Tuzigoot National Monument
This is another one of the ancient pueblos located just minutes from where we were staying in Camp Verde. We really enjoyed our visit here. It was so peaceful and quiet.
Much like Montezuma’s Castle, this ancient pueblo was also built in the 1100’s by the Sinagua people. The entire structure consists of 110 rooms (quite impressive to see). It’s also one where you get up close and personal as your tour it – you can still walk into many of the rooms (The kids were AMAZED).
Side note – there were no doors in these dwellings. Acheologists believe that the Sinagua used ladders through holes in thatched roofs to enter. Also, this park (seemlingly randomly) uses a macaw as it’s emblem. When we asked about that, we learned that apparently a macaw feather was found when the original excavations were done (along with a variety of other shells, turquois and pottery) marking that this must have been an active stop on the trade routes. Very cool.
