PALATKI - RED CLIFFS

Palatki - Red Cliffs consists of several archaeological sites that are now managed as one unit. The Palatki ruin, one of the largest Sinagua Native American villages in the Sedona red rock area, is situated back against the wall at the end of the canyon on the path leading behind the sign-in register. Red Cliffs is an important site with its extensive pictographs (painting on rock) and a few petroglyphs (pecked or incised images on rock). Red Cliffs alcoves are located high in the red rocks to the left of the sign-in register. Although Palatki was inhabited approximately 800 years ago, the rock art indicates that archaic cultures also used this place some 3000 to 5000 years before the more sedentary Sinagua settled in the valley.

Pottery remains and agricultural features suggest that the Sinagua culture was established in the Verde Valley by AD 650. Unlike the earlier nomadic hunter-gatherers, the Sinagua practiced agriculture and built small pueblo-style dwellings. Population growth continued in the Verde Valley due in part to more moisture which allowed for increased crop production. The construction of Palatki, (a Hopi word meaning "red house", given to the dwelling in 1895 by archaeologist Jesse Walter Fewkes) was started about AD 1150 and expanded as the population increased. The inhabitants apparently abandoned the dwelling prior to AD 1300, possibly joining larger pueblos closer to permanent water such as Tuzigoot, located near Clarkdale.

The alcoves known as "Red Cliffs" are located in the red rocks on the West side of this small box canyon. Red Cliffs contains extensive Rock Art - one of the most important collections of pictographs in this area. These pictographs and a few petroglyphs represent a chronology of human occupation in the Verde Valley from 3000 to 6000 years (during the Archaic Period) to the Southern Sinagua (AD 650-1400), through the protohistoric and historic Yavapai and possibly Apache (A.D. 1400 through the 1800s) and on to the earliest Euro-American settlers in the late 1800s.

The Grotto Alcove will be the first alcove encountered at the top of the switchback trail. At the far end of this alcove is a rock wall enclosure constructed by the first Euro-American to occupy Red Canyon, Charles Willard. Willard erected this as a temporary dwelling while he built his permanent house in the open canyon below. In this alcove are examples of pictographs from 6000 BC To A.D. 600. Rakes, squiggles and dot patterns are typical of this period, some perhaps suggesting reflections of water.

Many of the animal and human-like representations are from the Southern Sinagua (A.D. 650-1400). Snake-like images are especially prominent. Charcoal "sketched" figures of animals and humans, including the mounted horseman, were subsequently made by Yavapai and Apache cultures.

Rock Art served to record and represent important incidents and events as they related to the tribes doing the paintings. The visions of shamans were probably another source of Rock Art subjects.

The Bear Alcove, named for the three bears depicted in charcoal near the upper middle part of the next alcove, includes many examples of Yavapai and Apache pictographs. In addition to the bears, numerous deer figures, as well as mounted horsemen, can be seen. Since horses were not introduced into the Verde Valley until the late 1500s, this type of figure was created after that period. As the trail leaves this alcove, a large panel of painted symbols of snake-like images can be observed. Also noted here are examples of incised lines which may date back to the Archaic Period.

Leaving the Bear Alcove and continuing along the cliff face, the trail passes a large water catchment constructed by Charles Willard (and probably first used by the Native Americans) to catch rain run-off from the cleft in the cliffs above.

The Roasting Pit Alcove is named for the large gray mound in front of this smoke-stained alcove. This pit was used by Native Americans to roast the hearts of agave plants.

Agave was important to the Native Americans. The heart of the plant provided a source of food, while the strong fibers of the leaves and base were used to make cordage, mats, sandals, etc.

This alcove contains art and symbols from the Archaic Period, through the Yavapai and Apache Period, to the earliest Euro-Americans. A reclining Kokopelli, the flute player with a hump in his back, is depicted in charcoal to the right of center of the alcove. To the left of the Alcove's center is a dynamic collection of Archaic Period art. Most notable are the faded, reddish ghostlike figures which are reminiscent of the Barrier Canyon style found in Southern Utah.

One of the large Sinagua white shield-like paintings and the black rectangular image nearby to the right have been dated to the 1200s. Finally, high in the left center of the alcove, early Euro-American settlers left their marks to show they were in the area. Today their symbols are not looked upon as graffiti, but rather as historically important inscriptions.

The locations of these inscriptions is also noteworthy, because most were placed on a space absent of soot damage, while other earlier settlers had to use the sooted wall. This indicates that it was about 1890 when large rocks fell from that corner which also helps establish when use of the roasting pit by a few remaining remnants of Yavapai finally stopped.

In these alcoves, early cultures painted their pictographs in white, red, black and occasionally yellow ochre, using materials native to the region. White was probably produced from kaolin clay, found near the Verde River, while red was derived from pulverized hematite (an iron oxide mineral) or vegetable dye. The yellow ochre comes from powdered limonite (another iron oxide mineral) or yellow clays, while black was made from various charcoals. These cultures mixed the pigment materials with an organic substance (binder) to form the paint. The bonding of the organic binders with materials from the rock, plus the paintings' protection from the elements, at least partially explain how these pictographs have survived for thousands of years, allowing us a glimpse into the past.

The area between the Palatki ruin and Red Cliffs is part of Red Canyon Ranch, which was settled some 70+ years ago by Charles Willard. Willard planted some 2,000 fruit trees and raised melons and vegetables for sale in nearby Cottonwood and Jerome. After Willard left the ranch the land was altered to raise livestock. The ranch was finally acquired by the U.S. Forest Service in the early 1970's, providing the public with access to these important archaeological sites.

This brochure is provided by FRIENDS OF THE FOREST, a non-profit non-political organization dedicated to maintaining the forest lands for everyone's benefit. For more information, contact Friends of the Forest, P.O. Box 2391, Sedona, AZ 86339. To comment or make suggestions, write us or leave your name and phone number on the Friends of the Forest answering machine: (928)204-2594.