The name Sinagua was coined in 1939 by archaeologist Harold S. Colton, founder of the See more

Colton also distinguished between two different Sinagua cultures. The Northern Sinagua were loosely centered in the highlands around Flagstaff, with Walnut Canyon National Monument, Wupatki National M… See more

The Sinagua economy was based on a combination of hunter-gatherer foraging and subsistence agriculture. They hunted a variety of game from antelope, bear, rabbit, to turtles and ducks.
They used … See more

Early Sinagua sites consist mostly of large pit houses, similar to the ones built by the Hohokam people of southern Arizona, and wooden buildings. Later structures more closely resemble the Pueblo architecture practiced b… See more

Known as Alameda Brown Ware, their plain pottery was built using the paddle-and-anvil method. Their clay was grey or brown, tempered with crushed potsherds, and painted with buff, brown, and red slips.
They carve… See more

Sinagua peoples left the Verde Valley by the early 15th century. Like other pre-Columbian cultures in the southwest, the Sinagua apparently abandoned their permanent settlements around this time, though the … See more