Casa Grande Ruins National Monument,
Arizona "Big House"
March 2005
From the National Park Service Web Site on the
Monument:
For over a thousand years, prehistoric farmers inhabited much of the
present-day state of Arizona. When the first Europeans arrived, all that
remained of this ancient culture were the ruins of villages, irrigation
canals and various artifacts. Among these ruins is the Casa Grande, or "Big
House," one of the largest and most mysterious prehistoric structures ever
built in North America. Casa Grande Ruins, the nation's first archeological
preserve, protects the Casa Grande and other archeological sites within its
boundaries. You are invited to see the Casa Grande and to hear the story of
the ancient ones the Akimel O'otham call the Hohokam, "those who are gone." |