These Ancient Cliff Homes Housed the Southwest’s Best Ceramic Artists

The Salado Cliff Dwellings

High up in Arizona’s rocky walls, ancient people built homes that would outlast empires.

The Salado culture left behind stone rooms tucked into cliff faces, complete with pottery shards and corn kernels still scattered on floors.

Here’s their story, and how you can climb up to see these desert castles yourself.

Salado Practices

Their multi-story structures fit perfectly into natural cave alcoves within canyon walls. Stone walls rose from desert rock while roofs kept out rain and sun.

This culture created distinctive red, white, and black polychrome pottery alongside uniquely patterned textiles. Unlike neighboring groups who cremated their dead, Salado people buried their deceased.

From Valley Floor to Canyon Walls

Salado communities first built homes on the valley floor. Families lived in simple structures near their farmlands.

Around 1300 CE, they began moving upward as the population grew to thousands by 1275 CE. More people meant more competition for resources in the desert.

As a result, the Salados carved homes into natural cave alcoves high above the Tonto Basin. This protected them from harsh weather and possible enemies while still allowing access to farms below.

Master Builders

Salado builders made walls using mud and rocks from nearby hillsides.

Their special coil-and-scrape method mixed clay with crushed granite or diabase rock. Workers stacked clay coils then scraped sides together to make strong, solid walls.

Natural cave ceilings became ready-made roofs for homes. This saved much work compared to building entire houses from scratch.

The homes had small doorways that kept heat inside during cold months. Some doorways had T-shapes that may have blocked drafts or held jars and containers.

The Lower Cliff Dwelling Community

The Lower Cliff Dwelling held 16 rooms on its ground floor with 3 second-story rooms, totaling about 20 rooms.

Next to the main building stood a 12-room addition that expanded the living space. Together, these rooms could house dozens of people.

The Upper Cliff Dwelling Extension

The Upper Cliff Dwelling showed even greater building skill. With 32 ground-floor rooms, 8 second-story rooms, and about 40 rooms total, it stands as the largest cliff dwelling at Tonto National Monument.

This impressive structure filled a spacious cave measuring 70 feet wide, 80 feet high, and 60 feet deep. The natural alcove gave plenty of room for the multi-level pueblo.

Farmers of the Desert

The Salado were clever farmers who built water channels directing flow from the Salt River to their fields. They grew maize, beans, pumpkins, amaranth and cotton.

Hunting added meat to their diet. Salado hunters tracked deer, rabbits, and bighorn sheep in the surrounding hills.

They also gathered wild plants including buds, leaves and roots to round out their meals.

Artists of the Polychrome Pottery

The Salado created different pottery styles that show their cultural timeline. These include Pinto Polychrome (1280-1330 CE), Gila Polychrome (1300-1450 CE), and Tonto Polychrome (1350-1450 CE).

Women made most of the pottery. They used the coil-and-scrape method with local clay to shape bowls, jars, and other vessels.

Their earliest style, Pinto Polychrome, featured bowls with red exteriors and white interiors marked with black geometric designs.

Over time, designs grew more complex. Later pottery showed intricate geometric shapes, scrollwork, and maze-like patterns that became hallmarks of Salado artistic style.

Weavers of Cotton and Yucca

The Salado wove complex textiles using cotton grown in their fields. These fabrics served both daily and decorative needs.

Digs at dwelling sites revealed their tools and crafts. Researchers found wooden drills for making fires, spinning tools for cotton, and sandals made from yucca plants.

Desert plants provided materials for many items. Craftspeople made sandals and baskets from yucca and agave fibers harvested from the surrounding landscape.

Trade Networks Across the Southwest

Their network stretched from central Arizona to the Rio Grande in New Mexico, north to the Little Colorado River, and south into northern Mexico.

Rare materials in Salado sites show distant trade contacts such as seashells from the Gulf of California, hundreds of miles from their homeland.

The Abandonment

By 1450 CE, the Salado had completely left their cliff dwellings.

Climate changes likely drove this migration. Tree-ring dating shows a severe drought from 1275-1299 CE that probably led to food shortages, setting up conditions that eventually forced abandonment.

Beyond drought, researchers suggest resource competition, environmental damage, and possible conflict.

Visiting Salado Cliff Dwellings

The Salado cliff dwellings remain preserved at Tonto National Monument near Roosevelt, Arizona. The visitor center shows original Salado artifacts including pottery, tools, and textiles.

The Lower Cliff Dwelling sits just a half-mile up a paved trail. This somewhat steep path climbs 350 feet to reach the preserved structure.

The Upper Cliff Dwelling requires a guided 3-mile round trip tour with reservation. These tours run November through April on specific days.

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