Part 2

Through a study of this pottery we find that from about 1150 to 1250, decorated pieces were obtained from the Indians in the north, near modern Flagstaff. Some of this pottery the Sinagua retraded to the Hohokam around present-day Phoenix. (How many of us today would be successful in taking dishes over a distance of 200 miles on foot without breaking a goodly portion?) After 1250, due to depopulation east of the Flagstaff area, the people of the Verde Valley obtained decorated pottery from the region farther east, around modern Winslow; and also, farther north, from the present Hopi Indian reservation area.

The trade possibilities of the Sinagua were almost unlimited. They were located between the large Hohokam settlements of southern Arizona and the widespread pueblos of northern Arizona. Natural routes of travel along streams led them into both areas, and they had salt, argillite, and cotton to offer in exchange.

Despite the importance of trade, which was primarily for luxury items, the Sinagua Indians were basically farmers and depended mainly on food they raised themselves. In Montezuma Castle, American pioneers found corncobs in abundance and sometimes the remains of beans and squash. There were also numerous corn-grinding stones or metates, made from basaltic boulders carried into the area by flood waters in Beaver Creek. Roughly rectangular, the stones measure about 14 by 18 inches, and are 6 to 8 inches thick. Corn was ground by rubbing a smaller stone (mano) back and forth on the metate. This process gradually wore a trough down into the metate.

The people also were gatherers and hunters to some extent. Remains of hackberries, mesquite beans, black walnuts, and sego-lily bulbs have been found in the cliff dwellings. Mescal or agave (sometimes called century plant) was used. Small wads or “quids” of fiber from this plant have been found; they were chewed by the Indians to extract the sweet juices.

Although identifiable animal bones from Montezuma Castle and nearby dwellings are rare, they have been found in other pueblos in the valley. From a site about 10 miles away, bones of elk, mule deer, antelope, bear, rabbit, turtle, and fish have been recovered.

Some food for winter use must have been held in storage. Probably the Castle dwellers, like the modern Hopis, stacked mature corn on the cob across the end of a room like cordwood. Strings of squash, cut into rings and dried in the sun, were probably strung from the roof in an out-of-the-way corner. Meat was undoubtedly preserved in a similar fashion—by drying rather than smoking or salting it. Perhaps the stores of food and the seed held for the next spring’s planting were sought by neighboring pueblos where crops may have failed. As pointed out earlier, food shortages could have provided one of the principal reasons for intervillage warfare, especially after 1300 when the area became overcrowded.

Cooking fires were kindled by the friction of a wooden spindle rotated in a hearth stick until enough heat was generated to ignite tinder. Perhaps some family in Montezuma Castle was responsible for maintaining a perpetual fire from which embers could be carried to other households. This is not so strange when we recall that only 100 years ago pioneer neighbors sometimes called on each other to borrow a coal of fire.

These Sinagua Indians were artisans who manufactured pottery, and stone and shell ornaments. Their pottery was a reddish-brown ware (so colored from minerals in the native clay) and it was usually undecorated, though sometimes painted red. Sand was used as a tempering or binding agent. They made pottery bowls, cooking pots, and water jars—some of the latter of 3- or 4-gallon capacity. In refuse dumps near the dwellings, archeologists have found quantities of broken pottery—it is principally through a study of these dumps that the chronology of Indian occupation in this area is revealed.

Pottery was made from clay found in the region. After the clay was pulverized, the correct amounts of water and tempering materials were added. There were no potter’s wheels, so the vessels were shaped by hand. The Sinagua accomplished this with the aid of a stone “anvil” held inside the pot and a wooden paddle used against the outside. Finishing was usually done by rubbing the surface perfectly smooth with a polishing stone or pebble dipped in water. Although some Indian pottery has a high polish, none of it carries a true, over-all glaze.

Modern Indians, in firing their pottery, usually burn animal dung for fuel, but the pre-Columbian Indians used vegetable material, possibly juniper wood. Several pieces of pottery might be stacked together so that all would be evenly exposed to the heat of the fire. Large pieces of broken pottery were used to protect the new pieces from direct contact with the flames. The firing process required several hours, with time allowed for the pottery to cool slowly.

Stone and shell ornaments are examples of other crafts, and some beautiful specimens have been found. The shells came from the Pacific Ocean or the Gulf of California and are believed to have been imported through trade with neighboring tribes. Prehistoric trade routes, over which specific types of shells were distributed, extended from the Gulfs of Mexico and California to north-central New Mexico and from the Pacific Ocean to southern Utah.

