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[Bart]

Reaching across the centuries

Wupatki stands as monument to Anasazi, Sinagua and Cohina ( ancient) cultures

Ron Dungan
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 5, 2007 12:00 AM

WUPATKI NATIONAL MONUMENT -

     The sun sets on red walls. A breeze blows up from the valley below. These walls have stood since Anasazi hands built them hundreds of years ago on a mesa overlooking the Little Colorado River, a time when the people lived close to the land. The walls stand even though the people who lived here packed up and moved on centuries ago.

     We wander around what remains, stare at the rock art and ruins and imagine what life must have been like, but we have little in common with the ancient Anasazi, save a few hunter-gatherer ancestors somewhere deep in the gene pool.

     And this sunset, this light. To visit ruins is to see the Southwest as humans have seen it for more than a thousand years.

     We have walked seven miles along the edge of the Painted Desert on a ranger-guided trip at Wupatki National Monument. You can see archaeological sites by driving along the paved park road, but an overnight backpacking trip with rangers is the only way to see remote sites. The Park Service offers these trips on weekends in October and April, and would-be hikers must enter their names in a lottery. We were drawn for an October trip.

     Early on a Saturday morning, we strap on packs and march across dirt and cinders through hills covered in Mormon tea, princess plume and saltbush. The day is sunny and warm; in the distance, the San Francisco Peaks are dusted in the season's first snow.

     "What are we building today that will be around in 800 years?" park ranger Mary Blasing asks when we stop to look at a ruin.

     "Landfills," comes the answer. Nobody argues. We pass a few pottery shards around, return them to the dirt where we found them and push on.

     Three cultures met at Wupatki: the Anasazi, Sinagua and Cohonina. They traded among themselves, and everyone brought something unique, Blasing says. About 1220, they moved on. Why, archaeologists can't say.

     It's easy to fall into the trap of calling the Anasazi and other Puebloan groups "vanished" cultures. But they didn't vanish, they moved.

     Southern Sinaguans lived in the Verde Valley until about 1400, and archaeologists believe the Hopi have strong ancestral ties to the Wupatki area. This isn't as mysterious as the idea of a vanishing civilization, but it's closer to the truth.

     More ruins dot hilltops in the distance. Old Navajo hogans and sweat lodges, worn by years of wind and rain, lie along the trail. After hiking most of the day, we drop our packs, set up camp and climb up a mesa to Crack-in-Rock pueblo. We pore over petroglyphs and go up to the next level.

Just a theory

     We climb through an opening in the sandstone, which is what gives Crack-in-Rock its name. The opening is about 20 feet long, the sandstone's edges have been smoothed over time, although the rock is still rough to the touch.

     One archaeologist has proposed that this is where Kachina culture began, Blasing says. On top of the pueblo is a plaza divided in two. It is a perfect place to show emergence and to divide dancers from an audience.

     "It's a theory, but it's just that," she said.

     When the sun falls, the walls turn red and shadows cover the land. We go back to camp and eat dinner as darkness descends. Our food is bought from strangers, most of it is processed far from here. Our gear was probably made overseas. But backpacking brings us to remote places that stir the imagination.

     When we gather around a campfire, we sense a kinship with the people who came before. The things we see and feel, the sunset, the cold night, are the same. We draw closer to the fire. We talk about food, weather, friends and family, about those who have lived here before, talk probably not so different from nighttime conversations thousands of years ago.

Defiling the past

What's left of Anasazi civilization deserves our respect and attention. Archaeological sites have taken a lot of abuse over the years. Blasing says a beam from a kiva near here was torn out and used to fuel a still. Settlers ran over unexcavated ruins with their wagons, they could tell by changes in the way the wheels sounded on the ground.

     Too many visitors can be hard on Native American sites. Archaeologists plead with the public, repeating what common sense should tell us, that if everyone takes just one pottery chip they'll all be gone soon. If everyone leans against a ruin wall, it will break down over time. Scratching your name on a rock-art panel spoils it.

     "These are irreplaceable resources," Blasing said.

