The two beams at the rear are original roof beams that have been in the ruin almost 800 years. Above the beams once lay the cross pieces forming the next layer, on top of which was placed the mud or clay to complete the roof.
The bins below the beams were used for storage of farm products and other foods gathered from wild plants.
The T-shaped doorway through which you entered is quite common in Southwestern ruins. One probable reason for this shape was that in the winter a blanket, a skin, or a mat could be hung over the larger opening, leaving the lower, smaller one free to admit fresh air.
17. These three small rooms
have been excavated. They were originally covered by a dirt roof at about the height of a man. The entrance to these rooms, as well as all other ground floor rooms in the pueblo, was through a hatchway in the roof, which also served as an escape for the smoke from the firepit.
In the end room is another example of a ventilator opening going through the wall, and a vertical slab (deflector) placed to keep the draft of fresh air from blowing firepit sparks around the room.
This is the last stop on the trail. On your way back, please return this booklet, or, you may purchase it for 15 cents.
EVERY LITTER BIT HURTS
GENERAL INFORMATION
Sunset Crater, 18 miles (29km) south of here, is the youngest of 400 volcanoes located in the Flagstaff region. It is one of the few prehistoric volcanoes in the world that we can accurately date, (another being Mt. Mazama, where now is Crater Lake, Oregon), and one of the few that had such a profound effect upon people living in the area. When it erupted it covered almost 800 square miles, (2080km²) including the Wupatki area, with fine, black volcanic ash. This eruption took place before the masonry pueblos in this region were built.