Navajo National Monument
- Grades: 6–8, 9–12
Navajo National Monument, in the northeastern corner of Arizona, covers 146 ha (360 acres) within the Navajo Indian Reservation; it contains three of the most extensive and elaborate cliff dwellings in the United States. Established as a monument in 1909, the Anasazi remains named Betatakin, Keet Seel, and Inscription House are extremely well preserved and date from about a.d. 300-1300. Keet Seel, the largest single cliff dwelling in Arizona, is known as the "broken pottery" village; it contains more than 150 rooms and a half dozen ceremonial chambers in a cavity that measures 107 by 15 m (350 by 50 ft). Betatakin, which means "hillside house," was built on the floor of a massive sandstone cave whose roof projected far out over the dwellings. This pueblo contains 53 dwellings, 26 storage rooms, 2 ceremonial chambers, 2 rooms for grinding corn, open courts, and 39 other rooms at various levels. Inscription House with 67 rooms, the smallest of the dwellings contains Spanish inscriptions that date back to 1661; because of its fragility it has been closed to the public since 1968.
Surrounding canyons, where pinon pines, cottonwoods, willows, and Utah junipers abound.
- Subjects:Native American History


