We stumbled upon this place, the Tuzigoot National Monument, mostly by accident. It lies in central Arizona's Verde Valley. The word Tuzigoot, is Apache for "crooked water." The dwelling is a three story, 110 room, Sinagua pueblo. It was occupied for about 300 years, starting about 900 years ago. It was excavated during the 1930s. The pueblo was occupied for such a long period because of the permanence of a nearby river. I retract the first sentence.
The visitor's center (no photo) houses an extensive collection of Sinagua artifacts. All of them were found on site, during the excavation.
The ceiling is the only reconstruction done on the pueblo and is considered an exact representation of what was originally there.
My last post was related to Jerome. It is located on the near slope of that mountain range in the background of this photo.
It really blows my mind to think of people living here that long ago in a totally organized and efficient manner. Although there were many native Americans living in the area, they were totally alone. All of these rooms had roofs on them, but they didn't have any doors at all. The only way in and out of each room was through a trapdoor on the roof.
I know this post is different for me, but I hope you enjoyed the historical significance of it as much as I did...
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This blog is through a nice to meet new people and their land, culture and nature. Come and look at you Teuvo Kuvat - Teuvo images, both at the same time will be my blog collection flag depicting your country's flag to rise higher. You should also tell all your friends to my blog by fermentation. Teuvo Vehkalahti Finland
ReplyDeleteI still looks amazing!
ReplyDeleteDifferent is good! And yes this is so amazing to see. I can't imagine that people lived there and had just one door to go in and out.
ReplyDeleteFascinating information, Pat..
Your photo series shows us what an amazing place this is to have survived all these years.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your journeys to places I would not otherwise see, Pat.
Fascinating pictures!
ReplyDeleteGreat post :)
ReplyDeleteAmazing. I live visiting places like that and just soaking up the energy, imagining what it would have been like all those years ago.
ReplyDeleteOh, we were there last year. Yes, isn't it fascinating? I loved seeing the valley around it!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the narrative and the photographs Patrick.
ReplyDeleteCostas
Absolutely! It makes me realize that I don't have to go all the way to Belize to see historic ruins. Very interesting.
ReplyDeletereally neat! thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeletePretty cool place. It was very neat and organized.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fascinating place, Pat!! I am SO glad you shared this with us! Your photos are terrific and I do love the history and the idea of people living there for so long and so long ago!! Incredible! I've visited a few similar places in Arizona and am always amazed! Fantastic! Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHow very cool Pat! I love that name!!!
ReplyDeleteHow fascinating! Cool place to explore.
ReplyDeleteGlad you discovered Tuzigoot! My uncle took me there when I was 13 - and it's history has always stuck with me. Nice photos, love the views!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful place to visit. I've always been fascinated by archeology and anthropology. The ancient past really intrigues me.
ReplyDeleteentrance and exit through the roof is odd.
ReplyDeleteWhat is also amazing is how that culture seemed to collapse around 1200 AD, as it did all around the SW.
ReplyDeleteHi, Pat. Thanks for stopping by today and commenting on my new post, a review of the crime thriller, Dead Ringer. And thanks for telling me you'd read another memoir if I got one published. I have two in mind. I just told my daughter if I got that many written in the next 8 years, by the time I'm 80, that would be it!
ReplyDeleteAh, the desert. As you know, I like the West as much as the East. Well, almost. I do like all this green, but that means high humidity! My son and his wife are thinking about moving to Albuquerque as it's so expensive to survive out here in Northern Virginia. I was looking at some Albuquerque scenes a few hours ago. Well, it's dry; it's the desert. But it really is SO beautiful, as your photographs are. It really IS amazing how those long-ago people lived so efficiently and organized. That last photograph draws me in....
Have a good week!
Ann Best, Memoir Author
I have decided to put a trap door in my roof, sounds like an awesome way in and out.
ReplyDeleteI'm always blown away by sites like this. To imagine the difficulties of constructing this without all the modern tools. Simply amazing.
ReplyDeletePeople had to be so much stronger, logical and heavens knows how different then modern man.
Another great tour and history lesson all rolled into one post.
Nice pictures. A very interesting place.
ReplyDeleteThat is really cool. Thanks for sharing these pictures.