Even an effort to toughen antiquities laws in 1979 had little effect on how people behave, she said:

     "For the first couple of years there was even more destruction because people said, 'Get it while you can. "

     Archaeologists spell out the rules, but one gets the sense that at Wupatki, they're tired of spelling out the rules. Rangers closely monitor the behavior of hikers on these treks, and we're told that the hikes may be further restricted or even discontinued in the future.

Know before you go

     The Park Service attracts its share of people unfamiliar with backcountry travel, and the trail description warns of the dangers and difficulty of the trail-less hike. If you're out of shape or aren't a backpacker, take the warnings seriously. A seven-mile hike with a pack can wear on you. Rain, snow, too much sun or not enough water can make those miles a struggle.

     Experienced backpackers should be fine if they're in reasonable shape and pack light. There's no water on the trail or at the camping destination, so you must carry at least two gallons. Our group, which numbered nine including Blasing and her assistant, was well-prepared and the weather was nice. Complaints were few, other than the usual stiff joints.

     The hike back to our vehicles takes us to more mesas covered with rock art and we're left to ponder its meaning. We walk on, puffs of Apache plume bathed in sunlight, and by the time we reach our trucks the snow on the peaks has begun to melt. We part ways and drive, scattering across the Southwest, the wheels turning, bringing us back to modern life as the sun drops, the air cools and a wind blows across the hills.

Wupatki National Monument

     This park, which preserves significant remnants of Native American culture, isn't just for backpackers.

     Visitors can explore five sets of ruins, including the park's centerpiece, Wupatki Pueblo. This 100-room pueblo is adjacent to the visitors center, which has exhibits, a bookstore and paths to the nearby ball court. The path to see everything covers about half a mile.

     The other pueblos can be reached by driving a 13-mile stretch of the park road. Short trails leave from parking areas, allowing visitors to walk on and among the ruins. Most of the trails are flat, but the Doney Mountain Trail heads uphill for half a mile.

Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument

     The adjacent Sunset Crater monument offers a chance to explore the aftermath of huge volcanic explosions that rocked the area between 1040 and 1100.

     Hike the easy Lava Flow Trail, a 1-mile loop, to see the hardened (and sharp!) black lava up close. The Lenox Crater Trail, a steep, 1-mile round trip, takes hikers up a cinder cone for a view of Sunset Crater and the San Francisco Peaks. The visitor center has exhibits, a bookstore and picnic facilities.

     Make a day of visiting the two monuments by driving the 36-mile paved road that links them. There are places to get out to enjoy the view of mountains, ancient volcanic eruptions and the Painted Desert in the distance.

     To visit the monuments: Both are open from sunrise to sunset daily. The visitors centers are open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily except Christmas. Admission is $5 per person (free for age 15 and younger), good for both parks and seven days.

     Getting there: The monuments are about 175 miles north of central Phoenix. Take Interstate 17 to Flagstaff, then take Interstate 40 east to U.S. 89 (Exit 201). Head north on U.S. 89 and turn right at the sign for Sunset Crater Volcano-Wupatki National Monument. The Sunset Crater visitors center is 4 miles down the park road. The Wupatki center is 23 miles down the park road.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/arizonaliving/articles/0105wupatki0105.html

[Baja Bush Pilot]

Fall trip - Wupatki...

[Baja Bush Pilot]

Fall Wupatki trip:

I noticed lots of juniper in the area and mentioned it.  Our ranger guide told us the inhabitants had known juniper berries were good for urinary disorders but instead of asking her how she knew that, I told her the British had found a much better use for them.  She had no idea...

Then I got to thinking.  Quinine for the malaria, limes for the scurvy, and now juniper berries for any urinary problems.  Who would have thought?

[Bart]

There you go, the Baja Berry Farm, you can export juni-fruit internationally. Who needs FedEx, you got your own plane.  Very nice pics, thanks for sharing them.

They mention something about what is being built now that won't be left standing in 800 years. It needn't be that way. We have the material and technology to affordably (costs the same or less) build structures that will easily last millennia. No wood is used in it's construction, and they are highly heat/cool efficient, off grid if you like too. We choose not to build them. Hurricane, nuclear blast, earthquake, fire, tornado and tsunami proof  are all standard features.

