this page but you can see all of the field trip options in one convenient location. The field trip numbers will linked to the registration pages. So, if you wanted to attend the Friday Cocoraque Butte field trip, clicking on the F1 link will take you to that field trip registration. Or you can go to the Friday fieldtrip page, Monday field trip page, and the Workshop page and see all of the trips/activities with their availability.

The field trip numbers (located after the field trip name) indicate what days the trips are available. So, for the Cocoraque Butte trip there are two field trips, one on Friday (F1) and one on  Monday (M1). Meeting time and location will be provided in your registration email along with contact information for your trip leader. Your trip leader will also determine whether carpooling will take place.

Bring: A hat, appropriate clothing including footwear, plenty of water, lunch, snacks, and maybe a jacket, plus whatever you need to be out in the field for up to a full day and fees as noted in your trip description.  Binoculars or camera with telephoto lens. A mask, because your field trip leader may ask you to wear one due to Covid concerns if you are carpooling. Make sure that your vehicle is full on gas and that you have used the bathroom before meeting with your trip leader.

Fieldtrips are available on a first-come, first-serve basis based on registration. We anticipate registration opening in mid-January. January 1 is also our membership renewal time. So, make sure you have renewed your registration to receive up to date emails. Renewal reminder emails will go out on January 1.

When you register for the conference you will receive a confirmation email that will include a "password" in large, bright red font. This password will allow you to register for the fieldtrip of your choice as long as space is available. A note about the spaces left number: We include field trip leaders in our count total. They have a separate registration category and separate code to use for registration. If you are trying to register and are being taken to the Leader category it means that the participant category is full. Choose another trip. 

The fieldtrip registration page will show how many spots are still open. You cannot sign up directly as a group, other than you can use the guest option for a spouse or family member who is registered for the conference. So, if you wish to travel with other friends make sure that there is enough space for them to register as well.

Fieldtrips on Both Friday and Monday
Cocoraque Butte  F1/M1
Leaders:    Gordon Hanson and Jim Avramis
Site Description: This trip leads to seven small petroglyph-covered boulder hills around Cocoraque Butte, located in Ironwood Forest National Monument. The site has the largest-known selection of “bell rocks” in southern Arizona and about 2,000 petroglyphs on rounded black boulders. Some glyphs can be seen from the base of the hills with binoculars, but climbing the largest of the boulder-covered hills is the best tour. Hiking terrain is flat with boulder-covered hills rising from the base. A fifteen-minute walk from the parking area along an old sandy road to the largest of the hills is the first stop. The hills vary from a few feet to the tallest stack of boulders measuring 100 feet high. The optional climb to the top is rewarding but rated difficult. Bring water, lunch, and snacks.       References: Hernbrode 2018, 2019a, 2019b, 2021; Hernbrode and Boyle 2016, 2017
Difficulty:  2.2 miles walking over flat desert with some deep sand with 50 ft of elevation gain. A climb to the top of the highest hill adds 100 ft of elevation.
Vehicle Requirement: high clearance needed, 4x4 recommended
Driving Time/Distance (One Way): 1.25 hrs; 31 miles with the last 6 miles unpaved with some deep sand (and mud if it has rained)
Max. Number of Participants: 20
Fee:  None       

Cocoraque Ranch  F2/M2
Leaders:    Janine Hernbrode and Bob Hernbrode
Site Description: This trip is an opportunity to access a private ranch behind locked gates. About 9,000 glyphs are on a relatively steep volcanic 185-foot-tall hill with no established trail. The optional climb to the top is rewarding but rated difficult. The site was used by the Ancestral O’Odham for access to water and for ritual activities over millennia. A large array of glyphs, particularly archaic glyphs can be seen walking around the bottom of the hill as well as through binoculars. A labyrinth glyph is viewable ⅔ of the distance up this hill. The site has sound properties, and two different clusters of “bell rocks” can be seen; one cluster half-way up the tall hill and another, more accessible for all participants, in a cluster at the base of a nearby hill. Some of the bell rocks have animate shapes. Bring water, lunch, and snacks.
References: Hernbrode 2018, 2019a, 2019b, 2021; Hernbrode and Boyle 2016, 2017
Difficulty:  0.25 miles walking with 40 feet of elevation gain. A climb to the top of the hill adds 160 ft of elevation.
Vehicle: high clearance needed, 4x4 recommended
Driving Time/Distance (One Way): 1.5 hrs; 32 miles with the last 7 miles unpaved with some deep sand (and mud if it has rained)
Max. Number of participants: 20
Fee: $20 (private land); pay trip leader cash day of the event
 

