KAYENTA REGION
Largest of the Anasazi regions, Kayenta spreads across northern Arizona into southern Utah and
southwestern Colorado. Bounded on the south by the Grand Canyon and the Little Colorado River Valley, it extends up the Colorado River through Glen Canyon to the junction with the Fremont River. Some researchers call the western part of the region Virgin Kayenta, for the Virgin River in southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona.
(See the Virgin Kayenta Region Map and Kayenta
Region Map).
By A.D. 400, there were Anasazi pithouses on Black Mesa, near Navajo Mountain and around Tsegi Canyon. Later, the people moved to the Red Lake and Klethla Valley areas, but returned to Black Mesa about 975. Big population increases occurred there, as well as on the Shonto and Rainbow plateaus, Cummings Mesa and as far away as Wupatki, near Flagstaff, and the Grand Canyon. All were abandoned after 1150.
During the 13th century, the Anasazi returned to build cliff dwellings in the canyons in places like
Canyon de Chelly and Navajo National Monument. By 1250 a large population was concentrated in Canyon de Chelly's
Tsegi Canyon. About this time, Betatakin and Keet Seel were built in what is now Navajo National Monument. They were only briefly occupied before the Anasazi again left the area - this time for good - some time between 1280 and 1300.
Navajo National Monument
Navajo National Monument includes three major Anasazi sites: Betatakin,
Keet Seel and Inscription House. The second largest cliff dwelling in the United States, after Mesa Verde's Cliff Palace, Keet Seel was inhabited by the year 950 and redesigned beginning in 1272. At completion it featured 160 rooms, but they were all vacant by 1300 when their Horn
Clan occupants departed for Hopiland.
Betatakin construction lasted from 1269-1286. Situated in a huge cavern, 370 feet wide, 452 feet high, and 135 feet deep, it includes 135 rooms and was occupied by as few as 125 Snake Clan people for perhaps only 20 years. They, too, left by the end of the century and settled near the Hopi First Mesa. Thanks to the extraordinary overhang of the cliff above, Betatakin is one of the best-preserved ancient sites in the Southwest and an extraordinary example of the architecture and master craftsmanship of the Anasazi.
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
With the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona a great deal of the Anasazi legacy of this area is forever buried beneath the surface of Lake Powell, which stretches for miles up the Colorado River into southeastern Utah. Fortunately, an intensive archaeological project from 1956 to 1963, before the area was flooded, captured information and artifacts. In this area, occupied by Anasazi from about 900, the researchers counted
potsherds and evaluated other data to conclude that the Glen Canyon area was influenced more by the Kayenta Anasazi culture than that of Mesa Verde.
One of the tributary canyons, Moqui, was only partially inundated by the new lake, and represents an exception to the Kayenta balance of influence. Here, modern day scientists made a major discovery: one of the few intact
kivas ever found. Filled with dirt soon after abandonment, Red Ant Kiva was preserved in a relatively pristine state until it was dug up in 1961, and is unmistakably of Mesa Verde design. Excavation revealed classical kiva features, including a stone bench along the wall, stone supports for the roof, a ventilator shaft to let out the smoke from the fire and a slab of stone which acted as a deflector, preventing the fire from blowing across the floor. Red Ant Kiva, like many of the smaller sites throughout the Southwest, is not part of a protected park or monument and is gradually disintegrating and returning to Nature.
Canyon de Chelly
The earliest pithouse identified by tree-ring dating in Canyon de Chelly dates to A.D. 306. Soon after this structure was built, pithouses gave way to above-ground structures. By the middle of the 9th century the residents had the knowledge and skill to build masonry structures in and at the base of the canyon cliffs. Among the excellent examples of Chaco and Mesa Verde-influenced architecture are Antelope House, White House, Sliding rock and Mummy Cave. Agriculture was good here, and certainly better than some of the other Anasazi areas during droughts. Over several centuries, when the rains ceased and the earth dried up elsewhere, Canyon de Chelly was an oasis for drought refugees. As late as 1780 the Wild Mustard Clan relocated from Hopi to weather a drought. Many intermarried with the local Navajo. When the rains returned, the clan returned to Hopi First Mesa. Long after the last Anasazi departed,
Diné Navajo still farm the canyons.
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Manitou Cliff
Dwellings Museum, P.O. Box 272, Manitou Springs, Colorado 80829
GPS Address: 10 Cliff Dwellings Road
719-685-5242 / 800-354-9971
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