ANT 351 Lecture 19: The Sinagua
The Sinagua
Introduction and Overview
-a resilient, resourceful, and culturally diverse people who inhabited the forests,
canyons, grasslands, and deserts of central and northern Arizona from about AD 600
through 1450
-created a unique cultural pattern during the more than eight centuries of their
existence, one not obviously derived from neighboring archaeological cultural “roots”
such as the Hohokam, Mogollon, or Ancestral Pueblo
-the Sinagua may represent a regional variant or “branch” of the Mogollon culture,
but there are enough material cultural differences to warrant a separate classification
-Sinagua were not a cultural “root”
-the Sinagua were one of several “Mountain Peoples” who created a distinctive lifeway
and had a developmental history that is in many ways separate from adjacent groups
- the Sinagua adapted to an environment that was changed by a major environmental
event: The eruption of the Sunset Crater volcano around AD 1064
-The eruption of the Sunset Crater Volcano forever changed the Sinagua landscape east
of the San Francisco Peaks through the addition of a cinder cone volcano and about
a half-billion tons of volcanic ash and cinders to the earth’s surface
-the volcanic ash had a beneficial effect for local farmers
-the century following the eruption of Sunset Crater is one of great cultural changes and
population growth for the Sinagua
General characteristics of the Sinagua:
-They inhabited the high elevation pine forests around the San Francisco Peaks as well as
the intermediate elevation deserts of the Verde Valley in central Arizona
-They first lived in deep pit houses, then later (after the eruption of Sunset Crater)
built large, multi-story pueblos (like Elden, Turkey Hill, and Wupatki pueblos)
- the Sinagua had colonized and successfully adapted to much of the western Mogollon
Rim, the San Francisco Mountain volcanic field, and the Verde Valley
- sprawling pueblo and pit house communities that house up to several hundred people
- made their living through a combination of hunting, gathering, and farming
-Sinagua mastered the art of dry farming maize, beans, and squash by building extensive
agricultural field systems cleverly designed to overcome drought
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oconstructed irrigation canals to water their fields
- they made small ponds to catch the rain so that it could be scooped into pottery jars for
storage
-conducted their rituals and ceremonies in a diverse set of structures, including circular
kivas, rectangular “community rooms,” and, at least for a time, in Hohokam-style ball
courts
-rectangular subterranean rooms that in many respects resembled the kivas
-a unique pottery tradition of brown, red, and buff pottery (Alameda Brown Ware), made
from local clay and manufactured with a paddle-and-anvil technique
-they never made significant amounts of decorated pottery
-perhaps the most successful traders of the prehistoric Southwest
-By the middle of the A.D. 1200s, most of the northern Sinagua left their homes in the
Flagstaff area and other parts of the western Mogollon, and concentrated into a few
very large pueblo towns on Anderson Mesa
-By the mid A.D. 1400s, the Sinagua chose to leave these towns
-many of the Sinagua went to even larger pueblos that were then being built on the Hopi
Mesas
o the Sinagua cultural pattern ceased to exist in any form recognizable by
archaeological methods
o becoming one of the many “Hisatsinom” (Hopi for “people of long ago”)
who contributed to the genetic and cultural makeup of the Hopi people
oAre regarded as being ancestral (at least in part) to the Zuni people as well
About the term “Sinagua”
-a Spanish term meaning "without water”
-The heartland of the Sinagua is often without any readily apparent source of surface
water
-Thus, rain and snowmelt are quickly absorbed into the surface geology
-In this country, there are only a few springs, a few seasonal drainages, and the Little
Colorado River. Other than this, surface water is quite scarce and it is understandable
why the Spanish would have referred to the San Francisco Mountains Volcanic Field as
the “Sierra Sin Agua.”
Environmental context for the Sinagua
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-. Their territory ranged from the bed of the Verde River, at around 3,000 feet above sea
level, to the summit of Mt. Humphreys, at more than 12,000 ft
-Contained about six of C. Hart Merriam’s major life zones
-It is assumed that much of the spatial diversity exhibited by the Sinagua -- in settlement
patterns, subsistence practices, craft specializations, and more -- was structured by
environmental differences
- divided into two spatial “sub-branches”
osouthern Sinagua, inhabiting the Verde Valley and other territory below the
Mogollon Rim
principal environmental feature was the Verde River
fed by a number of smaller drainages
oThe northern Sinagua, inhabiting the area north and east of the San Francisco
Peaks, between the Little Colorado River and the Mogollon Rim
a convenient line of separation between he rims would be the
Mongollon Rim
a truly awesome geological formation, taking the form of a sheer,
monolithic cliff towering hundreds of feet above surrounding
terraces and canyons
the Colorado Plateau -- was lifted upward and tilted to the north
- northern Sinagua lived in the country north of the Verde Valley, including parts of
the Colorado Plateau
- the Plateau is covered with a vast forest of Ponderosa pine, broken only by a few
scattered "parks" or treeless areas supporting stands of grasses and shrubs
o such parks were often focal points for Sinagua settlement, particularly in
the early part of the Sinagua cultural sequence
-the Colorado Plateau is carved by a number of canyons, which cut narrow clefts into
successive basalt, limestone, and sandstone bedrock formation
-each form distinctive microenvironmental zones, providing a rich diversity of natural
resources within a short distance
-Walnut Canyon, Loy Canyon, and Oak Creek Canyon, were chosen for the construction
of cliff dwellings and other structure
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Document Summary
They inhabited the high elevation pine forests around the san francisco peaks as well as the intermediate elevation deserts of the verde valley in central arizona. They first lived in deep pit houses, then later (after the eruption of sunset crater) built large, multi-story pueblos (like elden, turkey hill, and wupatki pueblos) the sinagua had colonized and successfully adapted to much of the western mogollon. Rim, the san francisco mountain volcanic field, and the verde valley sprawling pueblo and pit house communities that house up to several hundred people made their living through a combination of hunting, gathering, and farming. By the middle of the a. d. 1200s, most of the northern sinagua left their homes in the. Flagstaff area and other parts of the western mogollon, and concentrated into a few very large pueblo towns on anderson mesa. By the mid a. d. 1400s, the sinagua chose to leave these towns.
