Sinagua people

E1010662

The Sinagua people were a pre-Columbian Native American culture of central and northern Arizona known for their cliff dwellings, dry farming, and extensive trade networks before mysteriously abandoning their settlements around the 15th century.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Sinagua people canonical 14

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (77)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Native American people
archaeological culture
pre-Columbian culture
abandoned their major settlements around the 15th century
archaeologicalPhase Northern Sinagua
Southern Sinagua
built cliff dwellings in limestone alcoves
hilltop pueblos
plaza-oriented villages
burialPractice inhumation near dwellings
causeOfAbandonment uncertain
country United States
cultureArea Southwestern United States
disappeared 15th century
economy mixed farming and hunting-gathering
engagedIn long-distance trade
environment semi-arid high desert
ethnicGroup Native Americans in the United States
floruit c. 1100–1400 CE
gathered wild plants
hasSite Clemenceau ruins
Honanki ruins
Montezuma Castle National Monument
Palatki Heritage Site
Tuzigoot National Monument
Walnut Canyon National Monument
Wupatki National Monument
hunted deer
rabbits
influencedBy Ancestral Puebloans
Hohokam culture
Mogollon culture
knownFor agricultural terraces
ballcourts
cliff dwellings
dry farming
extensive trade networks
multi-story masonry pueblos
pithouse villages
rock art
languageStatus language unknown
locatedIn Arizona
central Arizona
northern Arizona
mainCrop beans
cotton
maize
squash
mayHaveMergedInto Hopi people
Yavapai people
other Puebloan groups
nameEtymology from Spanish "sin agua" meaning "without water"
partOf American Southwest
Oasisamerica
possibleCauseOfAbandonment conflict with neighboring groups
drought
resource depletion
social or religious changes
potteryDecoration geometric designs
potteryStyle brown ware ceramics
red-on-buff ceramics
practiced dryland agriculture
irrigation agriculture
region Mogollon Rim
San Francisco Peaks area
linked to: San Francisco Peaks

Verde Valley
religion ancestral Puebloan ceremonial practices (inferred from kivas and ritual structures)
timePeriod approximately 500 CE to 1425 CE
tradedFor copper bells
macaw feathers
shells
turquoise
used check dams for water control
terraced fields
usedMaterial adobe
stone
timber

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (14)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Tuzigoot National Monument builtBy Sinagua people
Montezuma Well associatedPeople Sinagua people
San Francisco Peaks region inhabitedBy Sinagua people
Honanki associatedWith Sinagua people
Palatki associatedWithCulture Sinagua people
Palatki builtBy Sinagua people
Clemenceau ruins associatedWith Sinagua people
Lomaki Pueblo heritage Sinagua people
Lomaki Pueblo builtBy Sinagua people