Around the Citadel was another concentration of prehistoric Indians. Within a square mile there are more than 100 sites, varying in size from earth lodges to the larger pueblos. The Citadel itself, as yet unexcavated, is a fortified apartment house. Probably it was once two stories high and contained nearly 50 rooms. Its impregnable position on top of a small lava-capped mesa, overlooking a wide expanse of country, suggests that it served as a retreat during times of stress. Numerous loop-holes through the thick walls strengthen this impression. On the terraced slopes of the mesa are circles of boulders, the remains of more temporary homes. It is possible that the Citadel was built to guard a water supply that existed in the nearby limestone sinkhole.
Just below the Citadel is the small pueblo now called Nalakihu, a Hopi word for “House Standing Alone.” It, like Wupatki, was excavated and partially restored in 1934.
Other outstanding ruins in the monument are Wukoki ruin, another fortified apartment house; and Crack-in-the-Rock ruin near the Little Colorado River. To reach these more inaccessible ruins, it is necessary to make arrangements with the custodian in Wupatki ruin.
Abandonment
All of the ruins were abandoned in the 1200’s. This is accounted for, partly at least, by several factors—high winds sweeping the moisture-conserving cinder fields, climatic changes, and disease among the Indians. It brought to a close one of the unique chapters of Southwestern archeology. Probably among the present day Hopis the descendants of these people are to be found.
Drought and disease, possibly also attacks of nomad enemies, caused the abandonment by the Pueblos of most of northern Arizona during the thirteenth century. This region, the Tsegi region (Navajo National Monument and vicinity), and the region of Canyon de Chelly National Monument were deserted. The survivors from all these areas must have congregated at the Hopi mesas, where the springs never fail. Later, in the fourteenth century, the great pueblos of Chaves Pass and Homolovi (near Winslow, Ariz.) and of the Verde Valley (notably Tuzigoot and Montezuma Castle National Monuments) were abandoned, their people going northeast to swell the Hopi nation. When the Spaniards arrived in 1540 there were no pueblo villages occupied in Arizona save those of the Hopi, in Tusayan.
The Citadel
Tree-Ring Dates
The time of occupation of each ruin in this region is fairly well known, through the tree-ring method of dating prehistoric sites. The date of eruption of Sunset Crater is approximately known, from the dating by the tree-ring method of houses built before and after the cinder fall.