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Identification:
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Preferred Structure Name:
| Rockshelter with Masonry Rooms
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Structure Number:
| AZ O:5:89
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Other Structure Name(s):
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Other Structure Name(s)
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1.
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NA 1272
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2.
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88A - 57
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3.
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MOCA - 000064
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Park:
| Montezuma Castle National Monument
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Historic District:
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Historic District
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1.
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Montezuma Castle National Monument Well Unit
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Structure State:
| Arizona
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Structure County:
| Yavapai
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Region:
| Intermountain
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Cluster:
| Southwest
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Administrative Unit:
| Montezuma Castle National Monument
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LCS ID:
| 006588
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Historical Significance:
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National Register Status:
| Entered - Documented
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National Register Date:
| 11/20/1978
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National Historic Landmark?:
| No
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Significance Level:
| Contributing
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Short Significance Description:
| Feature of Montezuma Castle National Monument: Well Unit, nationally significant under NR Criteria C & D. Period of Significance: A.D. 1125-1400. Remains of a rockshelter with two masonry rooms that represents the Honanki – Tuzigoot phases of Southern Sinagua.
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Long Significance Description:
| This rock shelter with two masonry rooms in the west rim of Montezuma Well is a feature of the Montezuma Castle National Monument: Well Unit, which is significant at the national level under National Register Criterion C for it embodies the characteristics of a type and period and under National Register Criterion D because it has yielded, and is likely to yield further, information important in prehistory.
The original construction and occupation of this site represents the Honanki-Tuzigoot phases of the Southern Sinagua culture. It was built and occupied during Honanki phase (circa AD 1125) through Tuzigoot phase (AD 1300-1400). The site was abandoned sometime after AD 1400. Period of Significance ranges approximately from AD 1125 to 1400.
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Construction Period:
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Construction Period:
| Prehistoric
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Chronology:
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Physical Event
| Begin Year
| Begin Year AD/BC
| End Year
| End Year AD/BC
| Designer
| Designer Occupation
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1.
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Built
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1125
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AD
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1400
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AD
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So Sinagua, Honanki-Tuzigoot Period
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Other
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2.
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Stabilized
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1960
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AD
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1960
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AD
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NPS
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Other
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3.
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Stabilized
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1984
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AD
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1984
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AD
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NPS
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Other
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Function and Use:
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Primary Historic Function:
| Multiple Dwelling
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Primary Current Use:
| Ruin
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Structure Contains Museum Collections?:
| No
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Other Functions or Uses:
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Other Function(s) or Use(s)
| Historic or Current
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1.
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Ruin
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Historic
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2.
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Exhibit
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Current
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Physical Description:
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Structure Type:
| Ruin
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Volume:
| 2,000 - 20,000 cubic feet
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Square Feet:
| 350
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Material(s):
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Structural Component(s)
| Material(s)
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1.
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Walls
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Stone
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Short Physical Description:
| 2 room rockshelter located in a long alcove in the west rim of Montezuma Well. A) has 3 stone walls, 1 window, 1 doorway. B) has 3 stone walls and 1 doorway. Walls are constructed of limestone and mud mortar with soot-stained plaster on the interior. Roofs are the top of the natural opening.
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Long Physical Description:
| A two room rockshelter located in long natural alcove in the west rim of Montezuma Well. It is comprised of two free standing rooms in close association with each other. The first room to the south is labeled “A”, while the room in the same alcove to the north is labeled “B”. Each is comprised of three stone walls on the north, east and south elevations. The rear wall is the back wall of the natural opening. There is a doorway in the east elevation of both rooms. A second opening is in the south elevation of room A. The walls are constructed of unshaped limestone blocks with a soil based mortar. The interior of the structure contains standing architecture and the original soot-stained plaster on the walls and vents near the roofline. The roofs of the structures are the top of the natural opening in the rock face.
The National Park Service built an unshaped limestone wall in the alcove between the two rooms to prevent injury to overly curious visitors attempting to access room B along a precariously friable limestone ledge. Neither room is open to the public but can be closely viewed from the Well observation area.
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