Tuzigoot National Monument

Tuzigoot National Monument is a memorial of the type of a National Monument in Yavapai County of the U.S. state of Arizona. It protects a large pueblo of the Sinagua culture from the 12th to the 14th century.

The national monument was dedicated in 1939 and is managed by the National Park Service. The area of ​​the reserve is about 20 ha, which were appropriated by donors of the federal government in 1939 for the protected area, which was designated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The formal dedication comprises about 3.2 km ², but only 5% will actually claimed that, thanks to the donation of Federal property.

The name Tuzigoot comes from the language of the Apaches and means " curved " or " curved water ", after the meandering course of the Verde River.

The Pueblo

The Sinagua culture ( Harold Colton from Spanish: sin agua without water) populated the valley of the Verde River in central Arizona from the mid-11th century. It developed after the eruption of Sunset Crater Volcano in the years 1064/65, its fertile volcanic ash improved the conditions for farming in the predominantly dominated by semi-desert region. Cultural predecessors were the Hohokam, the Anasazi and the Mogollon culture, their different influences mingled in the Sinagua culture.

The Pueblo of Tuzigoot was started in 1125. It stretches over a ridge of limestone and sandstone, about 35 feet above the river. Like other pueblos in the valley of the Verde River was preferred increased documents that could be defended well. In the last stage of the late 14th century, the Pueblo comprised 110 rooms on three floors and has been inhabited by over two hundred people. The inhabitants built on the river bank, the three typical crops of the Southwest on: Corn, beans and squash pumpkin. In addition, hunting and gathering were operated. The Pueblos exported salt and cotton, and led a mussel shells from the Gulf of California. Around 1400, the pueblo was abandoned, the Sinagua culture went under. The reasons for a change in climatic conditions or depletion of arable soils are discussed by overuse.