Farm Area

The path goes down to the area thought to have

been the fields for this community. Recent stock

tanks and other disturbances have destroyed

much of the evidence. Eight hundred years ago

check dams and terraces caught and held the

scant rain. Seeds were placed deep in the soil in

small plots, much as occurs on the Hopi mesas

today.

Dating

Tree ring dating explained on this exhibit helps

determine the age of sites like this one.

Archeologists study pottery sherds found here

and at other sites and develop a time line based

on style, form, color, and decoration.

The Marketplace

The ancestral Puebloan people used the forest for

their supermarket. Piñon (top right) was used for

construction, heating, and cooking. Pine needles,

high in vitamin C, can be brewed as a tea. Its pitch

was used to waterproof baskets, and even as a

bandage to hold cuts together. Pine nuts are high

in fat, protein, and carbohydrates. 

Utah juniper (lower right) was also used for

firewood. Its shreddy bark peeled readily and

provided insulation, padding, or the sole of a

sandal. Juniper berries could be eaten raw, but

were more often used as a flavoring for stew or

venison. Ashes of the scale-like leaves were added

to bread as a leavening agent and for flavor. 

Yucca (below) provided fibers that could be

twisted or braided into twine or rope or made

into sandals.

The flowers

and seeds pods

could be eaten.

Some native

people still use

yucca root

soap for 

ceremonial

purposes.

By law national parks protect all plant and animal

life. Plants are fragile and should be left

undisturbed. Modern digestive systems may not

be prepared for the sudden intake of berries and

wild plants. Please do not pick or eat any plants.

Kiva

View of 

San Francisco Peaks

Storage

Rooms

Paved Trail

Gravel Trail

Farm Area

Museum

Living

Area

Parking

To Farming

Area

What’s in a name?

Many archeologists feel that strong evidence connects the people who lived here and in other sites throughout

the Southwest with the modern Hopi and Pueblo communities of eastern Arizona and the Rio Grande Valley

in New Mexico. Years ago when researchers first explored these sites the Navajo term Anasazi was used to

describe the inhabitants. This term can be roughly translated as “ancient enemies.” Understandably, today’s

Pueblo people do not appreciate having their forefathers referred to as enemies. The Hopi use Hisatsinom

to identify the ancient ones. The National Park Service at Grand Canyon National Park has chosen to use 

ancestral Puebloans to emphasize the connection between ancient and modern people and cultures.

Stories Coming to Life

As you look over the pueblo before you, imagine

the families who have chosen to make this their

home. They, like you, had dreams and hopes and

worries. They bore children and raised them to

take part in community life. This was home, the

anchor of their world. 

They made beautiful baskets. Some so small they

may have been for decoration or toys—evidence

that life was more than mere survival. Why did

they choose this place? Why did these families

stay for only twenty years? What happened to

these people? The villagers took the answers 

with them.

Grand Canyon has been home to people for

thousands of years. Considered sacred by many, it

has been a nurturing place, a place of spiritual

and physical enrichment. Many visitors share this

connection today. The National Park Service

strives to protect the integrity of the experience

and the natural environment. We hope that what

you learned will generate more questions about

the lives of the ancestral Puebloan people. Our

goal is that your enhanced level of interest and

knowledge will help us to preserve and protect

this wonderful legacy.

Creating a Community

Building size, style, and construction reflect the

Grand Canyon and its people in several ways.

Limestone, the building blocks available here, 

is fairly hard and difficult to shape. Piñon and

juniper tend to be short and twisted, but provide

excellent support beams, insulation, and caulking

materials, as well as firewood. The plaza faces

south to take advantage of the warmth of the low

winter sun.

Piñon

Utah Juniper

National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Grand Canyon National Park 

Arizona

Tusayan

Ruin
Welcome to Tusayan Pueblo Ruin. As you walk

the relatively flat 0.1 mile (200 meter) trail around

the village, keep in mind that no attempt has been

made to reconstruct the structures. During the

summer of 2001 with funding through the

Vanishing Treasures program, park archeologists

stabilized the ruin in an effort to protect it from

ongoing degradation. Room blocks have been

only partially excavated to allow you to

experience an archeological site.

Saving our National Stories

Please respect this place as you would your own

home. Do not walk or stand on the walls or enter

the rooms. Many stories of the past preserved here

have yet to unfold. The rocks and relics tell the

stories. The artifacts and the context in which they

are found allow archeologists to interpret the lives

of these people. Not only will disturbing the site

destroy valuable information, it is illegal. The high

desert vegetation is also fragile; stay on the trails.

