Jessica Wanke
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 23, 2004
South Mountain is peppered with ancient markings from the area's indigenous residents of yore, and a large number of those markings are on a parcel of Ahwatukee Foothills private property that could be developed.
What is referred to as the "28th Place Site," an 18-acre piece of land near Kyrene Akimel A-Al Middle School, has 89 recorded petroglyphs, or rock artworks. The oldest petroglyphs on the site are believed to date to the ancient Hohokam era, which lasted from 700 to 1450.
Petroglyphs in the South Mountain region - depicting geometric shapes, concentric circles, lizards, snakes, deer and people, among many other scenes and creatures - contain much information about the desert's prehistoric past and have religious and cultural significance to the tribal communities in the region.
"We take rock art very serious now, we don't just see it as doodling anymore, as unfortunately archaeologists did for years," said Phoenix's city archeologist, Todd Bostwick, author of Landscape of the Spirits, a study of Hohokam rock art at South Mountain Park.
"Its ubiquitous nature and its prevalence across the entire landscape makes us think it must be some kind of communication system. And so that's our task as archaeologists to see if we can better understand that communication system."
Bostwick has worked to record more than 1,500 petroglyphs in the South Mountain area, most of which are on city property in South Mountain Park, where they are protected by law but accessible to the public and have been exposed to extensive vandalism, graffiti and even target practice.
The petroglyphs on private property, like those of the 28th Place Site, are subject to encroaching development, and their preservation or demise can be at the whim of the property owner.
If at all possible, Bostwick said, it is important to keep the petroglyphs in their original sites and not destroy them or move them to museums.
"Where it (the petroglyph) was placed in the landscape we think is very important in understanding what it means, so if you move it out of the context, we may never know what it meant or what it continues to mean, because that's the interesting thing about rock art, too, is some rock art sites are ancient shrines that still have people going to them and worshiping and meditating at them. Some tribes have never stopped. And it's not known to the public because it's a sacred subject, and even archaeologists are not told a lot about it or are sworn to secrecy," Bostwick said.
Bostwick hopes property owners will be responsible in protecting the sacred and historical marks on their land. He recommended to developer Mike Newsome of Newcor Development, owner of the 28th Place Site, that a more comprehensive mapping be done of the parcel and that he not disturb any of the petroglyphs in the development of the property.
Newsome said he is taking the recommendations seriously and will likely spend up to $20,000 for a thorough mapping of the land so as not to disturb any of the petroglyphs.
"We've known there were some special things on the property," Newsome said. "I don't think there should be any fear of any one of these being destroyed. There's a lot of open space, each lot is quite large and the home site, like I said, would not compromise any of the findings that he (Bostwick) had found."
Barnaby Lewis, cultural resource specialist for the Gila River Indian Community, has advocated extensively for the preservation of the petroglyphs in the South Mountain region.
"We believe that any product of our ancestors, particularly in regard to these designs they pecked in the rocks, hold a great deal of religious significance," he said, stressing that the importance of the sites is often understated because of the secrecy of the religious practices in which they're involved. "A lot of times the tribes don't actually reveal the true nature or what these symbols really represent and how they relate to the ritual ceremonies that they conduct.
"A lot of times because of the history of this country with Native Americans, where they were outlawed to continue their religious practices and ceremonies and rituals, that a lot of these places have come to be lost in the memory of the elders. And a lot of times when they're found like this or recorded like with archaeological surveys, as such with South Mountain which Mr. Bostwick was able to do, that these places should be and can be revisited by traditional religious leaders to continue and revitalize the rituals and the ceremonies."
Lewis said he hopes the sites will be interfered with as little as possible.
"We always try to request avoidance in any kind of impact," he said. "Avoidance of any kind of disturbance by anybody, the general public, not because we're saying 'They're our toys and you can't play with them,' because they're not toys. They have greater significance than the general public may perceive."