Great Bend of the Gila  F3/M3
Leader:  Aaron Wright (Friday)   Skylar Begay (Monday)
Site Description: This trip will take participants to two of the densest concentrations of petroglyphs along the Great Bend of the Gila River. This region lies at the interface of the Hohokam and Patayan archaeological traditions, and the cultural interplay is evident in the regional repertoire of petroglyphs. Participants will first visit the famed Painted Rock Petroglyph Site, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 to recognize the significance of its 4,000 petroglyphs. The site is ADA accessible, with a maintained pathway, parking, and pit toilets. From there, participants will rendezvous for lunch in Gila Bend before working back upriver to visit the Gillespie Narrows Petroglyph Preserve. Over 5,000 petroglyphs adorn basalt boulders and outcrops along the escarpment of a lava flow. While some petroglyphs can be viewed from the base, a moderate climb to the top of the talus will bring the grandeur of the site into focus. Bring water and snacks (lunch can be purchased in Gila Bend).
References: Wright 2017, 2018
Difficulty: A level 0.25-mile ADA-accessible trail loops around Painted Rocks. Gillespie Narrows is accessible via a 100-yard walk from a maintained dirt road, but viewing the glyphs up-close requires an 80-ft climb up a boulder-strewn escarpment.
Vehicle Requirement: Any
Driving Time/Distance (One Way): 2.3 hrs, 151 miles
Max. Number of Participants:20
Fee: $2/vehicle parking fee at Painted Rocks; pay at the site

Picture Rocks Wash and Los Morteros  F4/M4
Leaders: Sherry Eisler and Laura LePere (Friday)   Al Dart (Monday)      
Site Description: This trip starts with a visit to Los Morteros, a Hohokam village and the center of an extended community of related settlements along the Santa Cruz River. This easy access site has a wide range of archaeological features, including petroglyphs and an impressive number of bedrock mortars that inspired the site’s name. Participants will then visit sites in the nearby Picture Rocks Wash. The largest and first on the itinerary has over 200 petroglyphs, including zoomorphs, anthropomorphs, abstract motifs, and a solar marker for the summer solstice and the equinoxes. Participants may then choose to continue with the guide about a mile farther up the wash to two smaller petroglyph sites in Saguaro National Park. These feature a well-defined “turkey” and a partially pecked and partially painted quail-like image. Participants should bring water and a packed lunch for the afternoon hike.
References: Dart 2020
Difficulty: Los Morteros: Flat 0.25 mile walk via an ADA-accessible path. Picture Rocks Wash: 50 yards walking in sandy wash to the main site; additional two-mile loop with 115 ft of elevation gain to reach additional two sites.
Vehicle Requirement: any
Driving Time/Distance (One Way:) 0.5 hrs, 25 miles
Max. Number of Participants: 20
Fee: None        

Phoenix’s South Mountain Park  F5/M5
Leader: Al Arpad
Site Description: The petroglyphs in the South Mountains, along the southern margin of Phoenix, were the first elements of Hohokam rock imagery professionally reported, and they remain the most studied across southern Arizona. These glyphs now reside in South Mountain Park and Preserve, one of the largest municipal parks in the world. On this trip, visitors will visit Box and Pima Canyons, two of the best petroglyph localities in these mountains. The glyphs in Box Canyon, which lies near the center of the range, were first studied by Warren K. Moorehead in 1897. Those in Pima Canyon at the range’s eastern terminus were first described in 1890 by Frank Hamilton Cushing. Box Canyon is an enclosed space with petroglyphs hung high around the canyon’s rim. Pima Canyon is an elongated access into the mountains, with petroglyph concentrations centered at the mouth and around springs and seeps. These different settings allow visitors to see the variable contexts in which residents of nearby Hohokam villages made and used rock imagery. Bring water and snacks (lunch can be purchased at various establishments in south Phoenix).
References: Bostwick 2002, 2008; Carpenter 2006; Russell and Wright 2009; Russell et al. 2009; Snyder 1966, 1975; Wright 2011, 2014, 2016
Difficulty: Box Canyon: A 0.25-mile loop with no elevation gain. Pima Canyon: A 3-mile loop along Pima Canyon and Pima Wash Trails with around 300 feet of elevation gain.
Vehicle Requirement: any
Driving Time/Distance (One Way):  1.75 hrs, 115 miles
Max. Number of Participants: 20
Fee: None

