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Hovenweep National Monument protects six prehistoric, Puebloan-era villages spread over a 20-mile expanse of mesa tops and canyons along the Utah-Colorado border. Multi-storied towers perched on canyon rims and balanced on boulders lead visitors to marvel at the skill and motivation of their builders.

Cajon

The Cajon Group (pronounced ca-hone) consists of a small village constructed in the same configuration as Hackberry, Horseshoe and Holly. The surviving structures are situated at the head of a small canyon, and evidence indicates that 80 to 100 people may have lived here. Under a ledge are several small structures as well as pictographs painted in the Mesa Verde pottery style. In the canyon below, the remains of an earthen dam built to store water can still be seen today. On the western slope of the canyon stand the remains of a remarkable circular tower that conforms perfectly to the shape of three large, irregular boulders. This round structure on a completely uneven surface demonstrates the skill and determination of the ancestral Puebloans that lived at Hovenweep.

Cutthroat Castle

In Puebloan religion, the kiva is a structure that connects with different worlds. The floor is related to the world below, and is usually built below ground level. The entrance to a typical kiva is through the roof, which relates to the world above. Cutthroat Castle Kiva is surrounded by another structure or room. Access into this surrounding structure appears to have been from below the boulder on which the kiva is built, through a split in the boulder.

Though it may appear isolated, the ancestral Puebloan population at Cutthroat Castle was quite large. Natural resources in the area, particularly the forest of piñon and juniper trees, provided the Puebloans with a variety of useful materials. Piñon seeds were a food source rich in calories and protein. Piñon sap or pitch was used as a waterproof sealant for baskets. Shredded juniper bark was used for clothing and sandals. Trees were burned in fires and used as building materials. In fact, by counting the tree rings present in structural timbers, archeologists can determine exactly when these sites were built.

Researchers studying prehistoric diets have found sagebrush flowers, seeds, and leaves in the Puebloans' waste. As a minor part of their diet, sagebrush would have been a good source of iron and Vitamin C. In larger amounts, it kills intestinal parasites. Quartz pebbles from stream beds provided material for stone tools. When these rocks are broken using another rock or a piece of antler, they have edges as sharp as glass. Puebloans shaped these hard rocks into tools such as knives, scrapers, and projectile points.

The geology of the surrounding landscape produces springs and seeps. In these canyons, permeable Dakota sandstone rests on top of impermeable Burro Canyon shale. Water from rain and snow soaks through the sandstone, but is forced to flow outward when it meets the shale. When this water reaches the wall of a canyon it forms a spring. For the Puebloans, these canyons with seeps and springs were the ideal place to locate a village.

Goodman Point

Goodman Point, the eastern-most unit of Hovenweep National Monument, is located in Montezuma County, Colorado and contains prehistoric ruins that, in 1889, were the first archeological resources to be set aside for protection by the federal government. As such, the unit now contains one of the best-preserved, but collapsed, clusters of sites in the Four Corners region.

These resources are very different in nature from sites in the other Hovenweep Units. Instead of multi-storied towers that surround canyon heads and have commanding views, the sites at Goodman Point consist of partially buried pueblos that range in size from small hamlets to very large villages and are covered by pinon-juniper woodland or sagebrush.

Recent surveys within the unit suggest that the area was inhabited sparsely during the Basketmaker II period (AD. 200-450), more densely during the Pueblo II period (A.D. 900-1150), and most densely during the Pueblo III period (A.D. 1150-1300).

Goodman Point Pueblo is the largest site in the unit and contains the collapsed remains of an extensive village complex complete with public architecture such as a great kiva, plazas, at least one compact, multi-storied "tower" and other features.

The National Park Service has recently entered into a cooperative agreement with Crow Canyon Archaeological Center out of Cortez to begin a multi-year testing project at Goodman Point Pueblo in order to better understand the nature of the site and its relationship with surrounding prehistoric communities. Crow Canyon is a non-profit organization that provides experiential and educational opportunities to the public related to archeology, a mission that dove-tails with that of the National Park Service.

If you would like to visit Goodman Point Unit and view the ongoing archeological efforts, please contact the Hovenweep National Monument Visitor Center at Square Tower Unit at (970) 562-4282 for directions and to obtain additional information about the project.