ReplyDeleteCan you even imagine all the history in those rock walls, if only they could talk. And the amount of time it took to construct it!!!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteIncredible place. Hard to imagine living that way.
ReplyDeleteDarryl and Ruth : )
Wow, how cool! I would love to know more about the people who built that.
ReplyDeleteVery impressive Pat, historical sites like this can be mind boggling trying to understand the differences in life then and there--very nice my friend
ReplyDeleteDoesn't seem that different to me...great pics and great writing...with a little bit of culture thrown in. I am reading a book right now called The 4th Economy. That might explain how they could live that way. Cool stuff, Pat.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing! If only those rock walls could talk.
ReplyDeleteThat's so cool.
ReplyDeleteI makes me laugh that we consider some of these older civilisation to be primitive - when you look at things like this is just so clear that they were the same as us - but just without phones!!
ReplyDeleteGreat post.
My underwater photography methods are not really that advanced - I float about and point the camera in the general direction of things that look good! I'm surprised by the results!
Stewart M - Australia
wow cool photos and what a great place my imagination could go wild there.
ReplyDeleteI love historical sites like this. It always makes me want to know the stories of the individuals, what their lives were like. I love history.
ReplyDeleteThat's truly amazing. I'd love to see what it may have looked it.
ReplyDeleteWhat an incredible looking place. It must have an amazing vibe to it.
ReplyDeleteAmazing place, Pat... you have presented it really well! I so enjoy looking at ancient sites...
ReplyDelete¸.•♫°`♡彡✿⊱╮
ReplyDeleteGostei do post. Deve ser maravilhoso visitar lugares arqueológicos como esse.
Beijinhos do Brasil.
¸.•♡彡✿⊱╮
We love to visit these ancient ruins -- but hadn't heard of this one..another one for the list.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great post -- I'm not sure why you think it doesn't fit with your blog -- I just always thought you wrote about places where you've been and enjoyed.
Oh, I love this stuff. I am fascinated by things like this and would love to visit there someday.
ReplyDeleteAn amazing find! I love getting to "visit" all these cool places through your blog!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful place to stumble upon!! You have the greatest adventures!!
ReplyDeleteTeuvo - You say I should tell all my friends to your blog by "fermentation?" I don't follow crazy people, no thanks...
ReplyDeletebaygirl - It sure does!
Icy BC - At least they were sleeping indoors! I think they several doors!
Pam - It was an amazing place, that's for sure. It's my pleasure to show you around my world.
Mama Zen - Thanks so much!
Roly - Thanks Roly!
Talli - I feel the same way. I try to imagine myself living in their world, but then I get hot and thirsty and get an ice cold bottle of water and maybe some fast food.
trav4adventures - Yep! that entire area is awesome. We're going to go back soon. Much more to see!
Costas - My pleasure Costas!
Sharon - Many of them in that part of the country. Thanks Sharon!
TexWisGirl - My pleasure!
ReplyDeleteSally - That's what I thought. It was very neatly designed.
Sylvia - Thanks Sylvia! There are so many places like this in the southwest. My pleasure!
Brian - HA! I agree! I love that word...
Alex - It was pretty cool. I'm glad we stopped there.
Brenda - Out of anybody, I figured that you would have been there. Many great things like this to be seen in your great state!
M Pax - I agree with you! A person could spend a good portion of their life looking at those things in just the southwest.
Budd - I'm not sure why they did that. It would seem to be an easy way to become trapped. I'm going to have to check it out.
sage - You are so right. I keep seeing that time period coming up over and over. I know it was still during the prehispanic period, so that has nothing to do with it. Maybe over population? I'm going to have to do some research on it.
Ann - My pleasure Ann! Albuquerque is indeed a beautiful place. Lot's of history in that area. Strangely enough, I used to work in Washington DC many years ago and lived NoVa at Tyson's corner. There is also an incredible amount of history to be seen and experienced in the whole of the mid-atlantic area. Probably much more than any other part of the country. I could live in either area.
PTM - It's only fun until somebody falls down the ladder!
ReplyDeleteRita - I agree, all done by hand. They were certainly more resourceful than we are, that's for sure.
Leovi - Thanks Leovi!
Tim - My pleasure! It was pretty interesting.
