The upper Little Colorado River region of northeastern Arizona has a rich archaeological heritage with hundreds, if not thousands, of Ancestral Puebloan sites. This area is described by the Zuni people as an “umbilical cord” that connects Zuni Pueblo in west-central New Mexico with their place of origin in the Grand Canyon. Amity Pueblo, which was established as early as A.D. 900, is a highly significant ancestral village for the Pueblo of Zuni. It’s now a rubble mound that’s thought to contain some sixty rooms. Archaeologists previously evaluated the site as eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, and four tribes have stated that it is a traditional cultural property, meaning it holds religious significance for them.
Amity Pueblo is the Conservancy’s eighth ancestral Zuni preserve in Arizona and New Mexico. The Conservancy, in consultation with the tribes, Arizona Game and Fish, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, archaeologists, and adjacent property owners, will develop a long-term management plan for the site that will include provisions for routine monitoring and access to the land by the consulting tribes.
Excerpt of an article published in American Archaeology, Summer 2018 | Vol. 22 No. 2.
