THE SINAGUA PEOPLE[18]
In northern Arizona have been found many remains of prehistoric people
who were contemporaneous with and had certain traits in common with the
Anasazi, and it was originally thought that they all belonged to this
culture. Later, and more intensive, studies have shown that the problem
is more complex than was first believed. Apparently various tribes were
represented, and at present archaeologists are not in agreement as to
the cultures to which all of these groups should be assigned.[29] The
people of the Kayenta region were Anasazis, but in north-central and
northwestern parts of the state lived other people whose affiliations
are not yet known with certainty. It has been suggested that the best
known group may represent a branch of the Mogollon but it has not been
definitely assigned to this culture.
This group is called the _Sinagua_. It first occupied the area about the
San Francisco Mountains and, later, the Verde Valley. The characteristic
pottery is a brown utility ware of paddle-and-anvil manufacture, fired
in an oxidizing atmosphere. The surface is smoothed and sometimes
polished. Tree-ring dates have not been satisfactorily established for
the earliest period, but, on the basis of pottery finds, it has been
estimated that the San Francisco Mountain area was occupied between 500
and 700 A.D. by people who lived in round and rectangular pit houses
with center firepits and long sloping entrances to the east. Roofs were
of sloping poles covered with earth.
These were followed by fairly deep, timber pit houses. Walls were made
of a series of upright poles lashed together, with larger poles set in
corners to provide support for a roof platform. The entire structure was
covered with grass or bark, and earth was banked over it. These timber
pit houses at first had long sloping entrances to the east, but these
were later reduced to serve as ventilators, and entrance was through the
roof.
In locations unsuitable for the construction of pit houses, there were
also surface or near-surface houses. In places where drainage was poor
and the ground was boggy, they were built on artificially constructed
earth mounds some eight to twelve inches high. These have been called
platform or alcove houses. They are roughly rectangular and have a small
extension or alcove which was used as an entrance. The alcove may have
served a further purpose and supplied additional storage space, although
rectangular surface granaries made of timber seem to be associated with
these houses.
[Illustration: Fig. 57—Map of the Southwest showing probable areas
occupied by the Sinagua group and the Patayan Culture. Dotted area,
Sinagua; 1. Southern branch, 2. Northern branch. Hatched area,
Patayan; 3. Cohonina branch, 4. Prescott branch. (Based on maps by
Colton[18][19] and McGregor.[87])]
Sometime between 1046 and 1070 A.D., probably in 1066, a volcano fifteen
miles northeast of the present town of Flagstaff erupted. This volcano,
now known as Sunset Crater, covered some 800 square miles with a black
ash, and forced the early inhabitants to flee from their homes on the
lower slopes of the San Francisco Mountains. This seeming disaster,
however, was really a very fortunate occurrence, for the fine black
material strewn over the countryside by the volcano provided a mulch
which aided in conserving moisture and made the practice of agriculture
possible over a wider area.
[Illustration: Fig. 58—Montezuma Castle National Monument, Arizona.
(Courtesy National Park Service.)]
Not only did the original Sinagua people return to the area, but Hohokam
and Pueblo people moved in too, bringing with them their own special
traits. The Hohokam introduced their type of architecture and their
distinctive ball courts, and the Anasazi introduced the Pueblo
architecture which was adopted by the Sinaguans. At first, masonry was
used to replace timbers in pit houses, but in a very short time the
Sinagua people began building surface masonry dwellings and multi-roomed
pueblos became the rule.
During the years of the great drought of 1276 to 1299, many more people
left the area and moved farther south into the Hohokam territory where
some Sinaguans had already settled. Shortly after 1300 A.D. the
Flagstaff area was abandoned. Some people stayed in the Verde Valley and
built large pueblos. This southern branch is best known from the
impressive sites of Tuzigoot[13] and Montezuma Castle, now National
Monuments. Others may have gone farther south and mixed with the Hohokam
in the Gila Basin, and some may have moved to the Little Colorado area
and may be among the ancestors of the present Hopi Indians.