Navajo National Monument , a complex of three prehistoric cliff dwellings near the town of Tonalea in northeast Arizona , USA The three locations are in Navajo reserve. Betatakin (Navajo:"Ledge House"), Keet Seel ("Broken Pottery") and Inscription House - are among the best preserved and most ornate cliff dwellings known. The three locations that 1909 to National Monument Declared have a total area of 1.6 square kilometers.
The apartments were the Kayenta's main residence Ancestral Pueblo , a prehistoric people living there from about 1250 to 1300 ce lived . During this period, the ancestral Pueblo, formerly hunter-gatherers, became farmers and used the perennial Streams and fertile soil of the area . Archaeologists have long believed that cliff dwellings were built to protect granaries from rodents. However, evidence found in the late 20th century suggested that the region was subject to intertribal warfare, raids and possible cannibalism during the period, indicating the need for easily defendable housing. By the end of the 13th century, however Climate change had brought severe drought, depletion of timber in the nearby mountains had led to severe soil erosion, and the ancestral Pueblo were forced to leave the area.
Byron Cummings, an archaeologist, and John Wetherill, a local rancher and trader, explored the ruins of Keet Seel, the largest of the sites, in 1907. Two years later, Cummings and Wetherill discovered the ruins of Betatakin and Inscription House. Bettakin's 135 rooms are located in a cliff alcove 138 meters high and 113 meters wide. A cliff alcove also houses Keet Seel's 160 rooms and 6 kivas (ceremonial houses). The Inscription House (named by Cummings and Wetherill after graffiti they found on a wall dating from 1661) has 74 rooms and 1 kiva. It has been closed to the public since 1968. To visit the other two ruins, visitors must take guided tours led by park rangers.