Ms. A - I can, but then it overwhelms me. It's amazing...
Darryl and Ruth - I agree, but I think for the time period, it was pretty advanced.
Clarissa - I would also. We've been to several ruins around that area and it seems that the common denominator is water...
Jimmy - Jimmy, you hit it right on the head. We were living in a different world, that's for sure. thanks Jimmy! Nice to see you around again...
Chuck - Yeah, I was going to take a different approach and then changed my mind. I forgot to take that first sentence out. the 4th Economy? I have to check that out.
Ree - I'm with you! I can't even imagine what they endured to scratch out an existence there. although, that valley is pretty awesome and had water, game, and fertile land.
Laura - It sure was!
ReplyDeleteStewart - You are so right. They were only primitive when you consider technology and science. In just about every other consideration, they were far more advanced that we are. My diving days were before my photography days, so I sure missed out on a lot.
becca - that's exactly what my imagination did. Filled me with unanswerable questions.
Baby Sister - Me too! It's too bad there aren't more INTERESTING history teachers in school. Instead of most kids hating it, they just might like it and excel in it.
Anthony - I would also have loved to seen what it once was.
Mynx - It sure did. You can almost feel the people who were there before. Or maybe that's just my weirdness.
Nat - Thanks so much for saying that!
Magia - I agree! I love the old things.
Sallie - There are tons of them out there! Sorry about that confusion, I meant to take that sentence out. It's gone now!
Shelly - Me too! I hope you do get to visit this area someday.
Island Rambles - Thanks so much! I've posted a lot of them and have MANY more to visit.
ReplyDeleteLolamouse - My pleasure! I'm always so excited to see these things and I figure others would like it as well.
Liz - It sure was! We do our best! Of course we're away from home a great deal.
Amazing, at first glance I thought you'd gone to Peru?! Great pics, Pat and yes, I wish I could see the rooms with roofs! I always like to imagine places like this as they were meant to be, all those years ago.
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely weekend! ;-)
I real life stumble upon! Sure does beat a virtual one! Honestly, you could write and display images for an amazing Southwest travel book!
ReplyDeleteThese are so interesting and the different angled shots give a clearer picture of the living quarters...trapdoors - the only exit...how did the old and the very young get in and out?
ReplyDeleteAs a teen I got the chance to tour a lot of southwest sites and I can wait to do it again. Interesting post Pat.
ReplyDeletemakes me think of Pompeii The ruins are still so intact that we get a real sense of what it was like to live there. Cool. Don't think I'd like crawling in and out a hatch in the roof though!
ReplyDeleteRosemary
Beautiful my friend!!!
ReplyDeleteCrap you NEVER EVER want to hear:
"TILLETT: I WANT ALL THOSE ROCKS BACK ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE BY MORNING!"
I've always been bemused by the arrogance of European-centric thinking (Disclaimer: My heritage is Irish). Many people thought of Native Americans as savages. Interesting given the complexity of this community. Contrast that with Europe in 12th century. Great pictures.
ReplyDeletewhat a fascinating place. No way out or in but through a trap door on the roof? the colors of the rock are beautiful, especially against the blue blue sky. it would have been fun to be a part of the excavation team. happy week to you Pat.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this great article, a very informative post!This place is wonderful and I like the pictures and your explanations.
ReplyDeleteHugs
Leia
It's amazing that these building were built without modern machinery. They must have been incredibly strong to make it out the trap door!
ReplyDeleteTalei - I wish I'd been to Peru! Thanks Talei!
ReplyDeleteStickup Artist - It was a good stumble! Thanks for say those nice things!
Rek - I know they had ladders to get in and out, but I'm still thinking they were in much better condition than modern man.
Gene Pool Diva - Thanks so much! There is a lot to tour.
Rosemary - I'm not sure why they had the entries on the roof, but I'm going to find out!
John - Thanks! Oh yeah! That would be cruel and unusual punishment.
Al - Oh yeah! In many ways they were much more advanced here. thanks Al!
Ms. Becky - Hey there! Based on all the artifacts in the visitor center, it must have been a lot of fun.
Leia - My pleasure! Thanks for the nice words.
Carly - Oh yeah, I'm thinking these folks were no couch potatoes!