Chapter 1 - Lesson 1: Introduction
This lesson begins with a description of many of the basic terms used throughout the course. It will introduce some of the foundational aspects of the archaeology of the area.

Chapter 1 - Lesson 2: The Archaeologists
Our knowledge of the people who lived in the area come from a variety of individuals who made contributions to this knowledge. This lesson focuses on those who had the most impact.

Chapter 1 - Lesson 3: Paleoindian and Archaic People
The Verde Valley has a long history from the Paleoindians to the Archaic people who followed. This lesson will delve into these two groups that account for the majority of time occupied by humans.

Chapter 2 - Lesson 1: The Sinagua
The Sinagua initially maintained a small population, living in the high-elevation woodlands of the Northern Arizona. This lesson will trace their expansion into the Verde Valley.

Chapter 2 – Lesson 2: Sinagua Dwellings
This lesson covers the types of Sinagua dwellings. It describes various forms of shelter from cavates to pit houses to pueblos.

Chapter 2 - Lesson 3: Sinagua Trade
This lesson will cover the ancient trade in the Southwest involved the exchange of goods and ideas between various Native American groups, as well as with Mesoamerican civilizations.

Chapter 2 - Lesson 4: Sinagua Abandonment
In the 1400’s, the great pueblos of the Verde Valley were abandoned, signaling an end to the Sinagua cultural tradition. This lesson will cover the abandonment and migration of the Sinagua.

Chapter 3 – Lesson 1: Hopi Ancestors
This lesson will describe the Hopi from their migrations to the Hopi Mesas to the present day.

Chapter 3 - Lesson 2: The Yavapai
The Yavapai-Apache Nation is the combination of two distinct tribal people. This lesson focuses on the Yavapai, traditionally a mobile people who lived by hunting, gathering, farming and raiding.

Chapter 3 – Lesson 3: The Apache
This lesson focuses on the Apache. They were traditionally hunter-gathers, supplementing collected foods with opportunistic farming and raiding.

Chapter 3 – Lesson 4: The Exodus and Return
This lesson covers the forced removal and eventual return of the Yavapai and Apache people.

The cost is $45, with various discounts for members.

Lesson 1 - What is rock art?
Rock art is a term commonly used for the designs and other intentional markings that people made on natural geological surfaces. Though a widely accepted term, some believe that it is a misleading term in that it has not been established that all rock art images were items of “personal expression” as the term “art” is used today.

Lesson 2 - How was the rock art made?
The techniques used by prehistoric and historic cultures to produce rock art were varied.  This lesson will examine these techniques in some detail, dealing specifically with those techniques used in the Sedona Verde Valley area.

Lesson 3 - Who made the rock art?
We begin to see rock art in the Sedona and Verde Valley areas with the emergence of the Archaic culture. The Sinagua, starting about 650 C.E., created both petroglyphs and pictographs. Later Yavapai and Apache also produced rock art.

Lesson 4 - What is it?
Attempting to interpret a rock art image is a risky business.  Rock art analyses and interpretations must be based on empirical data gathered in a systematic manner to show that it is representative of the population of similar images.

Lesson 5 - What does it mean?
Suggestions of the functional purposes of rock art images are based on ethnographic analogies to ancestral and historic Pueblo agricultural and ceremonial activities.  This is done with caution.  Practices vary by culture, by villages of the same culture, and may have multiple levels of meaning. 

Lesson 6 - Rock art panels
Most rock art is found in groupings of images.  Some groupings contain a small number while others can number in the dozens.  While some rock art is found at or near habitation sites, many panels are found at remote locations, far from significant habitation sites

The cost is $35, with various discounts for members.

Lesson 1: Introduction to Cultural Astronomy
Topics covered in this lesson include the history of archaeoastronomy, classification of naked-eye celestial phenomena, charting the sun’s movement and, moon and eclipse cycles.

Lesson 2: Astronomy in Early (BCE) Cultures
This lesson will review the astronomical knowledge of past cultures. We will review how such knowledge was used in Paleolithic and megalithic cultures around the world. Archaeoastronomy provides new perspectives on their understanding of the universe and their place within it. 

Lesson 3: Mesoamerican Archaeoastronomy
This lesson discusses the cultural and practical application of astronomical knowledge by ancient Mesoamerican civilizations. The Olmec, Maya, Aztecs, Inca will be covered, revealing their sophisticated understanding of celestial bodies to organize their lives, plan agriculture, construct aligned cities and buildings, and create complex calendrical systems.

Lesson 4: Ancestral Puebloan Archaeoastronomy
This lesson will review the sites of the Ancestral Puebloans living in the Four Corners region of the American Southwest. They monitored the rhythmic changes of the heavens, setting the tone for daily, monthly, and yearly calendrical cycles.

Lesson 5: Archaeoastronomy of Central Arizona
This lesson is the result of ten years of searching for evidence of the ancient astronomical practices of the Sinagua Culture, an Ancestral Puebloan group, who lived in the Sedona Verde Valley area.

Lesson 6: The Archaeoastronomy of Meteorites
This lesson will discuss the significance of meteorites found at prehistoric Native American sites throughout the United States.

Instructor: Ken Zoll

The cost is $50, with various discounts for members.

COMING IN THIS FALL. Learn how to identity pottery sherds found in the Verde Valley.

Cost includes a copy of Jim Graceffa’s Pottery Identication Course book. A $29.95 value.

Instructor: Dr. James Graceffa