If these were the majority of structures being built today , the day would come when no more building would ever be needed.

- Bart

[Baja Bush Pilot]

Bart,

What method of construction is that?

[Bart]

That would be the thin shell monolithic concrete dome. While the basic unit is just plain ugly, they can be quite attractive.

-Bart

[Baja Bush Pilot]

Bart,

Uglier than just plain ugly but I like them.  A cross between a cave and a bunker.  Man cook with fire.  And my wife says I can live in one if it's small enough and back far enough so she can't see it.  I can see a downside to that.

There is one about a mile from us.  I think you can make it out on Google Earth on Atex Ct in Ramona, CA.  We've had occasion to go in it and even though it was designed to be attractive it's still so ugly the neighbors have been trying to get it removed for years.  The inside of the dome looks like it was dripping in places before it dried.  A bit spooky.

[Bart]

That's the place I would want to be when a fire comes over the hill so fast there is nowhere to go, not in some 'pretty' home. There are a lot of ways to resolve the aesthetic issues, the main obstacle there is most likely money.

- Bart

[Baja Bush Pilot]

Excellent point.  Our neighborhood was ground zero of the Cedar Fire in October, 03.  We lost 26 'pretty' homes within a mile or so of us (about 3000 burned in the county) despite all our efforts to save them.  That particular home didn't need nearly as much protection as the rest.

The new theory for new neighborhoods is 'shelter in place', with homes being more fire resistant and more 'defensible space' around them, and less dependant on evacuations.  Your monolithic concrete domes would be an excellent choice, but as a practical matter I doubt any developer would build them en masse, and that's the way most homes are built.  At least around here.

After living through the fire I wondered how the local Indians could have survived fires like that in ancient times.  I could see it at Wupatki but there were no such structures here.

Then there's the other end of the spectrum;  people who were allowed to build using wooden shake roofs.



 

[Bart]

Nice pics, thanks. I can't imagine living under that threat. The only fire insurance on a dome is for contents.

"doubt any developer would build them en masse, and that's the way most homes are built." They learned to build the stick houses en masse, no reason they can't learn to build these the same way, it is simply learning another way to build. The hard part of it is changing the way everyone thinks.

- Bart

REFERENCES ON THE AMERICAN INDIAN USE OF FIRE IN ECOSYSTEMS

 Gerald W. Williams, Ph.D. Sociologist and Social Historian USDA Forest Service,
Pacific Northwest Region (References appended by William Reed, Boise NF and Sandra Morris, Region 1)

August 23, 1994

 Evidence for the purposeful use of fire by American Indians (also termed Native Americans or First People) in many ecosystems has been difficult to document and substantiate. By the time that European explorers, fur traders, and settlers arrived in many parts of North America, a number of native populations were on the verge of collapse because of new diseases accidentally introduced and widespread epidemics against which the Indians had no immunity. In addition, warfare (with old enemies and new immigrants), new technologies (iron and firearms), change of economy (to fur trading and sheep grazing), different food sources (farming and federal handouts), and treaties (restricting or removing Indians from traditional lands) all had severe negative consequences on native cultures.

   By the late 1800s, many native languages were becoming extinct and knowledge of the "old" ways was dying. Only a handful of ethnographers and anthropologists (many employed by the Smithsonian Institution and/or the American Bureau of Ethnology) felt the need to record the Indian language and lifestyle before the last of many tribes disappeared. Even fewer of these researchers asked questions about the native peoples deliberately changing ecosystems. Yet there is a growing body of literature (ethnobotany) about Indians using native plants for food, medicine, and ceremonial uses, as well as plants/shrubs/trees for food, clothing, shelter, and tools.

   In addition, there is some documentation of tribes changing water flow (canals), practicing farming and grazing (sheep, cattle, horses), and building structures. These and other purposeful changes to "natural" ecosystems remains to be documented in a future paper. Accounts by explorers many times noted huge burned over areas with many dead trees "littering" the landscape, without knowledge of whether the fires were natural or Indian caused. Written accounts by early settlers and fur trappers remain incomplete although many noted that there were open prairies with tall grasses in almost every river basin.

