WRANGELL — A petroglyph rock was found split in half last month, apparently damaged by someone attempting to remove the ancient carving, according to City and Borough of Wrangell and U.S. Forest Service officials.
“Petroglyph Beach is more than a scenic destination. It is a sacred site and irreplaceable cultural resource,” the borough said in its report to the public on July 28. “The carvings found here are among the most significant archaeological artifacts in Alaska, reflecting the lifeways and histories of the Tlingit people of this region.”
Workers last week placed the two pieces back together to stabilize the stone, preventing the top portion from rocking with the tides and causing further damage, said Erica Dirks, a U.S. Forest Service archaeologist in Wrangell.
The vandal(s) had put a smaller stone underneath the petroglyph rock, likely in an effort to leverage, lift and break apart the larger stone, said Kate Thomas, the borough’s economic development director.
“It looks like someone was trying to take the (rock) face” with the ancient carving, Dirks said.
“There are a few marks on the rock that indicate it was hit with something like a sledgehammer,” she said.
In addition to placing the two pieces back together, workers removed the smaller stone that served as a leverage point beneath the petroglyph, Dirks said.
The plan is to stabilize the stone, not repair it. Movement with the tides puts additional pressure on the edges of the shale, breaking off small pieces.
“We want to leave this in the place it was originally,” she said. “This is a sacred site.”
It is a violation of federal and state law to damage the carvings.
A tour guide saw the damaged stone and reported it to the Forest Service on July 22, Dirks said. The borough believes the vandalism occurred between July 16 and 20.
Forest Service personnel inspected the site on July 23 and reported what they found to the state archaeologist and borough.
“It appears that additional impacts occurred between July 24 and July 27,” the borough reported of damage to the stone.
Petroglyph Beach is one of the town’s most visited tourist attractions, with several thousand people a year learning about the carvings and seeing the pieces on the beach, particularly at low tide. There are at least 40 carvings, which archaeologists believe were carved about 8,000 years ago by early Tlingit.
It is the highest concentration of the ancient stone carvings in Southeast Alaska.
Thomas said Wrangell police and the Wrangell Cooperative Association have been notified.
“The borough is actively seeking options to preserve and protect the petroglyphs from further harm,” according to the July 28 announcement from City Hall.
“We are asking for the public’s assistance. If you have any information regarding the incident or observed suspicious activity during this timeframe, please report it to the police at 907-874-3304.”
The borough is asking residents and visitors to “speak with children and youth about the importance of preserving local heritage.”
Dirks, who has worked as a National Park Service and Forest Service archaeologist since 2015, said vandalism of historic sites “is an ongoing problem.” Before moving to Wrangell about 14 months ago, she served with the Park Service in Utah, specializing in vandalism of ancient rock art.
Wrangell’s petroglyphs have been scratched, scraped and spray painted in the past, and petroglyphs have been broken at Petersburg’s Sandy Beach, she said.
“This is a problem across Southeast.”
Visitors are advised not to touch or step on the stones, and not to splash water or other liquids on the carvings in an attempt to get better photos, Dirks said, advising that taking pictures from a different angle usually works to get the best lighting to show the image.
The borough is in the process of taking over management of commercial tour operator permits and fees at the Petroglyph Beach State Historic Site from the Alaska Division of Parks.
State law has required commercial tour operators to buy an annual permit and pay a per-person visitor fee since the waterfront property about a mile north of the ferry terminal was designated a state historic site in 2000.
The state, however, never enforced the requirement until a couple of years ago, prompting the borough to push for a change in a management agreement dating back to 1998 so that the borough could collect the fees and use the revenue to maintain and improve the site.
Thomas said she expects City Hall will have the permit and fee system set up sometime this month and will notify tour operators to sign up.