Sutherland Wash Rock Art District  F6/M6
Leaders: Bill Gillespie, Ron Andelora, and Brian Shear (Friday)   Bill Gillespie and Brian Shear (Monday) 
Site Description: One of the most beautiful landscapes in southern Arizona hosts four major sites and many smaller ones. The boulder and saguaro covered hills are separated by a small canyon with sound properties and social trails to aid access. The Ancestral O’Odham occupied this area since the Early Agricultural Period (2000 BC to 50 AD). The approximately 3,500 glyphs include flowers, a stunning bighorn sheep panel, lots of Hohokam barbell figures, genital reference landscape features, and solar and horizon markers. Moderate elevation gains are necessary to see these sites at the base of the mountains. Bring your D-Stretch enabled phone or camera as well as water, lunch, and snacks.
References: Hernbrode and Boyle 2013a, 2013b, 2017
Difficulty: All sites on social trails at different levels; 4 to 5 miles total, 330 ft elevation gain with multiple ups and downs; endurance needed
Vehicle Requirement: high clearance
Driving Time/Distance (One Way): 1 hr, 35 miles
Max. Number of Participants: 20
Fee: None           

San Xavier del Bac Mission and Tumamoc Hill   F7/M7
Leaders: Linda Hanson (San Xavier), Paul and Suzanne Fish, Gayle Hartmann (Tumamoc)
Site Description: This trip begins at San Xavier Mission, a National Historic Landmark and the oldest European structure in Arizona. An authentic 18th century space, the church's interior is filled with marvelous original statuary and mural paintings. There are even a few glyphs etched by the Tohono O’odham laborers. This 90-minute behind-the-scenes tour will focus on how the 300-year-old Mission’s external architecture and interior statuary and murals reflect the Moorish, Spanish, Catholic, and Indigenous influences in this region. Additionally, the tour will discuss present-day conservation and restoration efforts currently underway.
The trip’s second stop will be Tumamoc Hill, a Tucson landmark near downtown. Tumamoc Hill has an extensive complex of stone trincheras features attributable to a pre-ceramic village (500 to 300 B.C.) and a subsequent early Hohokam village (A.D. 475 to 700). Recording efforts have documented 734 petroglyphs as well as 450 Euro-American inscriptions, many of which date to the period of Mexican and early American settlement. The petroglyphs on the hill date from the archaic to late Hohokam (A.D. 1400). The field trip should end around 1 pm. Participants can then explore downtown Tucson or enjoy one of the small Mexican restaurants at the foot of Tumamoc Hill. Bring water and snacks.
References: Fert 1979; Hartman and Boyle 2013
Difficulty: San Xavier: 0.25 miles of walking over flat, mostly paved ground. Tumamoc Hill: 0.5 to 1 mile of walking over volcanic desert terrain with 25 ft elevation gain.
Vehicle Requirement: any
Driving Time/Distance (One Way): 0.5 hrs, 18 miles
Max. Number of Participants: 20
Fee:$10 donation for San Xavier (Restoration Fund); pay trip leader cash day of the event
NOTE: This trip will depart from the hotel at 7:00 a.m. to allow access to the Mission before it is open to parishioners.

Friday Only Trips
Tohono O’odham Nation  F8
Leader: Al Dart
Site Description:  This tour will visit at least three places around the Baboquivari Mountains on the Tohono O’odham Nation, west of Tucson. A sacred cave on Baboquivari Peak is the home of the Tohono O'odham Creator I’itoi (“Elder Brother”). The first destination will be a 1930s Civilian Conservation Corps work-camp headquarters that is now a campground and picnic area. (If open, the tour will first stop at Kitt Peak on the way to the work-camp headquarters. A boulder atop the peak depicts a possible Hohokam map). From the work-camp headquarters, participants will drive a short distance to Baboquivari Picture Rock, which exhibits ancient and historic petroglyphs and pictographs, bedrock mortars, and a probable Tohono O'odham shrine. On the return, participants will have the option to visit the Tohono O’odham Nation Cultural Center & Museum in Topawa. Participants provide their own transportation, drinking water, and picnic lunches and plan on an all-day trip.
Difficulty: 0.25 miles of walking around Baboquivari Picture Rock with slight dips across washes
Vehicle Requirement: High clearance; roads are all paved except last 12 miles are on a dirt road that may not be well maintained
Driving Time/Distance (One Way): 2.5 hrs (with stops), 89 miles
Max. Number of Participants:  20  
Fee: $20/person payable to Old Pueblo Archaeology Center (cash or check upon arrival; Old Pueblo will forward all fees collected to Tohono O'odham Nation’s Baboquivari District)

