Photo: This model of a 12th century Flagstaff-area pit house was digitally created from an original Museum of Northern Arizona model created in the 1930s. | Courtesy of Verde Valley Archaeology Center
Eight pit houses built by the Sinaguan people around A.D. 650 will soon be available for research, excavation and the eventual development of an archaeological park at the Verde Valley Archaeology Center. Scott Simonton, owner of Simonton Ranch in Camp Verde, is donating the 15 acres where the pit houses are located to the center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to keeping historical artifacts found in the Verde Valley in the area.
With the 15 acres, which are valued at more than $1.2 million, the center will be able to build a museum, a repository, an auditorium and classrooms. The pit houses also will allow the center to create excavation field schools that can be done with universities, and a park with signs interpreting the historical landmarks.
The pit houses, which are arranged like a village, are still undisturbed except for the backhoe trenches that led to their discovery. Most of the artifacts that were discovered during trenching are at Sharlot Hall Museum in Prescott, but the center intends to request the artifacts to keep them nearer where they were found once the repository is finished.
The center plans to consult with Native American groups as it develops the project. The land the property is on once housed the Southern Sinagua peoples, an Ancestral Puebloan group who are ancestors of today’s Hopi Tribe. The Yavapai-Apache Nation, the Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe and the Havasupai Tribe also have ancestral connections to the land.
The Verde Valley Archaeology Center will hold a gala benefit on October 18 at the Sedona Poco Diablo Resort, where more details will be announced. To find out more, call the center at 928-567-0066 or visit its website at www.verdevalleyarchaeology.org.