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Identification:
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Preferred Structure Name:
| Tuzigoot Ruins
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Structure Number:
| NA 8700
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Other Structure Name(s):
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Other Structure Name(s)
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| No records. |
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Park:
| Tuzigoot National Monument
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Historic District:
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Historic District
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1.
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Tuzigoot National Monument Archeological District
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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:
| 001348
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Historical Significance:
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National Register Status:
| Entered - Documented
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National Register Date:
| 10/23/1987
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National Historic Landmark?:
| No
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Significance Level:
| National
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Short Significance Description:
| Primary feature of Tuzigoot National Monument Archeological District, nationally significant under NR Criteria C & D. Period of Significance: A.D. 1000-1400. Remains of a large pueblo that represents late Camp Verde – Tuzigoot phases of Southern Sinagua. Excavated/rebuilt 1933-1934 (CWA Project).
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Long Significance Description:
| Tuzigoot Ruin, which is the remains of a large pueblo, is the primary feature of Tuzigoot National Monument Archeological District. This archeological district 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 Camp Verde to Tuzigoot phases of the Southern Sinagua culture. It was built and occupied during the Southern Sinagua Camp Verde phase circa AD 1000. There were expansions made during the Honanki phase, AD 1200-1300, and, later, during the Tuzigoot phase, AD 1300-1400. The site was abandoned sometime after AD 1400. Period of Significance ranges approximately from AD 1000 to 1400.
The first archeological description of the site was performed by Earl Jackson in 1933 during a reconnaissance survey of the Middle Verde Valley. In the fall of 1933, this site was a pioneer in the implementation of Federal Emergency Relief fieldwork. The excavation and stabilization of Tuzigoot Ruin was undertaken by Louis R. Caywood and Edward H. Spicer, from October 31, 1933 to June 1, 1934 with the Civil Works Administration providing the labor and funding. They named the site after the Tonto Apache name for Peck's Lake. The site is also important due to the fact its artifacts remain to be the type assemblage for the Tuzigoot phase.
From the mid 1930s to the present there have been numerous efforts made to rebuild and stabilize rooms in the ruin. Most notable of these efforts are the early CWA reconstruction from 1933-1934, Roland Richert's 1953 stabilization work, other stabilization efforts by Joel Shiner and Charles Voll in 1961 and 1964, respectively.
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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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1000
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AD
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1425
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AD
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Southern Sinagua
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Other
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2.
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Stabilized
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1933
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AD
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1936
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AD
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CWA/WPA
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Other
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3.
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Stabilized
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1942
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AD
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1953
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AD
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Richert, Roland
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Other
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4.
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Altered
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1942
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AD
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1942
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AD
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NPS
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Other
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5.
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Altered
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1950
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AD
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NPS - Interpretive Trail added
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Other
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6.
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Stabilized
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1961
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AD
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1962
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AD
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Shiner, Joel
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Other
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7.
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Stabilized
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1964
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AD
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1964
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AD
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Voll, Charles
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Other
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8.
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Stabilized
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1966
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AD
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1966
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AD
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Cummings, Calvin (NPS-RSU)
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Other
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9.
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Stabilized
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1968
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AD
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1968
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AD
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Mayer, Martin & Waggoner,William
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Other
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10.
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Altered
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1983
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AD
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1986
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AD
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NPS - Drainage System
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Other
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11.
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Stabilized
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1990
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AD
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1991
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AD
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NPS
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Other
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12.
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Altered
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1992
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AD
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1992
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AD
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NPS
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Other
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13.
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Stabilized
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1993
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AD
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1994
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AD
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NPS
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Other
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14.
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Stabilized
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1997
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AD
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1997
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AD
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NPS
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Other
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15.
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Stabilized
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1999
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AD
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2005
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AD
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NPS - Vanishing Treasures
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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:
| Exhibit
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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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Village Site
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Historic
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3.
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Grave/Burial
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Historic
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4.
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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:
| 20,000 - 2,000,000 cubic feet
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Square Feet:
| 15848
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Material(s):
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Structural Component(s)
| Material(s)
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1.
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Foundation
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Stone
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2.
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Walls
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Stone
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3.
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Framing
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Wood
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Short Physical Description:
| Pueblo built of limestone/sandstone block & river rock in mortar. 152 x 30m w/ 1 acre of floor space; w/ 86 ground floor rooms & 15 possible 2nd story rooms. Terraced central room block, multistory w/ reconstructed ceilings, stairway to roof. Room blocks to N, S & E are ground floor w/ walls to 3'.
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Long Physical Description:
| Tuzigoot Ruin was built on a limestone hill overlooking the Verde River. The maximum dimensions are 152 meters north-south by 30 meters east-west; there is approximately 1 acre of floor space. This large pueblo is built in a terrace-like fashion to conform to the contours of the hill. This structure has 86 ground floor rooms with 15 possible second-story rooms in one main roomblock and four smaller noncontiguous roomblocks. The second-story rooms are in the central portion of the main, and largest, roomblock.
The central roomblock is 100 meters long and includes Group I, II, III, and V, and is built in a terraced fashion. The northern roomblock, Group IV, is built across a patio from the central room block and another 10 rooms, Group VI, lie to the east on a flat surface. Several of the Group V rooms form a roomblock just south of the central unit. The two Group VII rooms are 150 meters south of these Group V rooms.
The walls were built of native river boulders/cobbles of basalt, sandstone and limestone as well as irregular unshaped blocks of limestone from outcrops on Tuzigoot Hill, all set in mud mortar. Large limestone blocks were often used as wall foundations. The walls were usually 2 stones wide with a rubble core. In most cases walls were abutted rather than joined. They range from 0.5 meters to 1.2 meters in width with an average width of 0.56 meters. After excavation, the wall heights ranged from 0.6 to 3.6 meters high, with most walls 0.6 to 0.9 meters high. Room sizes range from 6 to 45 square meters. The smallest rooms appear to be the earliest, with room size increasing over time.
Earliest construction is from the Camp Verde phase circa AD 1000 with continued abandonment and rebuilding phases through the Honanki phase AD 1200-1300 to the end of the Tuzigoot phase circa AD 1400.
Floor features included hearths, ollas set into the floor and caches. Infant burials beneath floors were fairly common, while adult were commonly buried in trash deposits on the ridge slope. Roofs were viga-latilla construction and entry was usually from openings in the roof.
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