Wupatki National Monument, Arizona

An unusual stone pueblo built by Indian farmers of the 12th century

The Wupatki National Monument is a United States National Monument located in north-central Arizona, near Flagstaff. Rich in Native American ruins, the monument is administered by the National Park Service in close conjunction with the nearby Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. Wupatki was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. The listing included three contributing buildings and 29 contributing structures on 35,253.2 acres (14,266.5 ha).

These abundant prehistoric ruins constitute the tangible and colorful remains of an eleventh-century Indian “land rush” that resulted from the earlier eruption of Sunset Crater, a nearby volcano.

Coming from several directions and bringing different customs and habits, the various tribes met and mixed, though remaining in large part distinct groups, forming a local cultural pattern differentiated from its contemporaries in other sections of the prehistoric American Southwest.

The many ruins in Wupatki National Monument are in an unusual state of preservation. The most accessible are the Citadel and Wupatki, located 5 and 14 miles, respectively, from U. S. Highway 89.