Rock Art Treasury at the V-Bar-V Heritage Site By Sylvia Somerville
One of the best-kept secrets in the Verde Valley is the extensive collection of Sinaguan rock art at the V-Bar-V Heritage Site on Beaver Creek.It is the largest petroglyph site in the area. This well-preserved treasury holds more than 1,000 petroglyphs (chiseled images) that date back to the Sinaguan Indian heyday in the Verde Valley, which anthropologists place between 1150 to 1400 A.D.All the images are inscribed on four flat panels that have been surprisingly undisturbed over the years, perhaps because the site was a secluded part of a privately owned ranch for many years. Unlike other rock art locations, which feature several different styles of art over many centuries, all the petroglyphs at the V-Bar-V site are created in only one style--the precisely executed Beaver Creek style that is found throughout the eastern half of the Verde Valley.Very few of the images overlap. The colorful lichen-coated panels contain more than 100 different motifs within 15 style classes.Of these, 20 percent are zoomorphs or animal representations, such as snakes, turtles, coyotes, antelopes and a heron-like water bird. Some animals stand on top of each other. Stick-figured human forms (often with multiple arms and legs) and geometric shapes, such as grids, spirals, concentric circles and dots, are also abundant. The anthropomorphic figures are surprisingly varied; they even depict shamans and young women, who can be identified by characteristic hair whorls on the sides of their heads. Numerous petroglyphs are linked by meandering lines. Although it is not known for certain what these ancient symbols represent, ethnographers who study rock art in present-day Native American cultures, suggest that the petroglyphs could be ·clan symbols ·important shamanic images ·hunting talismans ·historic records ·territorial markers and/or ·images used in initiation ceremonies. Some of the rock art could even be related to astronomical observations or a Sinaguan calendar. In addition to the rock art, the V-Bar-V heritage site has a few remnants from its more recent ranching history.
IF You Go The V-Bar-V petroglyphs are gated but available for viewing between 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays except when Thanksgiving and Christmas fall on one of these days.Guided tours are offered by both the Verde Valley Archaeological Society and Friends of the Forest during these hours.There is a visitor’s center on the site.
