Montezuma Castle National Monument
by Carolyn Derstine
Title
Montezuma Castle National Monument
Artist
Carolyn Derstine
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Montezuma Castle National Monument, located in central Arizona, preserves a five-story, 20-room dwelling built sometime between 1100 and 1300 CE. It occupies a cliff recess 100 feet above the valley. Early explorers marveled at the structure and assumed that it was Aztec in origin, hence the name Montezuma Castle. It is now known to have belonged to the Sinagua Indian peoples who farmed the surrounding land between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, before abandoning the area. The good state of preservation of the ruins is due in part to their protected location, shielded from rain and sun, and also the relatively early designation of the site as a national monument (in 1906).
Uploaded
July 15th, 2022
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