BGuthrie Photos: AZ -- Walnut Canyon Natl Monument

AZ -- Walnut Canyon Natl Monument:

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. WALNUT_060524_007.JPG: Neighbors of the Sinagua: Surrounding cultures differed from the Sinagua, particularly in the specialized structures they used and the pottery they made. Anasazi: The Anasazi built special ceremonial chambers called kivas, which were also used by the men as clubrooms and for initiating older boys into manhood. Hohokam: The Hohokam built ball courts. Archeologists found several of these packed earth courts in the Winona area northeast of Walnut Canyon.
2. WALNUT_060524_015.JPG: People of the Canyon: A thousand years ago, a people archeologists called Sinagua lived in the San Francisco Peaks region. Rich volcanic soil nourished their crops of corn, beans, and squash. When Sunset Crater erupted in AD 1065, its showers of hot ash drove the people away. Many Sinagua came to Walnut Canyon, south of the heavy ash fall. The canyon's natural alcoves made ready home sites.
3. WALNUT_060524_027.JPG: On the Rim: Eight hundred years ago, the cliffs of Walnut Canyon echoes with the shouts and songs of a thriving Indian community. Archeologists call these people the Sinagua. They first appeared living in small, pit house villages on the cinder fields east of the San Francisco Peaks. Around AD 1120, they expanded into promising areas like Walnut Canyon. On the horizon are two landmarks that played important roles in the lives of the Northern Sinagua. The high San Francisco Peaks to the northwest mark their point of origin; flat-topped Anderson Mesa directly south marks where they finally disappeared from the archeological record around 1400. Even though the Indians left their cliff homes eight centuries ago, we are still guests here, entrusted with preserving this unique place and passing it on to the future.
4. WALNUT_060524_045.JPG: War or Peace? The Island Trail circles a promontory called Third Fort. On top are ruins of a fortified compound protected by outlying walls. A similar site farther down the canyon is guarded by a five-foot-high wall over 100 feet long. But are these actually defensive sites? The first archeologists to study the ruins thought so, but later investigators turned up little evidence of actual warfare. Since so few sites were left intact by early pothunters, their true functions may never be known. One of the only hints of violence is a burial excavated near the visitor center. The bones are of a woman in her 30s. When the archeologist brushed away the dirt covering the rib cage, he discovered an arrowhead. The glassy black point had an unusual shape, unlike those made by the people who lived here.
5. WALNUT_060524_066.JPG: Life in a Dry World: The name Sinagua comes from an early Spanish name for the region. Sierra Sin Agua, meaning the "waterless mountains." Surface water is scarce in the surrounding area, and over the centuries severe droughts have alternated with periods of good rains. But at is heart, it remains a dry country. A drink from the water fountain at the visitor center comes from a well 2,000 feet deep. When the Sinagua arrived at Walnut Canyon, the Southwest was actually undergoing a period of unusual climactic fluctuation. Walnut Creek, with its bedrock pools and more regular flow before being dammed in 1904, must have been a major incentive to settle here.
6. WALNUT_060524_105.JPG: The Tangible Past: At first look, the only things the Sinagua left behind are empty rooms tucked under ledges in an empty canyon. But soon other clues to the lives of these ancient people begin to emerge. Fingerprints are still visible in the clay plaster that dried eight centuries ago; the walls still smoke-blackened from ancient cooking fires. Excavations have uncovered other evidence. In one room, the floor consists of ten clay layers. Sandwiched between each are accumulations of ash and refuse. Apparently it was easier to lay a new floor than sweep the old one. Archeologists also found cane cigarettes, some still packed with charred tobacco, in the abandoned rooms.
7. WALNUT_060524_124.JPG: The People: In archeology, the dead often give us the best look at the living. From excavated burials, we know the height of a Sinagua man averaged five-and-a-half feet, a woman was a few inches shorter. Their heads were flattened on the back from being strapped to cradleboards as infants. Well-preserved burials even show traces of body paint. The men wore a short, cotton loincloth and some may have worn kilts or leggings. The women dressed in a short, fringed apron. Both used mantles thrown over the shoulders. Jewelry is often found in the burials of men, woman and children -- shell and turquoise necklaces; strands of beads wrapped around the ankles; turquoise earrings. Some men were buried with carved stone plugs worn inserted through the nose and lip.
8. WALNUT_060524_150.JPG: Dry Farming: Early visitors found broken stone hoes in the open parks along the rim. Archeologists later discovered evidence of extensive farming on both rims of the canyon. The Sinagua had to be resourceful to live in a land so marginal for farming. They built check-dams in washes to catch run-off and to create terraces. They planted corn and varieties of squash and beans in scattered parks along the rims, in washes and wherever the canyon bottom allowed. If one field didn't get enough rain or run-off then another might. To go from canyon home to their fields on the rim, the Sinagua followed natural breaks in the cliff walls. These formed over time as vertical joints in the cliffs eroded into steep ravines.
9. WALNUT_060524_153.JPG: Ledge Home: The Sinagua took advantage of the natural shelter provided by the cliff overhangings. The canyon contains over 300 rooms that housed several hundred people. Prehistoric masons laid up unshaped limestone blocks in a heavy mud mortar. Once the front wall was completed, dividing walls were laid in each room. A house built under an overhanding ledge needed only half as many walls and took only half as much time to build as one in the open. It took skill to lay a straight, smooth wall that could withstand eight centuries of weather and a horde of destructive pothunters. The small T-shaped entryways were designed to control air flow. Park rangers experimented and found that when the wide section of the door was covered, fresh air flowed in the bottom opening and the smoke escaped through the vent hole above the door.
10. WALNUT_060524_171.JPG: The Wild Side: Walnut Canyon's deep meanders and steep sides create a patchwork of sun and shadow. Intense sunlight hitting a south-facing slope produces near-desert conditions where cactus, yucca, and juniper thrive. The shade north-facing slope is cooler and more moist, giving rise to ponderosa pine and Douglas fir. Those walking the Island Trail pass through vegetation zones similar to those encountered on a trip from Canada to Mexico. The canyon's wide variety of natural resources provided a buffer from the Sinagua during years when rains were light and the crops poor. Bones recovered from sites show they ate wild animals like bighorn sheep and deer, as well as small mammals and rodents. Also eaten were pinyon nuts, yucca seeds and the Arizona black walnut for which the canyon was named.
11. WALNUT_060524_205.JPG: Remnants: During the 1890s, Walnut Canyon became a popular destination for Sunday picnickers, some armed with shovels. Serious pothunters dynamited the walls to let in more light. Destruction of the cliff dwellings happened quickly as the number of visitors increased. Most of the prehistoric rooms were gutted before the turn of the century. But concerned citizens took action before all traces of the ancient ruins were lost. They lobbied for federal protection, and in 1915 Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Walnut Canyon a national monument. It is now one of over 350 areas in the National Park System.
12. WALNUT_060524_211.JPG: Remnants. Ruins gutted by pothunters.
13. WALNUT_060524_226.JPG: Link to the Past: Did the northern Sinagua completely disappear? No trace of their way of life shows up in the archeological record after 1400. Some may have joined the Hopi Indians to the north who still recognize the ruined Sinagua towns as their ancestral homes. The link between the modern Hopi and the ancient Sinagua were strengthened by the discovery of a remarkable burial. Not far from Walnut Canyon, archeologists uncovered the grave of a Sinagua man filled with over 600 burial offerings -- 25 beautifully painted pots, 420 arrowheads, and other fine objects. But the most puzzling artifacts were twelve wooden wands, carved and painted to resemble hands, hoofs, and other shapes. To find out what they were, the archeologists questions various Hopi about their purposes. To his surprise, they not only knew what they were used for, but they identified the ceremonial society to which the Sinagua man had belonged.
14. WALNUT_060524_238.JPG: Beyond the Rim: The Sinagua world did not end at the canyon rim. They were part of a trade network that reached west to the California coast, south into Mexico, and east to the Plains. The colors of their jewelry tell the story: a flash of blue from an earring made of New Mexican turquoise; a red nose plug carved from argillite mined in central Arizona; a white bracelet cut and polished from a shell found on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. The people who lived at Walnut Canyon were only one community of a larger group known as the Northern Sinagua. Wupatki National Monument preserves the ruins of another Northern Sinagua community. A closely related people, the Southern Sinagua, lived in the Verde Valley at what are now Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot National Monuments.
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AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
Wikipedia Description: Walnut Canyon National Monument
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Walnut Canyon National Monument is a United States National Monument located about 10 mi southeast of downtown Flagstaff, Arizona just off Interstate 40. The canyon rim lies at 6690 ft; the canyon floor 350 ft lower. A 0.9 mi long loop trail descends 185 ft into the canyon passing 25 cliff dwelling rooms constructed by the Sinagua people.

