Darlene Brinkerhoff of Holbrook has been honored as an outstanding avocational archaeologist by the Society of American Archaeology (SAA) with the annual Crabtree Award. Since the 1980’s, Brinkerhoff has been a dedicated avocational archaeologist and has been very active as a volunteer in Northern Arizona, with a focus on the Middle Little Colorado River Valley. She has worked with various agencies including the Arizona State Land Department, the Coconino and at the Apache-Sitgreaves national forests, Natural Resource Conservation Service, Arizona State Parks, the University of Arizona, Arizona State Museum, the Petrified Forest National Park, and the Bureau of Land Management and private landowners. She has directed her own petroglyph recordings at various parks and has assisted other petroglyph recorders with their recordings in forests and national parks throughout the state, and has been an Arizona Site Steward for 34 years, assisting with the protection of cultural landscapes. Brinkerhoff was instrumental, as she worked with the Homolovi State Park manager and park archaeologist, in starting and sustaining the Winslow Homolovi Archaeological Society. According to Jaye Smith, chair of the Society of American Archaeology Council of Allied Societies Leadership Team, one of Brinkerhoff’s nominators, her volunteer efforts, especially in regard to protecting and recording the rock art of the region, have been integral to professionals from across the country as they work to document and publish their discoveries. Her contributions have helped keep an under-appreciated state park on the map and guided numerous undergraduate students to careers in archaeology. The SAA presents the Crabtree Award annually to someone who has made significant contributions to advancing the understanding of local, regional and national archaeology through excavation, research, publication, site and collections preservation, collaboration with the professional community and public outreach. Brinkerhoff is retired from Arizona Public Service and she and her husband, Terry, have two children and three grandchildren, with one on the way. In addition to her archaeology affiliations, she is a member of the Navajo County Historical Society Board of Directors, serves as a trustee for the Holbrook Elks Lodge No. 2450 and provides tours of the O’Dell Hidden Cove Petroglyph Park in Holbrook. Brinkerhoff has recently had her petroglyph chapter of the Chevelon Steps, Rock Art Ranch published along with other chapters of recorded research. The title is “Comings and Goings, 13,000 years of Migrations in the and Around Rock Art Ranch, Northeastern Arizona, Volumes 1 and 2. A report of Archaeological Survey, Testing and Excavations by Rock Art Ranch Archaeological Field School, by Arizona State Museum and the School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, 2011-2016.” This is an Arizona Archaeological Society publication and will eventually be available for purchase on Amazon.