Deer Valley Petroglyph Preserve, Pueblo Grande Museum, and Casa Grande National Monument   F9
Leader: Chris Lange and Rich Lange
Site Description: This field trip is ideal for those who wish a respite from the spring time climes of the Sonoran Desert. Each leg of this trip centers on an indoor setting with an optional outdoor viewing area over significant archaeological sites in southern Arizona. Participants will start at the Deer Valley Petroglyph Preserve in north Phoenix. The Preserve’s museum highlights the history of research at the site, and a short trail leads to various areas where some of the 1,800+ Archaic, Hohokam, and Patayan petroglyphs can be viewed from below. From there, a stint at the Pueblo Grande Museum in downtown Phoenix will bring visitors face-to-face with the largest known Hohokam Platform Mound. The museum details the extensive history of Hohokam habitation in the Valley of the Sun. And rounding out the day, a stop at the Casa Grande near Florence provides an opportunity to see the four-story adobe edifice, several adobe compounds, and a nearby ballcourt. The associated museum and interpretive center help explain the final century of the Hohokam millennium. Bring lunch, water, and snacks.
References: Bruder 1981, 1983a, 1983b; Snyder 1978; Welsh and Dorn 1997
Difficulty: Each site is ADA-accessible with walking distances between 0.1 and 0.5 miles over level terrain.
Vehicle Requirement: any
Driving Time/Distance (One Way): 2 hrs, 135 miles
Max. Number of Participants: 20
Fee: $6 admission for Pueblo Grande ($5 for seniors); admission for Deer Valley waived with proof of conference registration; none for Casa Grande. 

Saguaro National Park West   F10
Leader: Tim Loftus and Jean Mabry
Site Description: Special permission has been obtained to visit two sites in Saguaro National Park. A one mile stroll each way through a dry streambed provides access to the King Canyon petroglyphs. The deep patina of the walls in King Canyon provided a suitable ritual gathering place and image surface for nearly 1,370 glyphs divided into 186 panels of imagery. Habitation evidence includes bedrock mortars marking areas used for food production. Patina classes indicate that the Ancestral O’Odham periodically used this canyon for their sacred rituals from the Late Archaic (2000 BC to AD 50) to early in the 20th century. One panel, re-pecked three times, appears to have been used, re-used, and re-used in the same place, suggesting continuity from the most repatinated to the least patinated petroglyphs. The second location, Javelina Wash, is a 5-minute drive and 500-meter walk along another sandy wash. This part of the Park is ordinarily off-limits to visitors. The landscape of fine siltstone has a range of colors: red, purple, and occasionally green. Natural white and dark red circles in the colored siltstone sometimes have been utilized as part of the glyphs. Bring your D-stretch enabled phone or camera as well as water, lunch, and snacks.
Difficulty: Site 1: 2-mile loop in sandy wash trail with 190 ft elevation gain. Site 2: 1.5-mile loop in sandy wash with 100 ft elevation gain
Vehicle Requirement: any
Driving Distance One Way: 0.75 hrs, 21 miles
Max. Max. Number of Participants: 20
Fee: None. Bring Golden Age Pass if you want to visit Saguaro National Park Visitor Center (optional)

Saguaro National Park East  F11
Leader: Stanley Ponczek and Gail Ryser
Site Description: Special permission has been obtained to visit an Ancestral O’Odham petroglyph site in Saguaro National Park that is normally closed to visitation. The site occupies the crest of a low, rocky inclined ridge leading to a small promontory with a gathering place on top. Glyphs of anthropomorphs, some flower-like images, and dragonflies are among the many motifs. The second site is an earlier ceremonial gathering place. The petroglyphs are primarily anthropomorphs pecked into the large boulder exposures on a low hill. An impressive “bell rock,” which we will ring with a wooden mallet, is central among the boulders. If time permits, participants will also visit the foundations and cemetery of the ghost town of Pantano. Bring a packed lunch and water. A hiking stick would be useful for the trek up these rocky hills.
Difficulty: Site 1: 1.5-mile loop over trail-less rocky desert terrain with 250 ft. elevation gain. Site 2: 10.5-mile loop with 20 ft. elevation gain.
Vehicle Requirement: Any, parking limited so carpools needed
Driving Time/Distance (One Way): 1.25 hrs, 40 miles
Max. Number of Participants: 13
Fee:  No          

