Rock Art Conservation in the Gila River Indian Community

Sat Mar 10

Human Evolution and Social Change
Location: Deer Valley Rock Art Center, 3711 W. Deer Valley Road
Campus: Off-campus
Cost: Free

ASU’s Deer Valley Rock Art Center invites you to this informative free lecture at 1 p.m. Mar. 10.

Rock art sites remain culturally significant to members of the Gila River Indian Community and play a role in ongoing traditions. The Gila River Indian Community Cultural Research Management Program is actively involved in the protection and management of these sites.

Chris Loendorf and Barnaby Lewis present research on the documentation of vandalism for conservation efforts, as well as analyses of prehistoric and historic pigments employed to produce pictographs. The study documented evidence for previously unrecognized animal husbandry practices, as well as long-term continuity in cultural traditions from the prehistoric to the historic periods.

Chris Loendorf is Project Manager for the Gila River Indian Community Cultural Resource Management Program. He earned his Ph.D. and M.A. at Arizona State University and has worked on all stages of cultural resource management projects from the Southwest to the Northern Plains.

Barnaby V. Lewis is the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (THPO) for the Gila River Indian Community. He was previously the Cultural Resource Specialist for 10 years with the GRIC Cultural Resource Management Program. Mr. Lewis supervises all aspects of cultural resource consultation in connection with federal, state and tribal laws, including the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

Seating is limited.

The Deer Valley Rock Art Center has the largest concentration of Native American petroglyphs in the Phoenix Valley. Visitors hike a quarter-mile trail to view over 1,500 petroglyphs made between 500 and 7,000 years ago. The museum aims to promote preservation of, connection to and respect for the site, and we are a destination for families to learn about archaeology in their own backyard. The center is managed ASU’s School of Human Evolution and Social Change, home to one of the top archaeology programs in the country.