Tuzigoot National Monument, Archaeological site in Verde Valley, United States.
Tuzigoot National Monument is a 2- to 3-story pueblo ruin of rough reddish-brown stone masonry on a limestone and sandstone ridge 120 feet above the Verde River floodplain. Its 110 rooms form an elongated complex along the ridge spine, with higher central rooms and lower, fragmentary walls stepping down the slope. A paved walkway with a low parapet and metal railing curves along one edge.
The Sinagua built the pueblo between 1125 and 1400 CE on a limestone and sandstone ridge above the Verde River floodplain. In 1933–1935 Louis Caywood and Edward Spicer of the University of Arizona excavated the site with Civil Works Administration and Works Project Administration funding. United Verde/Phelps Dodge had sold the land to Yavapai County for $1, which transferred it to the federal government. Franklin D. Roosevelt designated it a National Monument on July 25, 1939.
The museum displays pottery, tools, and textiles that show how the Sinagua people lived and worked in their daily routines. These objects help visitors understand the practical aspects of life in this ancient community.
A paved walkway curves along the right edge of the ruin beside a low stone parapet with a metal railing, passing a small sign on a post. The walls step down the slope in terraces, with the more complete sections at the center and rear and fragmentary foundations toward the foreground. The ruins stand on a limestone and sandstone ridge about 120 feet (37 m) above the Verde River floodplain, just east of Clarkdale.
The ruins stand inside the tailings pond of the former United Verde copper mine at Jerome; these tailings were recently stabilized and revegetated. The land once belonged to United Verde/Phelps Dodge, which sold it to Yavapai County for $1 so excavation could proceed under federal relief projects.
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