Ancient Ruins? In the US?

SEDONA, AZ

Did you know there are ancient ruins in the US?

I did not.

I feel more comfortable admitting this after mentioning it over the phone to a couple well-educated friends who also did not know this. And to some fellow hikers on trails (some standing right in front of the ruins with me) who also did not know this. So at least I'm not alone in my ignorance.

Of course, I know people lived here long before Columbus "discovered" America. And I remember being fascinated as a child by the Pueblo cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde and vowing to see them someday. But somehow I never made the connection that there would be ruins of other permanent structures scattered throughout this area. Someone needs to read more.

So if you, like me, were not familiar with these ancient structures, prepare to be amazed at this succinct history lesson of permanent dwellings in the Sedona area.

Honanki Heritage Site

Just west of Sedona, at the end of a long, bumpy, dirt road that made me glad I had AWD, is the Honanki Heritage Site. This was the largest cliff dwellings of the Red Rock country between 1150 and 1350 AD. These cliffs were inhabited by the Sinagua (literally "without water" in Spanish), who are ancestors of the Hopi. The Sinagua farmed and hunted here with their families, using tools made from stone, leather, and wood. There is also a nearby area called Palatki, which is closed to visitors.

Apparently the Honanki pueblos were built in townhouse style - you can see the holes in the walls where they'd have used timbers for floor joists for multi-level housing.

Above the ruins are numerous pictographs: a white circle and dozens of brown figures shaped like people and animals. One site claims some of the rock art dates back to 2000 BC. My mind is blown.

Also, here are some views from the drive back into Sedona. It was a beautiful evening with the skies clearing up after a heavy rain and the sun reflecting off the sides of the mountains.

In the pic below, you also catch a glimpse of one of the smoother portions of the road I took to see the ruins.

Lost Canyon Ruins

I talked about these ruins in my post titled Devil's Bridge, Ancient Ruins, & Birthing Cave.

I found the Lost Canyon Ruins on Alltrails by searching trails with historic sites. Although it has just three reviews, the promise of well-preserved ruins on an unmarked, low traffic trail lured me in.

The directions were pretty easy ... just start at the intersection of this road and the dry creek bed. Here is said road:

Here is said dry creek bed:

And here is a video that gives you a sense of the journey and of the exhilaration of catching that first glimpse of the ruins:

Walnut Canyon Island Trail

This area, just east of Flagstaff, was settled 700 years ago. The "island" is a butte with a trail looping around it, where you can see the prehistoric rooms up close, and also other rooms from a distance in the cliffs across the canyon.

The rooms were also built by the Sinagua. They arrived in the Flagstaff region sometime around 600 AD, but these particular buildings were built and lived in from roughly 1125 to 1250 AD. The Sinagua grew corn, beans, and squash on the canyon rims and hunted deer, bighorn sheep, and small animals.

The rocks are made of Coconino Sandstone, underneath a layer of Kaibab Limestone.

Here are the rooms across the canyon - the original high-rise.

Wupatki National Monument

Wupatki is a multistory Sinagua pueblo dwelling, comprised of 100+ rooms, a community room, and a ballcourt. Wupatki means "tall house" in Hopi and was first inhabited around 1100 AD.

Around 1080, just prior to the Wupatki development, Sunset Crater erupted nearby, blanketing the area with volcanic ash. This was incredibly obvious (all these centuries later!) as I drove to the site. The entire landscape of northern Arizona is either a deep red or yellowish soil, but as I got closer to Wupatki, the soil was distinctly black, which I found out from a park ranger is ash. You can see in this photo here the mix of red soil and black volcanic ash:

Apparently a little nearby volcano eruption is a good thing - the volcanic ash improved the agricultural productivity and the soil's ability to retain water, which drove a population influx to the area. By 1190, as many as 2,000 people lived within a day's walk.

The buildings here are built around a natural rock outcrop, using local sandstone, which gives the structure its distinct red color. The pueblo is a blend of Kayenta and Sinagua architectural styles, more typical of 12th century structures than cliff dwellings, which make up just a fraction of known southwestern archeological sites.

Ok, now that we're all on the same page about ancient ruins in the US ... are you all ruined out? Hope so, because that's a wrap on ruins.