Indian Ruins, Honanki Heritage Site, Arizona

Honanki Indian Ruins
The Honanki Heritage Site is a cliff dwelling and rock art site located in the Coconino National Forest, about 15 miles west of Sedona, Arizona. The Sinagua people, ancestors of the Hopi, lived here from about 1100 to 1300 AD. Honanki and Palatki were first studied by Jesse Walter Fewkes of the Smithsonian Institution. He conducted test excavations at both sites in 1895 and in 1911, during his study of Hopi migration traditions.

Fewkes named the site "Honanki," which means "Bear House" in the Hopi language. Honanki was one of the largest prehistoric pueblos in the Verde Valley. This period in Southern Sinagua prehistory is called the "Honanki Phase." Many of the cliff dwellings in the area west of Sedona were occupied during the Honanki Phase. The Sinagua occupation of Honanki was probably between AD 1130-1280, based on a tree-ring date of 1271 (from a wooden beam in the ruin) and other archaeological evidence. [more info]

Date: 07.23.2011
Temp: 105°
Elevation: 4536 ft