Holly

The design and construction of Tilted Tower is similar to Boulder House, which is the large multi-story tower located inside Keeley Canyon (lower right in the photo above). Built atop a large sandstone boulder on the canyon bottom, Boulder House is detached from the canyon rim, and like many of the towers at Hovenweep National Monument, it is located adjacent to a seep. In contemporary Puebloan culture, springs are special locations associated with stories that talk about the origins of Puebloan peoples. Boulder House was built sometime after A.D. 1200, and it appears that the tower was constructed without outside scaffolding. Each floor was built from the inside, one floor at a time, building upward. Looking at Boulder House, you can still see the steps or hand-holds that were pecked into the boulder below the entrance.

Archeological analysis of the Hovenweep towers suggests these structures were used for multiple activities, although some activities were probably very specialized. The presence of grinding stones such as manos and metates indicates plant materials were being ground, probably for food production. Stone tools typically used for chopping, scraping, and cutting suggest a variety of activities associated with daily life were occurring within the towers. The presence of bone awls suggests activities associated with weaving might have also occurred. In addition, archeologists suggest these towers were usually paired with kivas (Puebloan religious structures), and the towers may relate to how the kiva connects with the outside world. The deliberate location of towers and kivas at the heads of canyons goes beyond architecture, and has everything to do with the hydrology of the canyon and the way Puebloan peoples envisioned their world. Some of the towers and kivas are placed virtually on top of the springs and seeps that emerge from these canyons.

Horseshoe & Hackberry

Horseshoe Group
The walking trail to Hackberry Canyon is a one-mile round-trip walk that includes the structures at both Horseshoe and Hackberry. Structures at these sites were built approximately 800 years ago by the ancestors of today's Puebloan people. Today their descendents are among the Pueblos of New Mexico and Arizona.

Horseshoe Tower is built on a point that marks the start of the Horseshoe Site. From this tower, inhabitants could see clearly into Horseshoe Canyon. At one time, the tower was walled off from the mesa top, raising questions about the use of such structures for defense.

Further along the Canyon Rim Trail is Horseshoe House, which is composed of four masonry structures that together form a horseshoe shape. From the trail it is easy to see the precisely cut stone-masonry that forms the outside wall of Horseshoe House. Each stone was shaped for a precise fit before being set into place. Clay, sand, and ash, mixed with water from seeps in the canyon below, made the mortar that still holds these walls together. One unresolved question is whether specialized masons built these structures, or if the entire community contributed to their construction.

Hackberry Group
About 500 yards east of the Horseshoe structures is the Hackberry Site. Archeologists speculate that Hackberry canyon may have had one of the largest populations of all the Hovenweep units because of the constant seepage of water in the canyon. As many as 250 to 350 people may have lived here. It is unclear if the residents were related or represented different clans and lineages.

The concentrations of structures at both Horseshoe and Hackberry demonstrate the importance of water to the people who lived here. Large multi-story pueblos and towers, located at canyon heads with seeps and springs, are the defining characteristics of the late Pueblo III time period. In this climate, precipitation comes in the form of winter snows, spring rains, and isolated summer thunderstorms. The intermittent rains of summer were crucial to the survival of crops, and Puebloans responded by constructing water-control features. In washes on the mesa tops, small stone dams were built so that sediment could accumulate and water could soak into the ground, flowing slowly into nearby garden plots.

A 23-year drought beginning in A.D. 1276, possibly combined with warfare, overpopulation, and limited resources, forced the ancestors of today's Pueblo people to leave Hovenweep. By the end of the 13th century, Puebloan communities across southeast Utah and southwest Colorado migrated south, joining the pueblos of the Rio Grande River Valley in New Mexico, and the the Hopi in Arizona.

Square Tower

Square Tower, for which the group is named, is a three-story tower built on a boulder at the head of Little Ruin Canyon. A nearby spring would have been an important resource for the inhabitants of Hovenweep. To increase water storage, a checkdam was built above the spring in order to slow storm runoff. The unique location and appearance of Square Tower fuels speculation that it was a ceremonial structure.

Located near the visitor center and campground, the Square Tower Group is the only unit of Hovenweep accessible by a paved road. A moderately strenuous trail follows the canyon rim and offers excellent views of every structure. Most visitors spend one to two hours exploring the area. Between the visitor center and the first overlook the trail is paved and may be traversed by visitors in wheelchairs with assistance.

Nearby Attractions

National Park Service Areas
Arches National Park
Aztec Ruins National Monument
Canyonlands National Park
Chaco Culture National Historical Park
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
Mesa Verde National Park
Natural Bridges National Monument

Other Attractions
Anasazi Heritage Center

Local Partners & Information Resources
Canyonlands Natural History Association
Crow Canyon Archaeological Center
Mesa Verde Country Web Site
San Juan County Travel Council
Utah Travel Council