Palatki and Honanki - and no, they are not east European musicians!

November 28 (Tuesday)

We went to visit the heritage sites of Palatki and Honanki today. These are Sinaguan Indian ruins from the people that inhabited the area from about 900 AD to 1300 AD. We have visited many of these sites since we came to Arizona about a month ago. They are all similar but never the same and each one is as interesting as any.

We phoned ahead for a reservation on a tour of Palatki. Due to the fragility and importance of the site the Parks Service controls the flow of people by having you register in a group and be lead by a docent.

The road to the sites (route 525) is a bit rough in places. The gravel road takes you up to the ruins. First was Palatki. 

Lots of boondockers along this road.

Interesting that this site contains Petroglyphs (stone carving) and Pictographs (stone painting). Some of the petroglyphs are very ancient and may go back several thousand years, just as they did at V bar V (see a previous post).

The logs in the windows are original. Over 700 years old. Arizona weather helps!

 With a view like this no wonder the Sinaguan felt safe here.

View of the valley from the ruins.

Some samples of the petroglyphs and pictographs. What do they mean? Lots of theories, but your guess is as good as mine!

Notice that these pictographs are black. They were originally white but the fires that burned in the shelters melted the animal fat that was part of the paint and left behind charcoal coloring. Interesting process.

The homesteader built this stone shelter to live in while he worked on his more comfortable wooden home (which is now the visitor center).

In the late 1800's this site was homesteaded by a widower that planted fruit trees and crops. There are still pomegranate, apple, pear and a sort of fig type tree still growing on the property.

Pomegranate tree

Apple tree with a fig-type tree in the background.

This little guy was keeping an eye on us.

  

We continued on to the Honanki ruins about four miles further up the road. You need to check in at the small shack at the entrance, but after that you are on your own. A 3/4 mile loop trail takes you up to the ruins and the petroglyphs.

If I were a Sinaguan.....I would choose to live here!

The road to Honanki

A window filled in. Renovations were the order of the day just like today!

Then back to the campground along the twisty gravel road.

That was Our View From Here.......