Alcoves and Cavates

Throughout the Verde Valley, abundant alcoves and rock shelters in the cliffs served as homes, storage units, and spiritual sites. Wind and water sculpted countless alcoves, holes, and crannies in the soft layers of Verde Formation limestone. People built homes in large alcoves and used smaller recesses for temporary shelter and storage. When they dug into a cliff and enlarged or modified an opening, they created what archeologists call cavates. Most cavates were similar to one another, extending about 10 feet into the cliff. Some contained both local and imported pottery sherds dating from 1150 to 1400. In rock shelters and cavates, masonry front walls enclosed living and storage spaces in niches off the front room. Floors were made of plaster on top of compacted earth or bedrock, which often had ridges to divide interior space, though some may have had wood and mud walls. People living in these cavates must have shared a connection to one another and formed another part of the Montezuma Castle neighborhood. A survey of a nearby cavate showed that the site was reused in more modern times, and archeologists recovered a Yavapai or Western Apache basket and items left behind by early visitors and soldiers from nearby Fort Verde.

Arizona · United States