Even though Homolovi Ruins State Park has been closed to the public, members of the Arizona Ar-chaeological Society have continued working to make sure the pueblos remain intact.

Last fall, about 18 volunteers from around the state, as well as Winslow and Holbrook, spent two week-ends at the park shoring up ancient walls.

Society Chairman Ron Robinson explained that the workers gathered replacement materials from the surrounding area, such as sand and clay, and mixed them with a mortar-like liquid to help fix stones in place.

“Stone by stone we began placing the mixture in and around and behind the stones so that the wall is whole again, and, hopefully, much more resistant to weather and will last many, many more years to come,” Robinson said.

He noted that the restoration work was done on the main kiva in Homolovi II.

Robinson remarked that crews “…completed the highest priority work at Homolovi, stabilizing the erod-ing walls of the Great Kiva, the center point of Homolovi II and the most important structure in the park.”

Work was done without any announcement or fanfare so that it would not attract visitors to the park dur-ing the closure.

“We did not seek publicity in advance in order not to attract visitors attempting to enter the closed park,” Robinson noted.

More work is planned, however, that can be observed once park re-opens on March 18. Teams will be returning for two weekends in May, and again in the fall.

“We’ve taken this on as a long-term archaeological society project,” he explained. “Money is so limited, or not available for these type of projects. We are all volunteers. We work for food, or less.”

Crews will be doing additional restoration and preservation work at Homolovi II when they return in May. All of the team members receive training prior to working at Homolovi, and many already have expe-rience with similar projects. He noted that among the local participants was Darlene Brinkerhoff of Hol-brook, who is president of the Homolovi Chapter of the society.

The Great Kiva where some of the restoration work was done last fall will be included on tours being given on March 19 as a follow-up to the grand re-opening celebration planned for March 18.

A schedule of events for the celebration is expected to be released soon. In addition to tours, the event will include demonstrations, lectures, dances and a traditional Hopi foot race.