Existing comment:
The Bountiful Verde Valley:
In contrast to the rugged northern mountains and harsh southern desert, the Verde Valley must have seemed a paradise to the people who settled here around AD 700. Antelope, deer and small game were plentiful and grasslands above the river supplied mesquite beans, wild legumes, grape and amaranth seeds.
Through the valley flowed the Verde River where fish and turtles could be caught: mallards and Canadian geese alighted, attracted by the water and wild grains.
Dry farming -- using available rainfall -- provided some crops on the foothills, and streams were diverted for irrigating lowland farms.
Early dwellings were pit houses dug beside the river, but succeeding generations moved into caves or rooms hollowed from cliffs; many built masonry homes on the ridges.
By AD 1300, there were about 50 major pueblo sites, many surrounding by smaller satellite pueblos, in the middle of Verde Valley. |