Vanishing River: Attached Report: Petroglyphs in the Horseshoe Reservoir Area of the Lower Verde Valley, Central Arizona

This report is focused on the rock art present at a small ridge top agricultural locality in the
lower Verde Valley near Horseshoe Dam known as the Crash Landing site, AZ U:2:78/01-278.
Four boulders that exhibited over 24 petroglyph design elements were found at this site, as well
as numerous other cultural features including a two-room isolated masonry field house and a large
agricultural complex with rock piles, contour terraces, and boundary walls.
The research design for the Lower Verde Archaeological Project (LVAP) (Ciolek-Torrello et al.
1992) presented three primary research questions pertaining to the rock art at the Crash Landing
site:
1. Can the petroglyphs be characterized according to a specific known style or tradition of
petroglyph art?
2. Can the petroglyphs be provisionally dated?
3. What is the context of the petroglyphs? That is, what are the locational, archaeological, and
environmental parameters?
In addition to the desire to classify the rock art, the research design focuses on the issue of
cultural affiliation. Who made the petroglyphs? Can the styles present provide the necessary clues
to help elucidate this issue? This report will document the rock art at the Crash Landing site, and
discuss it in relationship to rock art reported elsewhere in southern and central Arizona.
Discussion of three other nearby rock art sites — Horseshoe Mesa (AZ U:2:27/01-187), AZ
U:2:96/01-259, and AZ U:2:188/01-73 — is also provided to help assess rock art in the study area
and how it may bear on issues of cultural identity and rock art function.