Home / Keyword Architecture 284
- 1923 Repairs
Subject: Repairing the front wall of Montezuma Castle. Date: 1923 Collection: WACC: Montezuma Castle/Well. - 1923 Repairs (Corrected Color)
Subject: Repairing the front wall of Montezuma Castle. Date: August, 1923 Collection: WACC: Montezuma Castle/Well. - 1939 Stabilization
Subject: Stabilization of a feature below the parapet in Montezuma Castle. The work was completed by J.H. Tovrea. Date: June, 1939 Collection: WACC: Montezuma Castle/Well. - A Possible Kiva
This room, on the southeastern corner of the pueblo, is one of the largest in the village, yet no household tools or utensils were found inside. This suggests it was a special space, perhaps a ceremonial room known as a kiva. However, a kiva would have a single bench on the north side of the room. There is no record of this, but early excavations may have missed such a feature. In a village this size, one or two kivas would have been expected. They may have been used for the private aspects of ritual, while the larger, open community room served public ceremonies. Today, rectangular clan kivas persist in Hopi villages, while larger, round community kivas endure in the eastern Pueblos. Kivas are an integral part of Puebloan society and remain a cultural trait that can be traced from past to present.
Compare the possible kiva to the room to the left. Note the size difference? The inset shows the interior hearth (firepit) and deflector. - A Ready-made Room
You may enter this room. The rock outcrop around you provided an almost ready-made room, initially used for household trash. Roughly 5 feet (1.5 meters) of debris accumulated here before the first floor was laid and the space used as a living room. Can you tell where a second story room began? This room provides a special opportunity to experience the pueblo in an intimate way. Generally, you should not enter rooms unless invited. Everyone has a responsibility to know the "ground rules" when visiting an archeological site. - After Restoration, 1922
Subject: View of the mission from the northeast after some restoration. Date: 1922 Collection: WACC: Tumacacori. - 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. - Atsinna Ruin Kiva A Profiles
- Atsinna Ruin Planview
- Atsinna Ruin Profiles
- Ballcourt
The reconstructed ballcourt was an unusual structure. Known ballcourts in the Southwest were not masonry. This court may have had multiple functions: a place where special ceremonies were held, where competitive games took place for socialization, or where children played a game of stick and ball, similar to hockey. After rains, it may have served as a reservoir. Some archaeologists think valuables changed hands through ritual events such as ball games. People living to the south (Hohokam tradition) had shells, salt, cotton, and a ballcourt in every town. People to the east in the Chaco region (Ancestral Puebloan tradition) has Mesoamerican macaws, copper, and turquoise to trade. A ballcourt at Wupatki could function as a link between distant regions. Trade valuables from both regions ended up here. Sandals trod far and wide, maintaining trade networks that helped meet mutual needs and improved the quality of life. When materials, innovations, and ideas came to communities, all knew what others had to offer. - Ballcourt Interpretative Panel
This depiction of a ball game is based on descriptions of games played by the Mayan and Aztec cultures of Mexico and speculations on the Hohokam games in southern Arizona.
Ballcourts were common in southern Arizona from A.D. 750 to 1200, but relatively rare here in the northern part of the state. This suggests that the people of Wupatki intermingled within their southern Arizona neighbors – the Hohokam – who may have borrowed and modified the ballcourt idea from earlier contact with the Indian cultures of Mexico. Located along major natural drainages and travel routes, ballcourts may have provided opportunities for social exchange between villages. They were often within a one-day walk of a neighboring village. There is continued speculation about the uses of the ballcourts. Because of the work involved in building a ballcourt and the numbers that have been found (over 200 in Arizona), ball games may have been an important part of life for the people of Wupatki and their southern neighbors. The Hohokam balls – found at archaeological sites containing ballcourts – were made of carefully shaped rock and perhaps covered with pin pitch or other material. One form of the game might have involved moving the ball toward a goal using a curved stick.
The Wupatki ballcourt is 78 feet wide, 102 feet long, and had a 6-foot-high wall. Excavated and stabilized in 1965, a large part of the interior wall has been reconstructed. - Barn at Montezuma Well, 1947
Subject: The barn at Montezuma Well. Date: June 8, 1947 Collection: WACC: Montezuma Castle/Well. - Beaver Creek, 1902
Subject: Overview of Beaver Creek flowing through Montezuma Castle National Monument. Several cavate dwellings are visible in the cliff face overlooking the creek. Date: 1902 Collection: WACC: Montezuma Castle/Well. - Betatakin Alcove
Description: Betatakin Alcove, Navajo National Monument. Date: 2009 Collection: Navajo National Monument.