Tuzigoot National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

National Monument

Arizona

OFFICIAL

JUNIOR RANGER

ACTIVITY GUIDE

Ages 6+
Welcome, Ranger!

Junior Park Rangers explore, learn about, 

and help protect national parks. Follow these 

instructions to earn your official Junior Ranger 

badge and certificate. You can also purchase 

a Junior Ranger patch if you show your 

certificate at the store.

Grown-Ups

The Junior Ranger program should take 30–60 minutes for your child to complete, 

about as long as most families spend at the monument.

If your child does not finish before you leave, no problem! The monument’s address is 

on the back of this booklet. They can finish later and mail it to us, and we’ll send their 

official Junior Ranger badge and certificate to your address.

Special thanks to Mike Gooch, Rand Guthrie, and Kathleen Osterhaus for donating their artistic talents to this project.

Rangers Always Work Safely

It can get really hot here, and most of Tuzigoot 

doesn’t have much shade. That doesn’t mean 

you can’t go outside. Just make sure you drink 

lots of water and wear sunscreen. Wear a hat if 

you have one!

How old are you?

If you are 6 or 7 years old, do the activities 

on each page with the Sonoran mud turtle.

If you are 8 or 9, do the activites that have 

the turtle and the activities with the Arizona 

sycamore leaf.

If you are 10 or older, do all the activities in 

the book, including those with the macaw.
3

What is Archeology?

Archeology is simply the study of how people lived in the past. Archeologists

are people who study the things those people left behind and use them to better 

understand how they lived.

Any object made or used by humans counts as an artifact. Arrowheads and pottery are 

artifacts, but so is this book!

Archeologists excavate and take careful records of what they uncover to learn about 

the past. In 1933 and 1934, archeologists excavated this pueblo and named it Tuzigoot.

Unfortunately, archeology is also destructive! Think about it—once you move an 

artifact, you can never put it back exactly like it was before. All of the dirt and other 

artifacts around it, called context, will be disturbed. Even the National Park Service 

doesn’t excavate very often any more, for the same reason.

Imagine that an archeologist is going to excavate your room 100 years from now. Name 

five things they might find that would be clues about your life.

What could an archeologist learn about you from those five artifacts?

All of the items in your bedroom are in context. Could the archeologist still learn about 

you if those items were scattered around your neighborhood?

Why is it important to leave artifacts in place when you find them?

Excavating Your Life
4

Museum Scavenger Hunt

The people who lived at Tuzigoot were farmers. They also hunted and gathered foods 

that grew wild.

Do some hunting of your own—see if you can find these items in the museum. Along the 

way, you’ll discover the same kinds of questions archeologists have tried to answer about 

these same artifacts!

Find an item that is evidence of Hunting. What is it? What is it made of?

Find some Clothing that a Sinagua person would wear. Describe it. What’s it made 

out of? What does this tell you about the person who wore it?

What can you find in the museum that is evidence of Farming? What kinds of plants 

did the Sinagua people grow?

Not everything in life was about survival. Can you find evidence of Artwork? What 

did you find? How do you think it was created?
5

How many pots can you find?

Count as many pots as you can find in the museum. Write the number and draw your 

favorite one here. What would you put in it?
6

Then and Now

Tuzigoot is a special place. People have lived in the Verde Valley for over 13,000 years and 

built Tuzigoot’s first rooms over 900 years ago.

The Sinagua Indians learned how to adapt and survive by using what they could find 

in nature or through trade with neighbors. They had many skills such as weaving cloth, 

making pottery and tools, and creating baskets.

We learn about how they lived by studying the things they left behind. By looking at 

these artifacts, we see that they were not that different from us!

Compare the items below and draw a line from the item in the left column to the item in 

the right column that matches it. (Hint: You can find answers in the museum.)

Things

Used Now Things 

Used Then
7

If archeology is like a mystery 

book, then excavating is like 

tearing out every page after 

you read it. If you miss a clue 

or don’t take good notes, you 

can never go back for a second 

look at how things were before 

you dug them up.

Because of this, sometimes 

archeologists decide not to 

excavate! If we preserve a site 

instead, future technology may 

let archeologists investigate 

without ever having to disturb 

the ground.

Dwell on this!

Searching for Clues

Excavating artifacts is just one part of an 

archeologist’s job. Each artifact is a clue—you have to 

put all of them together to see what story they tell!

Archeologists compare artifacts very carefully to 

understand who made them, why, and what they 

were used for. Look at these pots, and draw a line 

between ones that match. Be careful! Just like at a 

real excavation, there may be more than one pair.
8

Prehistoric Style

Do you ever think about what the designs and style of your clothing mean? How is what 

you wear different from what your mom or dad or great great grandparents used to 

wear? What about clothing in the United States versus other places?

Style is one kind of clue archeologists look for. It can tell us how old something is, where 

it came from, who made it, and many other details. And it works on more than just 

clothing—it’s also true for pottery, jewelry, stone tools, and even buildings.

