Home / Keyword ancestral puebloan 1142
- Woven Handbag
Description: A woven handbag made by folding a strip of cloth in half and sewing the edges. The design was made using a technique known as weft floating. Dimensions: 12 x 6 inches. Collection: On display at the Montezuma Castle National Monument Visitor Center (Catalog No. MOCA 123). - Woven Handbag, Detail
Description: A woven handbag made by folding a strip of cloth in half and sewing the edges. The design was made using a technique known as weft floating. Dimensions: 12 x 6 inches. Collection: On display at the Montezuma Castle National Monument Visitor Center (Catalog No. MOCA 123). - Textile with Openwork Design
Description: Textile made with a common basket weave with a weft-warp openwork design. Dimensions: 6 x 7 inches. Collection: On display at the Montezuma Castle National Monument Visitor Center (Catalog No. MOCA 125). - Textile with Openwork Design, Close View
Description: Textile made with a common basket weave with a weft-warp openwork design. Dimensions: 6 x 7 inches. Collection: On display at the Montezuma Castle National Monument Visitor Center (Catalog No. MOCA 125). - Textile with Openwork Design, Close View 2
Description: Textile made with a common basket weave with a weft-warp openwork design. Dimensions: 6 x 7 inches. Collection: On display at the Montezuma Castle National Monument Visitor Center (Catalog No. MOCA 125). - Diamond Design Fabric
Description: Fragment of twilled cotton cloth with a woven design of black and red diamonds on a white background. Dimensions: Approximately 18.5 cm long. Collection: On display at the Montezuma Castle National Monument Visitor Center (Catalog No. MOCA 178). - Yucca and Cotton Cloth
Description: Yucca and cotton fabric made by weaving cotton rag strips and yucca fibers. Yucca baccata warp, double yucca weft, and unevenly spaced cotton rag wefting. Dimensions: Approximately 17 x 10.5 cm. Collection: On display at the Montezuma Castle National Monument Visitor Center (Catalog No. MOCA 164). - Yucca and Cotton Cloth, Detail
Description: Yucca and cotton fabric made by weaving cotton rag strips and yucca fibers. Yucca baccata warp, double yucca weft, and unevenly spaced cotton rag wefting. Dimensions: Approximately 17 x 10.5 cm. Collection: On display at the Montezuma Castle National Monument Visitor Center (Catalog No. MOCA 164). - Fire Drill Shaft
Description: Fire drill shaft. Dimensions: Approximately 38 cm long. Collection: On display at the Montezuma Castle National Monument Visitor Center (Catalog No. MOCA 439). - Fire Drill Hearth
Description: Fire drill hearth with several burned holes made from use with a fire drill shaft. Dimensions: Approximately 23.5 cm long. Collection: On display at the Montezuma Castle National Monument Visitor Center (Catalog No. MOCA 440). - Overlook Interpretative Panel
The name Wupatki derives from Hopi words that translate literally into "it was cut long," and recalls an event in the histories of the Hopi clans. It is said that people prospered here. In time men began gambling and ignored their crops and prayers for rain. Concerned, their leader severed a ritual object and then went into exile. When he returned the people awoke from their decadence. - Overlook Interpretative Panel
For today's Hopi people, the villages of Wupatki remain among the most important "footprints" of the ancestral clans. It was on this landscape, in the shadow of the San Francisco Peaks, that a number of migrating clans met and merged. Significant events, and new traditions and ceremonies resulted. The Zuni and other Puebloan groups (Acoma, Laguna, and Rio Grande) share Wupatki's history as they share a belief in a common origin that begins with their ancestors. Stories of Wupatki also exist among non-Puebloan groups (Havasupai, Yavapai, Hualapai, Southern Paiute, and Navajo) whose ancestors interacted with Puebloan ancestors. The dates for these interactions are unknown. - Room 73, 1930s vs. 2011
Other people have come and gone since the original occupants. During the late 1800s, Basque sheepherders stayed here briefly, enlarging this doorway and occupying the room beyond. Local prospector Ben Doney pothunted Wupatki, amassing an impressive collection of artifacts. Concern over looting at Wupatki led to its protection as a national monument in 1924. Later expansion of the monument included some land historically used since the mid-1800s by Navajo naat' áanii (headman) Peshlakai Etsidi and his descendants. These Diné families grazed sheep here, moving seasonally between numerous camps, leaving behind more than 60 residential sites. Their history is intertwined with that of the monument. They remain intimately tied to the Wupatki landscape.
Rooms on this end of the pueblo were excavated and reconstructed to serve as an office and museum. The National Park Service now has a policy of stabilizing buildings in their existing state. The 1930s reconstructions were removed in 1950. - Nearby Homes
The extent of this community is not obvious, but hundreds of small family dwellings surround us forming a cluster. Another cluster exists on the uplands to the west (where you may visit Citadel and Lomaki Pueblos). We don't know if the Wupatki and Citadel communities were autonomous, cooperatives, or competitors. From this point, you can see two other nearby homes. These sites are not open to visitation.
"We found... all the prominent points occupied by the ruins of stone houses of considerable size... They are evidently the remains of a large town, as they occurred at intervals for an extent of eight or nine miles and the ground was thickly strewed with pottery in all directions." -Journal entry, Sitgreaves Expedition, October 8, 1851 - 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.