Desert People Without Water

I recently visited the ruins at Honanki and Palatki.  These are prehistoric settlements built into the red rock cliffs near Sedona, AZ.  Today, the people who built these dwellings are called "Sinagua", which comes from Spanish for "without water".  But everyone needs water, right?  I wondered where these people got drinking water.

I looked for springs around Honanki and Palatki and didn't find any.  That's weird!

Zoom in to see locations of Honanki (H) and Palatki (P) in relation to USGS-mapped springs (blue) and NAU-mapped springs (green).

Although springs have dried up in recent times, the USGS spring data was mapped in the late 1800s / early 1900s when many more springs were flowing.  It looks like the geology of the Sedona Red Rock cliffs just don't produce springs.  So even if the location of springs was different 800 years ago, it would be surprising if there were springs in the cliffs where these people lived.

The closest mapped spring (blue dot = unconfirmed water source) is 1.5 and 2.7 miles away, respectively, but there is no evidence of water in the aerial imagery.  The next closest (green dot = confirmed water source) is 4.7 and 3 miles away, respectively.   Neither Palatki nor Honanki is even built in one of the larger drainages that might flow more often/longer; the drainages that feed their valleys are quite short.  

I don't think these settlements had access to aboveground water throughout the year unless they dug wells or used cisterns to store water.

These and other prehistoric communities in the desert Southwest often built cliff dwellings high above canyon floors, far from surface water sources.  Archaeologists believe these people collected runoff during rainstorms using check dams and seeps, and stored water in cisterns or ceramic containers for later use.

Across the prehistoric Southwest, populations used ingenious methods to exploit scarce water:

• Rock overhangs and cisterns captured and stored rainwater.
• Seasonal mobility allowed families to occupy dry sites part of the year.
• Terraced fields, check dams, and soil-retention walls conserved moisture for crops.
• Small permanent settlements clustered near ephemeral water sources, such as seeps and seasonal pools.

In conclusion, while many large settlements in the prehistoric Southwest were built near springs or rivers, groups like the Anasazi, Sinagua, and others developed highly effective ways to survive in water-scarce environments through dry-land agriculture, runoff collection, and strategic mobility.

Lithic Mulch

I have done field ecology throughout New Mexico and Arizona -- but no matter how long I live in the Southwest it seems there is always more to discover...I recently discovered the existence of lithic or cobble mulch gardens while perusing a report by Richard D. Periman featured in "Desired future conditions for Southwestern riparian ecosystems: Bringing interests and concerns together," produced by the Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, and have spent an enjoyable morning reading some of Dale Lightfoot's papers about sites in Northern New Mexico and the Safford Valley of Arizona. Both are areas where I have spent considerable time, and I am now wondering if I have unknowingly visited some of these prehistoric gardens. I am especially interested to learn how thoroughly these type of sites have been studied...from my natural history work I understand that sometimes the best preservation strategy for valuable sites is to keep them undocumented, but I wonder if there is a GIS layer of inventoried sites? These archeologists deserve congratulations on bringing this remarkable phenomenon to light; discoveries like these may help transform how we ecologists think about the Natural Range of Variation (NRV) in these areas.

"Lithic-mulched features have not been thoroughly studied, in the USA or elsewhere. Details are spotty...The research by Maxwell and Anscheutz in the Ojo Caliente Valley in northern New Mexico is very good. The Fish’s work on Hohokam Arizona is good. Berlin et al. 1977 are quite thorough, as is Engel’s work in the Andes. Much remains to be done at all other sites associated with lithic mulching. I understand your comment about leaving things undocumented. It’s best, sometimes, though in cases where features are on the verge of being obliterated, as were many of the gravel mulched plots I worked on in 1988-89 south of Santa Fe (1990 dissertation and subsequent articles), it’s best to record what you can, when you can (i.e. salvage archaeology).

I know of no GIS inventory related to lithic mulching anywhere. I have no plans on the immediate horizon to work on this topic in the U.S. Southwest, but I didn’t have any plans to work on the Safford project, either, until Bill Doolittle approached me about joining his project and I could clearly see a way to contribute to the project."

Santa Fe River Mesa Overlook Petroglyphs

In a recent trip to the Santa Fe River jobsite I was lucky enough to take a side-trip through the horizontal snow up onto the low mesa overlooking La Cienega and Arroyo Calabasas. There, in the fragrant pollinating juniper there are hundreds of classic Pueblo petroglyphs. Petroglyphs are distinguished from pictographs because they are pecked into the desert varnish of large granite boulders to reveal the lighter rock underneath. Their age can sometimes be determined by the extinct of varnish re-growth. These petroglyphs are at least serveral hundred years old. Furthermore, the amount of work required to hammer away detailed images is unlikely to be tolerated by modern day copycats.


Shaman/Huntress Female (note characteristic vagina)

Kokopelli (with prominent archaic jackrabbit ear and separate flute/penis)


Lizard (probably not a turtle due to lack of stereotypical shell markings)


I did not find any kachinas (faces). Here is a comparison of common Kachina elements from Puerco Ruin (Petrified Forest National Park) and vicinity. a-c Antelope or deer kachinas; d-e solstice kachines; f-h, k-u unknown types; i-j Mudheads; v-x possible kachines; y-ii ogre kachinas.