Archaeological Investigations at the Hedgpeth Hills Petroglyph Site

This report presents the results of mitigation activities at the 99,000 square meter Hedgpeth Hills petroglyph and ground stone manufacturing site which is located in the Deer Valley area, northwest Phoenix, Arizona. Material from 13 smaller rock art sites from the northern Hohokam periphery is incorporated into the analysis in order to provide a regional perspective. The major goals of the project were to inventory and record rock art at the Hedgpeth site and to undertake preliminary analysis of the resultant data, and to develop a plan for site protection and preservation coupled with recommendations for public enjoyment.

Included in the report is a detailed presentation concerning data recovery techniques, analytical procedures, and results. Survey, mapping, and petroglyph recording methods are discussed along with the results of experimental petroglyph and ground stone manufacture. The Hedgpeth site contains 579 glyph-bearing boulders located within six spatially discrete clusters. Over 1500 individual design elements were recorded at the site. A petroglyph typology is developed with this information and various descriptive attributes concerning the data are considered. Design elements are divided into 37 major types with 143 varieties. The majority of elements are crudely pecked with linear designs. Curvilinear abstractions predominate with lesser numbers of rectilinear designs and representational motifs. Manipulation of computerized information is used for both descriptive and analytical purposes. Several efforts to deal with the Hedgpeth material from a temporal perspective are attempted.

Finally, interpretive conclusions are offered and recommendations for site preservation and visitor use are detailed. It is very tentatively suggested that petroglyph sites in the northern Hohokam periphery consist of two basic types, public and private. A wide variety of motifs are found at public sites, while private sites contain a preponderance of just a few elements. It is strongly recommended that the site be opened to the general public only if a full-time caretaker can be employed. Review of conditions at a number of other rock art sites indicates that the establishment of a supervised public facility is probably the best means of assuring that the Hedgpeth site will not be vandalized in the future.