Tonto National Monument

While we were in the Roosevelt Lake area we took a 4 hour hike to see the Upper Cliff dwellings at Tonto National Monument. This hike is only allowed with a park ranger. There were 15 in our group.

Built in the mid 11th Century, this village was part of a vast multi-cultural network and represents some of the last Salado cliff dwellings in the Southwest. 

Occupied year-round, this east facing cave provided morning sun as well as afternoon shade and is less than a mile from a constantly flowing spring. The view is spectacular from the caves. We looked down on Roosevelt Lake which was formed by damming up the Salt River. Ancient people would have viewed a large fertile valley that they used or growing corn, beans and cotton. 

Masonry walls were built from the stones found on the cave floor. Stones were stacked in about 16 inches tall sections and covered with adobe plaster. When that section was dry another section would be added until the appropriate height was attained. Second and third stories were built using straight Sycamore logs obtained near the springs and dead cactus ribs or reeds for the cross sections, and then covered with adobe. 

The occupants inside would sleep on woven mats. Fire blackened walls tell us that these homes would have been dark and smoky. Likely, large amounts if time would have been spent in open areas, on rooftops or in the surrounding environment. 

Daily tasked would include: farming, hunting, gathering water and food, grinding seeds, foraging, preparing meets, weaving fabrics from cactus fibres and cotton, and story telling.  Grinding corn, beans or mesquite pods into flour would have been a seemingly unending task. Done using a stones called a metate.