Undecorated

Plainware

(897 Sherds, plus

 108 Complete Bowls)

Sinagua Culture

1100–1400

Jeddito 

Black-on-Yellow

(734 Sherds)

Hopi Culture

1350–1600

Gila

Polychrome

(6 Sherds)

Salado 

Culture

1300–1400

Tularosa

Black-on-White

(4 Sherds)

Mogollon

Culture

1175–1300

Prescott

Black-on-Gray

(237 Sherds)

Prescott 

Culture

800–1400

Walnut

Black-on-White

Spindle Whorl

Ancestral Puebloan

Culture

1150–1225
9

People of all ages lived at 

Tuzigoot, including kids like 

you. What kinds of chores 

do you do at home that kids 

here might have done, too?

Chores &

 Homework

A:

Understanding the Clues

In archeology, style is called seriation. Now you give it a try. The notes on page 8 are all 

from a real archeology report written when Tuzigoot was first excavated! A sherd is a 

broken piece of pottery. See if you can figure out what their clues mean.

Pottery style helps archeologists start figuring out when places like Tuzigoot were 

occupied. When is the earliest time people might have lived here? (Hint: When 

was the oldest kind of pottery here first made?)

When is the latest time people might have lived here?

Based on the pottery we have, those times are the earliest and latest possible, but 

there’s an even better clue. The largest number of pottery sherds are probably the 

ones they made themselves and used most. Which pottery was made at Tuzigoot? 

When? That’s the most likely time period Tuzigoot was occupied!

Other kinds of pottery found here were probably acquired through trade. If that’s 

true, then what cultures did the people from Tuzigoot trade with?

One piece of pottery was recycled into a 

round spindle whorl after it broke. Spindles 

are used to spin cotton into yarn, so what can 

we guess about the Sinagua from those clues?
10

Pueblo Trail

Go outside and explore the trail through Tuzigoot pueblo. See if you can find the answers 

to these questions.

Tuzigoot is a very large pueblo—one of the biggest in the entire Verde Valley. It’s also 

very old. How many rooms are here? When were its oldest rooms built?

If you drove a long way to get here, Tuzigoot might seem like it’s in the middle of 

nowhere! Even a thousand years ago, though, people who lived here had neighbors. Find 

the sign entitled “Line of Sight.” What three other pueblos were close to Tuzigoot?

People at Tuzigoot might have 

communicated by sight with people 

from other villages. How do you 

think they did it?

Can you see 

 me now?

A:
11

A View from on Top

Unscramble the circled letters above to complete the sentence below:

Just like back then, nearby communities can still be seen from the top of Tuzigoot’s 

highest room. Do you know what towns they are?

The biggest town near Tuzigoot, named after a kind of tree that grows in Tavasci marsh.

t o w

The billion-dollar town visible on the mountain slope nearby.

J e

The town close by that was built to extract copper brought from the mines.

a k

Junior Rangers 

explore, ___________ , and protect

America’s national parks!

C
12

Tavasci Marsh Trail

3. Watering

4. Building

Mats and 

1. Eating

2. Weaving

Baskets

Farms

Rooms

Lunch

Tavasci Marsh made Tuzigoot a great 

place to live! It provided food, water, 

clothing, and shelter. 

Imagine you lived at Tuzigoot over 700 

years ago. What could you get from 

the marsh to help you with these daily 

activities? Place each activity’s number 

in the circles at the marsh.
13

Line 1:

Line 2:

Line 3:

 1 2 3 4 5

 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

 1 2 3 4 5

An•cient • Pue•blo • Home

What • was • it • like • to • live • here?

Ar•ti•facts • tell • us.

A haiku is a kind of poetry that always has three lines and 17 syllables or beats. The first 

line is five syllables long, the second is seven syllables long, and the third is five again. 

Look at the example, then write a haiku of your own about your visit to Tuzigoot.

Your Turn!

Poetry Corner
14

Share with a Park Ranger...

Write about something you learned today that surprised you or that you found 

interesting. Draw a picture to go along with what you learned. Share your picture with 

the park ranger when you get your badge.

Draw here!
Certif ci ate of Achievement This certifies that

has admirably performed all the necessary requirements

and has qualified to become a Junior Park Ranger at

Tuzigoot National Monument

Sea el d on this Date

By Park Ranger
Tuzigoot National Monument • P.O. Box 219 • Camp Verde, Arizona 86322

As a Junior Ranger, I will

Leave all plants, animals, and other objects as I found them for others to enjoy,

Put litter in a trash can or recycle bin,

Learn more about national parks all over the United States, and

Share what I have learned with my family and friends.

Park Rangers come from many backgrounds. The rangers who wrote this 

book came from Arizona, Tennessee, New York, Washington, Michigan, 

and Venezuela. Some are naturalists and scientists, while others are artists, 

linguists, police officers, computer programmers, and veterans.

One of rangers’ most important jobs is preserving America’s special places 

and telling their stories until the next generation of rangers is ready to take 

over. Will you someday wear the flat hat and protect these national treasures?

Final Thought