People have lived on the Colorado Plateau for 

thousands of years. The Paleo-Indians, nomadic

hunter/gatherers who lived here 5,000-10,000

years ago, left the earliest evidence. The nomadic

Archaic Cultures which followed produced splittwig figurines which they hid in canyon caves.

With the introduction of agriculture about 2000

years ago, villages (pueblos) like this one 

developed.

Tree ring studies indicate that people lived here

for about twenty years beginning around A.D.

1185. The style of buildings and artifacts is

typical of the ancestral Puebloan culture. 

This ruin is one of 4,300 archeological sites

recorded within Grand Canyon National Park.

Neighboring pueblos may indicate a cooperative

effort among families.

What attracted people to settle here? Everyone

needs food, water, and shelter. How were these

needs met? Wild foods and game supplemented

cultivated corn, beans, and squash. Inhabitants

may have walked several miles to water or did

other sources exist 800 years ago? How would

you use the local resources to build your shelter?

What would be its primary function? In a land of

limited resources, how would you interact with

your neighbors?

As you walk around the ruins, remember that

the history of these people and their culture

exists only through the artifacts found at this

and similar sites and through the stories of their

descendents. You will notice that many

statements in the brochure and on the signs

begin with “perhaps”, “it seems”, or “maybe.”

There are few definitive answers.

The San Francisco Peaks

On a clear day you can see the distant San

Francisco Peaks, considered sacred by several

tribes. In the Hopi tradition the katsinas, the

spirits, live in these peaks during the winter. 

The spirits bring rain and other blessings to the

people. The Hopi are one of more than twenty

Puebloan Indian nations that are descendents of

the people who lived here. 

Why did they live here? A view of the sacred

peaks and a close proximity to the point of

emergence into this world makes this place

aesthetically pleasing. Yucca for weaving baskets,

piñon pitch to seal them, and clay for pottery

exists in this area. Perhaps there was water from

nearby springs or seeps and fertile soil for

farming. Perhaps relatives lived nearby. 

Small Kiva and

Unexcavated Area

A kiva, a ceremonial chamber, is one of the

cultural signatures of the ancestral Puebloan

people. Charred wood and other evidence lead us

to believe that this small kiva burned and was

replaced with the larger one in the southeast

corner of the pueblo. Did the community grow

and need a larger ceremonial room? Was it bad

luck to build over another room? Such questions

are difficult to answer with the clues that remain.

To your left is an unexcavated part of the ruin.

When workers excavate a site, inevitably some

things are missed or destroyed. During the initial

excavation in the 1930s, archeologists purposely

left some areas undisturbed. Perhaps new

technology will allow us to explore this area

without destroying what is below or to discover

new facets of life at this pueblo.

The Plaza

Much of the outdoor living occurred here in the

plaza, the center of community life. The southfacing location allowed for good winter exposure

to the sun and a view of the San Francisco Peaks.

The sides offered protection from the wind. A

visitor to the plaza might have seen women

grinding corn, cooking, and watching children at

play. People feel a connection to earth and home

in the plaza. 

Grain Storage Areas

Notice how small these rooms seem. Since no

trace of habitation was found within them, it is

thought that these were used for storage. Imagine

corn still on the cob piled like firewood, or big

clay jars full of beans or pine nuts resting against

the walls. The most common artifacts found

during the 1930 excavation were grinding

stones—the hand-held mano that was slid across

the larger metate to grind corn or seeds. Since

weather determines crop success, the ability to

store food was vital for survival. From each crop,

perhaps one quarter was saved for seed and

another quarter was used for ceremonial

purposes or trade.

Tusayan Ruin

Grand Canyon National Park 

Painting by Roy Andersen

The Kiva

Ceremonial activities took place in the kiva.

Notice the banquette (bench) that encircles

slightly more than half of the interior. Braces were

placed along this bench to support the upper

structure. These were covered with brush and

mud to provide the walls and roof of the kiva. 

A ventilated fire pit permitted good heating. The

small hole between the banquette and the fire pit

symbolizes a sipapu, the point of emergence for

the Hopi people into this world. The Hopi believe

that the actual place of emergence, the Sipapuni,

is located deep within Grand Canyon.