Montezuma Castle
MONTEZUMA CASTLE NATIONAL MONUMENT
ARIZONA
A guide to discovery of
the Castle,
its Builders,
and Neighbors.
$1.00
Courtesy Sharlot Hall Museum, Prescott
April, 1894
“We rode along and finally MontezumaCastle loomed up.... I was very muchexcited and filled with awe. Wejust sat and gazed. Finally I gotmy little wooden camera out andtook a picture of the Castle fromhorseback.”
F. G. Steenberg
The Settlers
Many early visitors thought this cliff dwelling was a“castle” built by Aztec refugees for their emperor,Montezuma—thus the name!
Today
Thanks to the archeologist, a more realistic story isbeginning to unfold. The setting is a prehistoric one,meaning the people involved left no written history.They are believed to be the ancestors of somepresent-day Southwestern Indians.
Montezuma Castle
Time A.D. 1100-1400
This 20-room apartment house was occupied between 1100and 1400. It has approximately the same floor space as alarge, three-bedroom home of today. Perhaps a dozenfamilies, or about 50 people, lived here.
A natural recess provides shelter
Like other nearby caves and crevasses, the large recess inwhich the Castle was built is the product of wind and watererosion over eons of time. Shelter from the elements andsolar heat from the winter sun were probably good reasonsfor starting a home here. Other ideas have also beensuggested, including protection, tradition, or perhaps theview! However, with no written records to guide us, maybethe real reasons will never be known.
300 years of construction
The uppermost wall of the Castle was apparently the firstone constructed. It makes two rooms out of a cave in thehighest part of the recess. Later additions were made infront of and below these rooms. It appears thatmodifications were made right up to the time ofabandonment!
Inside the Castle
A ROOF BEAM choppedto length with a stoneaxe. Was the notch atthe end used to help liftthe log in place?
INSIDE A TYPICALROOM. Uprights andceiling beams are fromsycamore trees. Ceilingsand upper-story floorsare a thatching ofgrasses and shrubscovered with a mudmortar. The small, T-shapeddoorway mayhave helped in regulatingair circulation.