Montezuma Castle

We visited Montezuma Castle, a "city" of stone built on the side of a cliff by the Sinagua tribe...exactly when they built it and why they abandoned it (around 1450 A.D.) are still mysteries. A National Park Service guide told us the Sinaguan grew corn, traded with other native people and used the yucca plant for everything from food (the roots) to footwear (woven from plant fibers). I got a closer look at a stone matates, used by the Sinaguan Indians to grind corn and other seeds.