Coming Full Circle on a Canyon Mystery

This past November, during one of my Grand Canyon forays, I was fortunate enough to stumble upon a thousand-year-old ancestral Puebloan pot. An archaeologist friend later determined the place of origin for this black-on-red, well-fired ceramic as modern-day Tsegi Canyon (roughly one-hundred miles due east). I backpacked into Tsegi last week as a means of coming full circle with my discovery.

The shining jewel of Tsegi is Keet Seel, the largest and best-preserved cliff dwelling in Arizona. Home to over one hundred farmers at its zenith, this remote sandstone paradise was abandoned in the late-1200s.

Though the mysterious kivas, granaries, and dwellings were impressive indeed--the biggest thrill for me personally was running my fingers through a mound of maroon-colored clay; perhaps the same quary used for the pot that fired this pilgrimmage.

A pot that remains intact against impressive odds, both in the field and in my mind.



For more info on Keet Seel click here:
http://www.desertusa.com/mag02/Feb/ksteel.html