The shell was worked in various ways. The tips were ground from olivella shells which were then strung on sinew and worn as beads. Larger shells were sometimes covered with a mosaic of turquoise and colored stones. The turquoise was mined with stone tools, and by the time it was removed from its matrix, cut, and polished, it represented a considerable investment of labor. Argillite found in the Verde River region was also mined. Lac, an insect secretion found on creosote bushes, was sometimes used to cement the turquoise and argillite to the shell base.

The Sinagua also excelled in the art of weaving. They wove sandals, baskets, mats, and cotton fabrics. Some of the latter exhibit lace-like open work while other pieces are tightly woven resembling modern canvas. Cotton was raised here, near the fields of corn, and woven by the Sinagua into the finished articles. A few cotton bolls with lint and seeds have been found in the dwellings.

Instead of spinning wheels, the Indians used a wooden spindle about the thickness of a lead pencil and perhaps 18 inches long. About 5 or 6 inches from one end there was a disc- or sphere-shaped counterweight made from a piece of wood or pottery. Corded cotton was spun into yarn by feeding it onto the end of the spindle as it was twirled between the thumb and fingers, or, between the hand and the thigh as the spinner sat on the ground.

Among the modern Indians of the Southwest, the most and the best weaving is done by the Navajo, an Apache people who learned weaving only a few hundred years ago from the Pueblos. Modern Navajo weaving is done by the women. Weaving among modern Pueblos, notably the Hopi, is done by men; and ancient weaving of pre-Spanish Pueblos may have been men’s work also.

Most weaving required the use of a loom, a rectangular vertical framework somewhat larger than the size of the finished product. Proper tension on vertical (warp) threads was maintained by lashing at the ends of the loom. Black and white patterns were known, and some red was used. The museum at Montezuma Castle exhibits some of the finest examples of prehistoric Pueblo Indian weaving.

The Sinagua Indians in the Verde Valley apparently had no formal cemeteries. Children were often buried near the dwellings or under the floor. We learn from modern Pueblo Indians that some prefer to bury a child near the home. This comes from the belief that the child’s spirit will remain until the death of the mother and can then be guided safely to the hereafter; or, that it will return in the person of the next baby to be born in the family. Occasional child burials were found in wall cavities in the pueblo ruin at Tuzigoot National Monument. Tuzigoot is a few miles northwest of Montezuma Castle and was occupied during the same general period.

Adults were buried in the refuse dump near a settlement, or placed in a cavity or under a ledge along the base of a cliff. Most bodies were buried at full length, lying on the back, and were generally accompanied by offerings or grave gifts. Pioneers reported several burials beneath floors in Montezuma Castle, and one additional burial was located in 1939. It contained the remains of a child about 5 years old, which had been wrapped first in a cotton blanket and then in a yucca leaf mat. The child had been buried in the corner of a room about 2 feet below the floor level. Some rooms in Montezuma Castle were built directly above others; therefore, no floor burials were possible in these upper rooms. This might explain why one shallow grave was found on a narrow ledge at the base of the building. The mummified remains of a 2-year-old child from this grave can now be seen in the museum.

The undercut graves dug into soft bedrock at Montezuma Well constitute one of the unusual features of that area. Sometimes similar individual burials are found in other Indian ruins. In contrast to most sites, including others in the Verde Valley, there is at the Well a fairly definite cemetery—an area in which these peculiar graves are concentrated.

Now, let us turn from the general story of customs and way of life to a detailed description of the Castle and the Well.

_Montezuma Castle_

Montezuma Castle is one of the best preserved cliff dwellings in America. About 600 years ago, it was an apartment house occupied by perhaps 45 or 50 individuals.

The Castle might be called a 5-story structure, though there is no place where 5 stories have been built directly above each other. It is actually a 4-story building of 17 rooms, plus a “basement” of 2 store-rooms. The building was fitted into the ledges of the natural cave in such a way that it appears terraced. There are 2 rooms in the first story, 4 in the second, 8 in the third, 3 in the fourth, and 2 in the fifth.

The Indians had 2 trails that led to the Castle: 1 leading up from the creek bottom and the other coming in along the face of the cliff to the top of the first ledge. Overlooking the point where the upper and lower trails join are 2 smoke-blackened cave rooms which are too small to be dwellings. Perhaps these held sentries to guard the trails at night.

Geologists believe the cliff has changed but little since the Indian occupation. If so, the Indians must have used ladders to make numerous trips to their dwellings each day. In addition, ladders had to be employed in the building to go from one floor to another. No original Indian ladders are known to have been found at Montezuma Castle. Ladders found at other Indian dwellings, however, indicate that two types were known—single logs with notches cut into them, and a type made by lashing rungs across upright poles.

The walls of Montezuma Castle are formed from rough chunks of limestone laid in mud mortar which was probably made from pockets of clay found in the vicinity. After the clay was pulverized and mixed with river sand and water, it made an excellent mortar. The walls average about 12 inches thick throughout the building and are curved to conform to the arc of the cave in which the Castle rests.

Walls were constructed on the very edge of the ledges with enough earth fill behind to provide level floor space. Since most of the building material had to be carried up from the base of the cliff, the individual building stones were rather small, usually no larger than two bricks. The walls were covered with mud plaster, both inside and out. Most of this has weathered away on the outside, but the plaster is well-preserved inside. In some places, finger marks of the original builders may still be seen.

Rooms have an average of about 100 square feet of floor space. The smallest room is in the second story with 37.5 square feet of floor space, and the largest is in the fifth story with 240 square feet.

What is now the fifth story is in the deepest part of the cave and apparently was the first part of the Castle to be constructed. At this point the cave extends in from the face of the cliff for 33 feet. Solid rock forms the roof and back wall of the room while the ends and outside wall are of masonry construction. This room is almost too large to have been a dwelling because it would be hard to heat in winter, but it might have been intended for joint occupancy by 2 or 3 families—perhaps while other, smaller rooms were being built.

The Castle was constructed by people who had no metal tools of any kind. Their picks were pointed stones about as long as an adult’s hand, and their stone axes were about the same size. A shallow groove was ground three-fourths of the way around these implements; then a short stick handle was bent in a J-shape and lashed on over the groove.

Some of the roof timbers still bear chopping marks. With each stroke of the ax the Indian made little progress, and cutting a large timber must have consumed considerable time. Some logs are about 1 foot in diameter and up to 10 feet in length. Ropes were probably used to pull the timbers into place since fragments of fiber ropes have been found in the excavations. Without pulleys, great physical effort must have been required to lift the logs into the cave.

Resting on the main rooftimbers and laid at right angles was a covering of poles and over this a layer of coarse grass or willows. On top was placed a layer of mud 3 or 4 inches thick. Most of the original mud floors have been worn out by early visitors.

When the weather was cold, the Indians could safely build their fires indoors on the floors. However, they sometimes used one spot for too many years and wore a hole through the mud floor. The fire would then find its way through to the willows or grass underneath, and there it could smolder for hours without being discovered because the odor of smoke was common within the building. There are several places in the building where fires of this type occurred.

Pioneer visitors supposed that a group of pigmies constructed the Castle because the doors are so small. This is not the case. Studies of the skeletal remains show that the men averaged about 5 feet 4 inches in height. Like many modern Pueblo Indians, they were short but not abnormally small. Doors throughout the building are low for at least two good reasons: they helped keep out the cold, and they would also force any attacker to put his head through first or to back through, which would make it possible for even a woman to defend her home.

There were scarcely any openings in the building to supply light and fresh air—only a few close to the floor level. The Indians had no chairs or tables; like about half of the world’s population today, they lived on the floor. Probably most of the cooking was done outside on balconies and rooftops, but when weather was cold, fires were built inside in open pits on the floor. There was no chimney or smoke vent, so smoke drifted out the door. Much of it stayed in the rooms, which accounts for the smoke-blackened condition of the walls and ceilings.

There is now no soot on the ceiling of the largest fifth-story room. Presumably it was very black at one time, but the large numbers of bats which cling there in the warm months have probably rubbed the soot off through years of continuous use. They have long occupied the room, for pioneers found 4 feet of droppings covering the floor.

An interesting feature of this room is what appears to have been a shelf. Timbers projecting from the walls were covered with a layer of poles and sticks and over this a layer of mud.

On the wall of another room is an interesting pictograph incised in the mud plaster. This roughly rectangular figure measures about 6 by 8 inches, and is laid off into 4 sections by lines that intersect at the center. In the upper left quarter and the lower right quarter are vertical wavy lines that suggest water.

Sixty yards west of Montezuma Castle, on a lower ledge, was a cluster of 6 or 8 rooms. The walls have all collapsed and only a few traces of foundation and fallen building stones indicate the location of these homes.

The next settlement down the creek west of the Castle was once a 6-story building with perhaps 40 rooms. This was not a cliff dwelling, but a structure built against the base of the cliff. The roofs were burned and all the walls collapsed, leaving only a great heap of rubble. Evidently part of the building was abandoned long before it burned, for archeologists found that charred roof timbers had fallen on some floors already covered with drifted sand and dust. This ruin was excavated in 1933-34 under the direction of Archeologist Earl Jackson. Many artifacts were brought to light and are now exhibited in the museum. These are of the same type as those found in the Castle, and both places must have been occupied at the same time. Probably no more than 300 Indians lived in the neighborhood of the Castle at any one time—somewhat more than the maximum population at Montezuma Well.

