The Palatki Heritage Site is an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

and park located in the

Coconino National Forest The Coconino National Forest is a 1.856-million acre (751,000 ha) United States National Forest located in northern Arizona in the vicinity of Flagstaff. Originally established in 1898 as the "San Francisco Mountains National Forest Reserve", th ...

, near

Sedona Sedona is a city that straddles the county line between Coconino and Yavapai counties in the northern Verde Valley region of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2010 census, its population was 10,031. It is within the Coconino National Fo ...

, in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, United States. In the

Hopi language Hopi (Hopi: ) is a Uto-Aztecan language spoken by the Hopi people (a Puebloan group) of northeastern Arizona, United States. The use of Hopi has gradually declined over the course of the 20th century. In 1990, it was estimated that more than 5,0 ...

''Palatki'' means 'red house'.

History

;Cliff dwellings The Palatki site has a set of ancient

cliff dwelling In archaeology, cliff dwellings are dwellings formed by using niches or caves in high cliffs, and sometimes with excavation or additions in the way of masonry. Two special types of cliff dwelling are distinguished by archaeologists: the cliff ...

s in the red

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

cliffs, built from 1100 to 1400 CE by the Sinagua people of the

Ancestral Puebloans The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Anasazi, were an ancient Native American culture that spanned the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, a ...

. The cliff dwellings were built under south-facing overhangs for shelter and winter sun. The Sinagua people planted crops and made pottery in the area. Palatki and

Honanki The Honanki Heritage Site is a cliff dwelling and rock art site located in the Coconino National Forest, about west of Sedona, Arizona. The Sinagua people of the Ancestral Puebloans, and ancestors of the Hopi people, lived here from about . Th ...

, another nearby archaeological site, had the largest cliff dwellings in the Red Rock formation area from . Palatki consists of two separate

pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...

s, suggesting two family or

kin group __NOTOC__ Kin usually refers to kinship and family. Kin or KIN may also refer to: Culture and religion * Otherkin, people who identify as not entirely human *Kinism, a white supremacist religious movement * Kinh, the majority ethnic group of ...

s may have lived here, one in each pueblo. The circular shield-like

pictograph A pictogram, also called a pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto, and in computer usage an icon, is a graphic symbol that conveys its meaning through its pictorial resemblance to a physical object. Pictographs are often used in writing and gr ...

s above the eastern pueblo have been interpreted by some archaeologists as being a kin or

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...

symbol.Palatki and Honanki Ruins
, handout by US Forest Service. This article incorporates

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

text from this and other

US government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

documents. ;Rock art There are pictographs and

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

s at the Palatki site, including some that predate the cliff dwellings. Many of the pictographs on the rock walls are from the Sinagua. However, those created by peoples of the

Archaic period in North America In the classification of the archaeological cultures of North America, the Archaic period in North America, taken to last from around 8000 to 1000 BC in the sequence of North American pre-Columbian cultural stages, is a period defined by the ''a ...

include some of the more abstract pictograph symbols and drawings that are 3,000 to 6,000 years old, and some of the petroglyphs, estimated to be 5,000 to 6,000 years old. ;Archaeology Visitation to the site for over a century has caused degradation of the archaeological elements. It was begun by 19th century Euro-American settlers, with little

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

awareness for the area. Photographs from the early 1900s show that an estimated 70 to 90 percent of the original structures have disappeared since then.

Access

The Palatki Heritage Site is open to visitors seven days a week from 9:30am to 3:00pm. The site is acessible by guided tours only, with the last tour at 2:00 PM. Reserve a tour at Recreation.gov. There are two trails in the park, one to view the Sinagua cliff dwellings, and a second to view the pictographs and petroglyphs. The tour includes both sites, for a total distance of 1 mile. The trails are not handicapped accessible. Purchase of a Red Rock Parking Pass is also needed for park entry.

Gallery

Image:Palatki sinagua indian dwellings.jpg, Sinagua

s Image:Palatki cave pictographs 1.jpg, Cave pictographs Image:Palatki sedona arizona sun calendar cave painting.jpg, Cave pictograph detailing the position of the sun at summer and winter solstices relative to the rock formations

References

External links

US Forest Service: Palatki Heritage Site website

{{coord, 34.9156, -111.9022, display=title, region:US-AZ_type:landmark Parks in Yavapai County, Arizona Archaeological sites in Arizona Ancient Puebloan archaeological sites in Arizona Petroglyphs in Arizona Archaic period in North America Pre-historic cities in the United States Buildings and structures in Yavapai County, Arizona 12th century in North America Coconino National Forest Sinagua