   The abundance of rich prairie land (ready for the plow without having to clear the land) was one of the primary reasons for heading West. At least through the turn of the 20th century, settlers often used fire to clear the land of brush and trees in order to make new farm land for crops and new pastures for grazing animals (the North American variation of slash and burn technology), while others deliberately burned to reduce the threat of major fires (the so-called "light burning" technique). Also, since the uplands were still in government ownership, many settlers adjacent to the public domain often either deliberately set fires or allowed fire to "run free."

   Also, sheep and cattle owners, as well as shepherds and cowboys, often set the alpine meadows and prairies on fire at the end of the grazing season to burn the dried grasses, reduce brush, and kill young trees, as well as encourage the growth of new grasses for the following spring and summer grazing season. Generally, the American Indians burned parts of the ecosystems in which they lived to promote a diversity of habitats, especially increasing the "edge effect," which gave the Indians greater security and stability to their lives. Their use of fire was different from white settlers who burned to create greater uniformity in ecosystems.

   In general, during the pre-settlement period, Indian caused fires are often interpreted as either purposeful or accidental (campfires left or escaped smoke signalling). Most primary or secondary accounts relate to the purposeful burning to establish or keep "mosaics, resource diversity, environmental stability, predictability, and the maintenance of ecotones (Lewis 1985: 77)." These purposeful fires by almost every American Indian tribe differ from natural fires by the seasonality of burning, frequency of burning certain areas, and the intensity of the fire (Lewis 1985).

   Indian tribes tended to burn during different times of the year, sometimes in the early spring or summer, while at other times in the fall after the hunt and berry picking season was over. Hardly ever did they purposely burn during mid-summer and early fall when the forests were most vulnerable to catastrophic wildfire. Often the Indians burned selected areas yearly, every other year, or intervals as long as five years. Steve Pyne put much of the Indian use of fire into perspective as he reported that: the modification of the American continent by fire at the hands of Asian immigrants was the result of repeated, con- trolled, surface burns on a cycle of one to three years, broken by occasional holocausts from escape fires and periodic conflagrations during times of drought.

   Even under ideal circumstances, accidents occurred: signal fires escaped and campfires spread, with the result that valuable range was untimely scorched, buffalo driven away, and villages threat- ened. Burned corpses on the prairie were far from rare. So extensive were the cumulative effects of these modifications that it may be said that the general consequence of the Indian occupation of the New World was to replace forested land with grassland or savannah, or, where the forest persisted, to open it up and free it from underbrush. Most of the impenetrable woods encountered by explorers were in bogs or swamps from which fire was excluded; naturally drained landscape was nearly everywhere burned. Conversely, almost wherever the European went, forests followed.

   The Great American Forest may be more a product of settlement than a victim of it (Pyne 1982: 79-80). What follows is list of documented reasons for one change to ecosystems - that of intentional burning. This activity has greatly modified landscapes across the continent in many subtle ways that have often been interpreted as "natural" by the early explorers, trappers, and settlers. Even many research scientists who study presettlement forest and savannah fire evidence tend to attribute most prehistoric fires as being caused by lightning (natural) rather than humans. This problem arises because there was no systematic record keeping of these fire events. Thus the interaction of people and ecosystems is down played or ignored, which often leads to the conclusion that people are a problem in "natural" ecosystems rather than the primary force in their development.

   There are at least 11 documented reasons for American Indian ecosystem burning:

Hunting -

   Burning of large areas to divert big game (deer, elk, bison) into small unburned areas for easier hunting and provide open prairies/meadows (rather than brush and tall trees) where animals (including ducks and geese) like to dine on fresh, new grass sprouts. Fire was also used to drive game into impoundments, narrow chutes, into rivers or lakes, or over cliffs where the animals could be killed. Some tribes used a surrounding fire to drive rabbits into small areas where they could be easily killed for food. The Seminoles even practiced hunting alligators with fire.

