The Montezuma Canyon Citadel Complex: A Major Prehistoric Religious Shrine

Summary

Spirit Bird Cave created a new model to evaluate Southwestern caves and earth openings in relation to prehistoric Native American beliefs about religion and sacred landscape. This model suggests that such concepts were major considerations in the choosing of settlement locations and foremost in the ideology of the prehistoric peoples. Site 42SA2120 in Montezuma Canyon, which fits this new paradigm, has not been formally described to this point. A survey of the site found evidence that the site was a place of prime importance and perhaps served as a major religious location for the surrounding area through at least the Pueblo II period. A rockart panel associated with the complex documents an origin extending back to at least the Basketmaker III Period. It was given the name "Montezuma Canyon Citadel" during the 2013 Pecos Conference.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Caves, Sinkholes and Chultuns: New Evidence for the Importance of Earth Openings in Ancient Mesoamerica Religion   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage