- Air Circulation System
In this room, someone designed an innovative air circulation system to allow for an indoor fire. A stone-lined ventilator trench is connected to an opening in the base of the cliff wall. The upright stone slab at the end of the ventilator trench deflected incoming air so that the draft would pass directly across the firepit. Smoke would exit through a roof opening. Note how preservation efforts have changed this building: original floor surface, as with this room, are much lower - dirt placed in the rooms after excavation protects floor features and keeps walls from collapsing. Throughout the dwelling you'll see a variety of modern drains that keep water from standing in rooms. In some cases the architecture has been altered. For example, the square and round holes on this front wall were placed for drainage, and the large masonry column built in the back corner supports the upper wall. - Wupatki Pueblo 1930s vs. 2011
Compare the images above. The rooms now visible were buried beneath rubble cleared during excavation beginning in 1933.
When occupied, this mud and stone building would have required periodic maintenance. Once people departed, natural forces prevailed - mortar eroded, roofs collapsed, walls tumbled. What you see today is an excavated building, heavily stabilized to postpone deterioration. The modern iron beam and plate visible here support the upper walls. The low walls exhibit Portland cement, used from the 1930s to 60s, and new stabilization mortars that more closely duplicate original materials. Although walls stand in their original location, virtually all the mortar you see is modern. Stabilization has compromised the historical architecture, but helps an excavated building withstand natural and human-induced erosion.
You are one of hundreds of thousands of visitors - please, do not lean, sit, or walk on any walls. - Sunset Crater and Wupatki
The black cinders blanketing the ground remain from the eruption of nearby Sunset Crater volcano some time between 1040 and 1100. The settlement of Wupatki followed but it's uncertain if there was a direct cause and effect. People may have been drawn by the eruption and stayed. Or, perhaps those displaced by the eruption moved to this lower elevation. However, as many as three generations may have passed before anyone decided to live here. We do know that ash from the eruption, in a thin uniform layer, retained precious soil moisture providing a window of improved farming potential in this semi-arid landscape. - Living and Storage Rooms
A curious place to build a farming community...summers are hot, dry and windy. Yet 800 years ago, agricultural plots would have dotted the landscape, carefully placed in scant pockets of soil. A farmer's faith was tested regularly as rainfall came at the wrong time or not at all, and dry winds parched the soil and crops. Each field was at the mercy of where rain fell; no surface irrigation was possible. One field might produce while another withered, so the planting effort was extensive. Then, as now, water was limited. Across the area, a few seeps and springs existed; catchments held water for a time, and the Little Colorado River provided a seasonal water source. Still the abundance of storage pots suggests water had to be acquired and managed to be available when needed. Perhaps, as Hopi believe, people derived strength from this challenging land. - Wupatki Pueblo and Surrounding Features
"For its time and place there was no other pueblo like Wupatki. It was in all probability the tallest, largest, and perhaps the richest and most influential pueblo in the area." -E. Brennan and C. Downum, from Report of Findings Prestabilization Documentation for Wupatki Pueblo
People gathered here during the 1100s and what began as family housing grew into this 100-room pueblo with a tower, community room, and ceremonial ballcourt. Located near the crossroads of east-west and north-south travel routes, the pueblo evolved to serve a community heavily engaged not only in farming but also in ceremony, trade, and crafts specialization. By 1190, as many as 2,000 people lived within a day's walk and Wupatki Pueblo was the largest building for at least 50 miles. Archaeologists are challenged to define a cultural identity for Wupatki Pueblo with its intriguing blend of Kayenta and Sinagua architectural styles and more than 100 pottery types. - Bone Sewing Tools
Cultural Period: Ancestral Puebloan (Wupatki Pueblo, A.D. 1130 – A.D. 1260) Description: Needles and awls fashioned from animal bone; recovered from Wupatki Pueblo. Collection: Museum of Northern Arizona: Wupatki. - Flintknapping Tools and Products
Description: Range of tools used in stone tool manufacture and the finished products. Back Row Wooden shaft and shaft straightener, edge grinder, and hammerstone. Center Rows Bifaces and biface fragments, antler tine, and obsidian flakes. Front Row Raw material examples and finished projectile points. Collection: Museum of Northern Arizona: Wupatki. - Burden Basket
Cultural Period: Ancestral Puebloan/Sinagua Description: Large basket fragment, 2 rod and bundle construction. Dimensions: 21.5 cm (H) x 12.8 cm (basal diam.) Collection: Museum of Northern Arizona: Wupatki. - Basalt "Bullets"
Cultural Period: Ancestral Puebloan/Sinagua Description: Tapering, bullet-shaped objects made of basalt and carefully smoothed; found in Wupatki Pueblo. Dimensions: Left - Unknown; Right - 6.25 cm (L) x 1.6 cm (diam.). Collection: Museum of Northern Arizona: Wupatki. - Basalt Cylinders
Cultural Period: Sinagua Description: Shaped scoriaceous basalt cylinders; function unknown. Recovered primarily from Wupatki Pueblo. Dimensions: Max. - 8.95 cm (L) x 3.12 c (diam.); Min. - 4.6 cm (L) x 2.1 (diam.). Collection: Museum of Northern Arizona: Wupatki. - Wooden Figurine
Cultural Period: Ancestral Puebloan (Wupatki Pueblo, A.D. 1130 – A.D. 1260) Description: Carved wooden figurine. Collection: Museum of Northern Arizona: Wupatki. - Stone Bowl
Cultural Period: Unknown Description: Stone bowl made from pecked and ground basalt. Dimensions: Unknown. Collection: Museum of Northern Arizona: Wupatki. - Yucca Sandals
Cultural Period: Ancestral Puebloan (Turkey House, constructed A.D. 980, and Wupatki Pueblo, A.D. 1130 – A.D. 1260) Description: Woven yucca sandals. The sandal on the left is from Turkey House in Tsegi Canyon, Navajo National Monument, and the one on the right is from Wupatki Pueblo. Dimensions: Left, 17.0 (L) x 8.5 (W) cm; Right, 23.0 (L) x 11.0 (W) cm. Collection: On display at Wupatki National Monument (catalog card 1, catalog card 2). - In Clay and Paint
Cultural Period: Ancestral Puebloan/Kayenta Description: (left) Tusayan Black-on-white ladle handle; (right) Flagstaff Black-on-white figuring or handle fragment. Dimensions: (left) unknown; (right) Approx. 3 cm x 2 cm. Collection: Museum of Northern Arizona: Wupatki. - Walnut Black-on-white Bowl
Cultural Period: Ancestral Puebloan/Kayenta Description: Walnut Black-on-white bowl restored by the Museum of Northern Arizona. Dimensions: 9 in (diameter) x 5 3/4 in (depth). Collection: On display at Wupatki National Monument (catalog card).