- Trough Metate and Mano
Description: Roughly shaped vesicular basalt metate with deep trough and a vesicular basalt mano. Dimensions: 42 x 31.9 x 14.6 cm (metate; outer), 42 x 19.2 x 10.8 cm (metate, inner); 16 x 10 x 5 cm (mano). Collection: On display at the Tuzigoot National Monument Visitor Center (catalog card - metate, catalog card- mano). - Verde Brown Olla
Description: Small Verde Brown olla in fair condition. There is a crack on the bottom of the vessel. Dimensions: Height 27.9 cm, Diameter 30.5 cm, Opening 19.7 cm. Collection: On display at the Tuzigoot National Monument Visitor Center (catalog card). - Verde Red Smudged Bowl
Description: Verde Red smudged bowl that has been mended. Dimensions: Height 15.5 cm, Diameter 4.7 cm. Collection: On display at the Tuzigoot National Monument Visitor Center (catalog card). - Verde Brown Olla
Description: Verde Brown olla. Dimensions: Height 64.7 cm, Diameter 66 cm, Opening 36.8 cm. Collection: On display at the Tuzigoot National Monument Visitor Center (catalog card). - Verde Brown Storage Jar
Description: Verde Brown storage jar. Dimensions: Height 40.7 cm, Diameter 41.9 cm, Opening 24.7 cm. Collection: On display at the Tuzigoot National Monument Visitor Center (catalog card). - Tuzigoot Red Olla
Description: Tuzigoot Red olla with firing clouds. The olla has a subconical bottom with a low-placed Gila shoulder. Dimensions: Height 22.8 cm, Diameter 25.4 cm, Opening 16.5 cm. Collection: On display at the Tuzigoot National Monument Visitor Center (catalog card). - Tuzigoot Red Jar
Description: Tuzigoot Red jar with firing clouds and bulging at midline. Dimensions: Unknown. Collection: On display at the Tuzigoot National Monument Visitor Center (catalog card). - Verde Brown Olla
Description: Verde Brown olla with a mended bottom and restored rim sections. The olla is in fair condition and displays a globular shape with a stout straight neck. Dimensions: Height 34.4 cm, Diameter 41.3 cm, Opening 21.6 cm. Collection: On display at the Tuzigoot National Monument Visitor Center (catalog card). - Tuzigoot Red Olla
Description: Tuzigoot Red olla, mended but in poor condition. Dimensions: Height 66 cm, Diameter 62.2 cm, Opening 27.9 cm. Collection: On display at the Tuzigoot National Monument Visitor Center (catalog card). - 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. - 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. - 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. - Roof Beams
The two beams at the rear of the room above have been in place for 800 years. Tree-ring dates obtained from various beams in the pueblo span from 1106 to 1220 but cluster around three periods: 1137, 1160, and 1190. This suggests specific periods of construction, or at least beam cutting. Many room walls also abut one another-evidence that a room was added on to one already in place. Perhaps the various building phases mark the arrival of clans, each bringing something different to the community, resulting in the "cultural brew" that makes Wupatki so unusual. Some archeologists see cultural traditions, such as Sinagua and Kayenta, not as "people" or genetic and ethnic groups, but rather as inhabited geographic regions experiencing a dynamic ebb-and-flow of populations. Migrations brought people together creating cultural dominance in some areas and shared cultural traits in others. Seen this way, specific traditions such as black-on-white pottery and T-shaped doorways could have been maintained over centuries by peoples of different linguistic and ethnic backgrounds. - View from the Inside
View from the inside of the "ready-made" room. - 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.