Montezuma’s Castle

Originally uploaded by gocolingo.

This is in the Verde Valley in Arizona. This occupancy held 35 people. The Sinagua, Hohokam, and Hopi lived together in this region at various times (up to 6000 people perhaps) and when overlapping, traded freely and coexisted peacefully. There were elaborate irrigation systems and a high level of civility that was absent from many European cultures at the time. One being a food storage system where the oxygen would be burned from a room, thus preserving the contents for up to two years. The Hopi still practice this in some areas where power is unavailable.