Points of Culture and History
After the nearby Sunset Crater Volcano erupted around 1065 A.D., people began gathering at the site of Wupatki. The ash fall from the volcanic event made the once bone-dry area able to retain water much better. Good growing conditions drew people from all over the region. These migrants joined the Sinagua people already living in the area. They began constructing buildings from natural materials like sandstone slabs, limestone blocks, and basalt set with clay-based mortar. Archaeologists believe that by around 1182, a population of nearly 100 lived in this pueblo. In addition, several thousand others lived in smaller pueblos and mud brick houses a day’s walk from the pueblo, which was the largest for more than 50 miles in any direction.
The people of Wupatki practiced hunter-gatherer subsistence, but agriculture was their primary source of support and commerce. The early settlers chose this area because, even though the land was blanketed with cinders from the volcano event, those cinders could hold water and were beneficial for agriculture. The community’s inhabitants also benefited from being at the crossroads of other tribes and cultures. Before long, these Western Anasazi grew corn, beans, squash, and cotton and traded agricultural goods for exotic items like turquoise, ornate seashell jewelry, copper bells, and even parrots.
By 1200 A.D., the people began abandoning their dwellings at Wupatki Pueblo due to an extended drought. Researchers found large numbers of bodies in one room of the Wupatki Pueblo, suggesting internal conflict and disease also contributed to the desertion of the area. By 1300 A.D., almost all of the inhabitants had left, probably migrating to the Hopi mesas and perhaps the Verde Valley, looking to rebuild the prosperous lives they once had.
Main Points of Interest
Wupatki National Monument occupies an area of about 56 square miles on the southwestern Colorado Plateau. Lying just west of the Little Colorado River, it’s a beautiful, awe-inspiring, and mysterious landscape in the shadow of Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument.Taking in both Wupatki National Monument and Sunset Crater Monument goes without saying since the two are in such proximity. A driving tour of both sites should take you about two hours. If you decide to walk the trails to and from the visitor center, you should allow about four hours.
The first stop in your experience should be the visitor center. Behind it, you can begin a self-guided tour of Wupatki Pueblo. Lomaki Pueblo (Beautiful House in Hopi) is a half-mile off the main loop road. This fascinating building has nine rooms constructed of local stone and was walled in plaster, though none of the original coating remains. Next to the road, you’ll find the Citadel and Nalakihu pueblos. These two 900-year-old ancestral Puebloan dwellings have over 50 rooms combined.
Another spur road of about 2 1/2 miles leads to Wukoki Pueblo. This site is one of the best-preserved prehistoric structures in the park. It is also the work of skilled artisans, according to the archaeologist Jesse Walter Fewkes, who excavated there in the late 1800s. Discoveries of fine jewelry and pottery, combined with the advanced architecture, suggest the status of the family that once lived here.
Nature
Wupatki National Monument sits in a corner of the Great Basin Desert or Navajoan Desert. The desert climate is challenging for indigenous animals, plants, and visitors. Some of the wildlife you’ll run into includes coyotes, pronghorn antelope, mule deer, jackrabbits, cottontail rabbits, antelope, ground squirrels, reptiles, and birds.The vast open space of the monument area looks barren to the first-time visitor, but many plants have adapted to the harsh, arid conditions of the park. Gray-green foliage absorbs less heat than its greener cousins in wetter environments. And some of the leaves of the plants are smaller to avoid losing excess water. In addition, desert plants have extensive, shallow root systems that can absorb what rainfall there is very quickly. Small shrubs dominate the landscape, but some evergreen species, like the one-seed juniper, also dot the landscape. Wupatki also has a fantastic collection of annual and perennial plants and wildflowers.