Rio Rico Pictographs and Tumacacori National Historical Park   F12
Leaders: Joe Watkins and Barbara Casimir, Park Rangers from Tumacacori
Site Description: A 1.5-mile hike through a beautiful creek valley on a developed trail leads to two rock shelters with many small pictographs. Bring footwear to wade the creek to see one rock shelter with imagery. Participants with greater hiking skill may be able to climb to another rock shelter with steep and difficult access. The second stop is a guided visit to the ruins of Mission San Jose de Tumacacori in Tumacacori National Historical Park. The Mission was founded by Jesuit Father Eusebio Kino in 1691 to Christianize the O’odham who were farming in the Santa Cruz River Valley. In addition to the church ruins, a reproduction of a traditional O’odham house (a “ki”) helps visitors imagine what the site looked like during the time it was active. The site could not be protected from warring tribes and was abandoned in 1848.Bring your D-Stretch enabled camera or smartphone, water, snacks, and lunch.
Difficulty: Creek: 1.75 miles walk on historic railroad grade with a wade across the creek. An optional side canyon involves 0.5 miles trail-less walk with 43 ft elevation gain Tumacacori: 0.25 miles over ADA-accessible paths in the National Park.
Vehicle Requirement: any
Driving Time/Distance (One Way): 1.5 hrs; 74 miles
Max. Number of Participants: 12
Fee: $10admission fee for Tumacacori, free with National Park Pass

Monday Only Trips
Amerind Museum and Pictographs   M8
Leader:  Dan Frey 
Site Description: This trip will lead people to the northeast reach of the Dragoon Mountains, to a place known as East Cochise Stronghold. It is so named because it was once a hideout for Cochise, the famed Chiricahua Apache leader, and some 1,000 of his followers. Visitors will first stop at the Amerind Museum of Native American art, history, culture, and archaeology. It is also an archaeological research institute, library, and archive with a long pedigree of groundbreaking research in the American Southwest and Northwest Mexico. For those interested in additional perusal and purchase, the adjacent gallery sells Native American works in two- and three-dimensional media. Visitors will also be able to see a small petroglyph site adjacent to the museum. From there, the group will visit a selection of pictograph sites, beginning with Balancing Rock, which hosts several probable Apache pictographs. They’ll then continue on to three pictograph sites in the Stronghold. The cultural affiliation of these pictographs remains uncertain. Are they Mogollon, Apachean, or something else? Bring water, lunch, and snacks.
References: Kolber 1986
Difficulty: Balancing Rock: 200 yards walking over level terrain with little-to-no elevation gain;  Amerind Museum is ADA-accessible; the pictographs require 0.5 miles of walking over trail-less desert terrain with about 400 ft elevation gain.
Vehicle Requirement: any
Driving Time/Distance (One Way): 1.5 hrs, 83 miles
Max. Number of Participants: 20
Fee: None

Papago Butte, Casa Grande, and the Ak-Chin Him-Dak Eco-Museum   M10
Leader:  Aaron Wright
Site Description: Papago Butte lies near the community of Maricopa, south of Phoenix and northwest of Tucson. It is an extension of the Palo Verde Mountains and lies adjacent to the Vekol Wash. While the butte is privately owned, permission has been granted to lead a group to see some of the hundreds of Hohokam petroglyphs that adorn it. This trip will first stop at the Casa Grande National Monument, which is the site of a four-story adobe building built in the fourteenth century. From there, attendees will visit the petroglyphs at Papago Butte. The tour is capped with an optional stop at the Ak-Chin Him-Dak Eco-Museum before the return to Tucson. This museum is owned and operated by the Ak-Chin Indian Community and features the art and history of O’Odham of the Vekol and middle Gila River valleys. Bring water, lunch, and snacks.
Difficulty: Papago Butte requires 0.25 miles of walking across level but unpaved terrain. Casa Grande and the Him-Dak museum of ADA accessible
Vehicle Requirement: none
Driving Time/Distance One Way: 2 hrs, 100 miles
Max. Number of Participants: 20
Fee: $10 admission for the museum; pay on-site

T-Shirt
Our Conference T-Shirt is a conference tradition. This year it was designed by Aaron Wright, our local host. He has incorporated a color scheme to mimic that of local indigenous pottery. Sizes are available from Small to XXLarge. T-Shirts will be distributed at the registration desk at the conference. T-Shirts are only available to conference attendees and are only available through the conference registration process. We will not mail T-Shirts if you don't attend the conference. The price is $18.


Workshop
Photogrammetry, drone mapping, and digital cartography - Robert Mark 1:00 p.m. Thursday March 9, 2023 at the hotel.
This in-person workshop will focus on tools for the rock art researcher. The focus will be on photogrammetry, drone mapping, and digital cartography (GIS). There will also be a brief look at gigapan photo technology. This workshop is in-classroom and participants are encouraged to bring their own computers and projects. Links to relevant software will be provided to participants.
Cost: $50 available to members and non-members. You do not have to be registered for the ARARA conference to participate.