More Ruins

Arizona seems to be the center of Native American ruins.  I’ve been wondering if other tribes built permanent stone homes or only in this area.  I’ve seen mounds in other states with traces of homes, but not really using stones for walls.  Maybe it’s not something you notice until you’re a tourist.

 Anyhow, we visited Tuzigoot National Monument.  This was the remains of a Sinagua village used between 1125 and 1400.  The rooms were bigger here than the other places we visited and we saw no windows.  It's interesting to compare answers to questions to rangers.  We asked why the rooms were bigger and why there were no windows.  One thought is was because the materials were different (limestone) while another felt it was a way of bragging ("my house is bigger than yours").  One said the homes didn't have windows, the other said they did have windows but the walls had fallen down in that portion.  I guess there are different ways to interpret the same remains.

One thing I thought was cool is that argillite (also called pipestone) is found in this area.  Apparently there are only a few places in the U.S. that has pipestone deposits.  The Boy Scout camp that my son went to (and I went to one year) has a pipestone award.  It’s a big deal and requires doing quite a few things.  Not everyone get the award.  I earned a first year pipestone while my son has a five year pipestone.  Ah, memories.