_Montezuma Well_

The appeal of Montezuma Well consists largely in the sudden vision of a lake and large trees inside a barren hill in a dry region. This limestone sinkhole (or solution basin) in which a large spring flows is an unusual geological feature of considerable scientific interest.

In 1871 a U. S. Geological Survey party visited the Well. Although they thought themselves the first to explore it, they found a paper collar on the floor of a nearby cave dwelling! The area was first brought to public attention by Richard J. Hinton in his _Handbook to Arizona_, published in 1878.

Aside from its geological interest, this area is a monument to the ingenuity of the former Indian inhabitants. Here they built their homes around the lake from which water was diverted into irrigation ditches for purposes of watering their farms.

Today the rim of the Well is 70 feet above the surface of the water. The lake measures over 400 feet across and the springs feeding it flow continually. Nature, in this manner, provided the Indians (and later settlers) with a huge supply of water for irrigation of the dry desert soil.

In May 1948, a diver went down into the Well to determine its depth and explore the bottom. After coming up from the first dive, he said the water was so warm that he had to remove all clothing except for his swimming trunks. The temperatures at the bottom and on the surface differ by some 4° to 7° in summer. On surfacing from another dive, he remarked that the black muddy bottom was broken by two white mounds of sandy material near the west shore, and that the water in this region was cool. Continued search in this spot did not reveal an actual inlet to explain the cool water or the presence of the limestone mounds, which may have been inlets at one time. Several descents revealed the saucer shape of the Well and a maximum depth of 55 feet near the center.

The Well has a constant flow at the outlet spring of 1½ million gallons of water every day. A person viewing this cup-shaped depression, half filled with water, could easily doubt this statement of flow, for the surface presents a placid and serene appearance. The water, acting like a giant mirror, reflects the blue Arizona sky, and stimulates visiting photographers to take many pictures.

On the rim, and in the ledges and caves below, are remnants of former Indian homes—reminders that in the past this body of water stood for more than natural beauty. Its presence made possible a thriving farming community of about 150 to 200 Indians between 1125 and 1400.

Archeological features include the remains of two pueblos on the rim of the Well. The larger contained about 24 ground-floor rooms, and the other 15. Three small cliff dwellings are located in the western ledges and several rooms are hidden in a large cave near the place where the Well water goes underground before emerging at the outlet spring.

Two burial grounds have been discovered, one on the flat below the Well, and the other near the small pueblo. As mentioned in a previous section, the method in which the Indians at Montezuma Well buried adults was rather unusual. They excavated a rectangular pit in the ground, roughly 3 by 6 feet. About 3 feet below the surface, they broke through a fairly hard 8- to 10-inch limestone layer commonly found underground in this area. After digging about 2 feet below this layer, they dug to one side, underneath the limestone, forming an undercut grave. This was made large enough for the body to lay at full length inside, and to accommodate funeral offerings, usually including pottery vessels. The undercut portion was closed with 3 or 4 large slabs of limestone, which were sealed with mud to prevent any dirt from entering. Then the pit was filled with dirt to complete the burial. Nowhere else in the Southwest are undercut graves quite like these found.

Along the north edge of the farmland you can see the most unusual feature at Montezuma Well: “fossilized” irrigation ditches of the ancient Indian farms! The water in the Well is warm and contains much lime. As the water flowed through the ancient irrigation ditches, some evaporated and lime particles settled to the bottom. Also, each time the Indians finished irrigating, they probably turned the water back into Beaver Creek to avoid flooding the farms. What little water remained in the ditches evaporated, leaving more lime particles. Over a period of time, these particles coated the ditches—thus actually cementing them. In this way the ancient waterways have been preserved as monuments to the first farmers of the Verde Valley. Interestingly, the same process continues today in modern irrigation ditches using waters from the Well.

_History of the Monument_

The Spanish were the first Europeans to visit the immediate area of the monument. No reference by them to Montezuma Castle has been found; however, in 1583, the Antonio de Espejo Expedition probably visited Montezuma Well. Espejo journeyed from the Hopi Indian villages in northeastern Arizona to the Verde River, traveling down a stream identified as Beaver Creek—thus he had to pass Montezuma Well. A further indication that he passed the Well is found in one of the expedition journals which describes an abandoned pueblo and a ditch running from a nearby pond.

While the Verde Valley was Spanish and Mexican territory, no settlements were established in the immediate vicinity of the monument.