Most of the cliff dwelling rooms are situated near the loop trail, typically slightly above the trail and immediately outside the loop itself. A typical room might have been the dwelling of a single family, and might measure approximately two meters high by six meters long by three meters deep.

There are many more dwellings to be seen up close if you take the time to explore the canyon just east of the Monument. Entrance via The Arizona Trail works best, no ropes necessary, just scrambling. Do not enter the canyon in the Monument as it is illegal and you will be severely punished. Remember to take only pictures and leave these sites undisturbed.

Walnut Canyon was proclaimed a national monument on November 30, 1915. It was transferred from the USDA Forest Service to the National Park Service on August 10, 1933. As with all historic areas administered by the National Park Service, the national monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.
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Directly Related Pages: Other pages with content (AZ -- Walnut Canyon Natl Monument) directly related to this one: [Display ALL photos on one page]:
- 2012_AZ_Walnut_Canyon: AZ -- Walnut Canyon Natl Monument (123 photos from 2012)
- 2000_AZ_Walnut_Canyon: AZ -- Walnut Canyon Natl Monument (29 photos from 2000)
Same Subject: Click on this link to see coverage of items having the same subject: [Indians] [Park (National Park Service)]
2006 photos: Equipment this year: I was using all six Fuji cameras at various times -- an S602Zoom, two S7000s,a S5200, an S9000, and an S9100. The majority of pictures this year were taken with the S9000. I have to say, the S7000s was the best camera I've used up to this point.. Trips this year: Florida (two separate trips including Lotusphere and taking care of mom), three weeks out west (including Yellowstone), Williamsburg, San Diego (comic book convention), and Georgia. Number of photos taken this year: 183,000.
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