Crop management -

   Burning used to harvest crops, especially tarweed, yucca, greens, and grass seed collection. In addition, fire was used to prevent abandoned fields from growing over and to clear areas for planting corn and tobacco. One report of fire being used to bring rain (overcome drought). Clearing ground of grass and brush to facilitate the gathering of acorns. Fire used to roast mescal and obtain salt from grasses. Improve growth and yields - Fire used to improve grass for big game grazing (deer, elk, antelope, bison, and later horses), camas reproduction, seed plants, berry plants (especially raspberries, strawberries, and huckleber- ries), and tobacco.

Fireproof areas -

   Some indications that fire was used to protect certain medicine plants by clearing an area around the plants, as well as to fire- proof areas, especially around settlements, from destructive wildfires. Fire was also used to keep prairies open from encroaching shrubs and trees.

Insect collection -

   Using a "fire surround" to collect & roast crickets, grasshoppers, Pandora moths in pine forests, and collect honey from bees. Pest management - Burning used to reduce insects (black flies & mosquitos) and rodents, as well as kill mistletoe that invaded mesquite and oak trees.

 Warfare -

   Use of fire to deprive the enemy of hiding places in tall grasses and underbrush in the woods for defense, as well as using fire for offensive reasons.

Economic Extortion -

   Some tribes also used fire for a "scorched-earth" policy to deprive settlers and fur traders from easy access to big game and thus benefitting from being "middlemen" in supplying pemmican and jerky.

 Clearing areas for travel -

   Fires started to clear trails for travel through areas that were overgrown with grass or brush. Fire helped with providing better visibility through forests and brush lands.

 Felling trees -

   Felling trees by boring two intersecting holes with hot charcoal dropped in one hole, smoke exiting from the other. Another way was to simply kill the tree at the base by surrounding it with fire. Fire also used to kill trees for dry kindling (willows) and firewood (aspen).

Clearing Riparian Areas -

   Fire used to clear brush from riparian areas and marshes for new grasses and tree sprouts (to benefit beaver, muskrats, moose, and waterfowl). (references at link)

http://wings.buffalo.edu/anthropology/Documents/firebib.txt

[Baja Bush Pilot]

"They learned to build the stick houses en masse, no reason they can't learn to build these the same way, it is simply learning another way to build. The hard part of it is changing the way everyone thinks."

It's not a supply problem.   With mass construction it might even be cheaper to build houses that way.  The problem is demand.  As much as I'd like to build a house that way, I'd rather not go through the rest of my life sans female companionship. 

Many of what are considered to be native plants in this area are fire based flora.  They can only propagate by being burned, so obviously fire has been a part of the local ecology for a very long time.  I have my doubts that sort of recurrence has been from naturally started fires, assuming lightning is the most culprit for naturally starting a fire.  Thunder storms and lightning don't often occur in southern California during the weather pattern responsible for driving the big fires.

When a high pressure system moves in over the high country in the four corners area, the clockwise winds, heated by  compression and and having the moisture squeezed out of them as they descend, can come through here out of the east at hurricane force plus.  The temperature is often near 100 F with humidity sometimes below 5%.  It will go on for days and days.  But during those the skys are cloudless with unlimited visibility, not to mention T-stormless. (It will look like the perfect day to fly but don't do it unless you don't mind feeling like a tennis shoe in a dryer.)

That wind can drive a fire from the edge of the desert to the ocean, about 40 miles here, in a day or so.  The Kumeyaay Indians here claim they burned it once a year, no doubt for some of the reasons listed above.  It's been done for thousands of years and now the ecology of this region depends on it.

Fire departments occasionally use prescribed burns (they used to call them 'controlled burns' until they realized they aren't always controllable) to prevent too much fuel from accumulating.  And that is exactly what the plants want to reproduce and produce more fuel.  That can't be done over a large area for obvious reasons.

I'm guessing the environment here is highly modified, intentionally, and has been for thousands of years.  Probably Wupatki as well.  I wish we had a written history like that of the eastern hemisphere.     


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