“Sears Point, Painted Rock, and Gatlin: Patayan and Hohokam Petroglyphs and Archaeology” Tour

Photograph of a Sears Point petroglyph panel courtesy of Aaron M. Wright

TOUR FULL – WAITING LIST. On Saturday, December 7, 2019, Old Pueblo Archaeology Center’s “Sears Point, Painted Rock, and Gatlin: Patayan and Hohokam Petroglyphs and Archaeology” tour will be guided by archaeologist Dr. Aaron M. Wright. This tour will start at Interstate 8 Exit 78 (Spot Road) approximately 39 miles west of Gila Bend, Arizona. The tour day begins at 10 a.m. (or later if joining the group for dinner in Gila Bend) and will end around 4:30 p.m. A $45 donation per participant ($36 for members of Old Pueblo Archaeology Center & Pueblo Grande Museum Auxiliary) helps cover Old Pueblo’s tour expenses and supports its education programs about archaeology and traditional cultures.

Archaeologist Dr. Aaron Wright leads this tour to see thousands of petroglyphs and one of the largest Hohokam village sites in southwestern Arizona. Aaron, a Preservation Archaeologist with Tucson’s Archaeology Southwest organization, has research interests in paleoclimatology, indigenous Southwest ritualism and religion, and rock art and has been a leader in the effort to establish a Great Bend of the Gila National Monument. The first place we’ll visit is Sears Point, the northwestern escarpment of the Sentinel Plain – a vast basaltic field dotted with low shield volcanoes located along the lower Gila River between Gila Bend and Yuma, Arizona. Sears Point is renowned for its density of petroglyphs as well as their unique style attributed to the Patayan culture tradition (believed to be ancestral to contemporary Yuman- and O’odham-speaking communities). The site is adorned with thousands of petroglyphs and seemingly endless ancient trails. Next, we’ll caravan to the Painted Rocks petroglyphs site northwest of Gila Bend, and finally will visit the Gatlin Platform Mound village site in Gila Bend. Tour participants interested in having dinner together before returning home can reconvene at Sophia’s Mexican Restaurant in Gila Bend after the tour.
Reservations and prepayment required by Wednesday December 4: 520-798-1201 or info@oldpueblo.org.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE US TO EMAIL YOU A FLYER with color photos about the above-listed activity send an email to info@oldpueblo.org with “Send December 7 Sears Point trip flyer” in your email subject line.