2019.12: Box Canyon Dwellings & Lomaki Pueblo, Wupatki National Monument, Arizona, USA

Location: Box Canyon Dwellings & Lomaki Pueblo, Wupatki National Monument, Arizona, USA

Date: 2019.12

Photographer: Jesen

Camera: Nikon D850

Retouch: Adobe Photoshop

Copyright: www.haomingxiong.com

Lomaki means “Beautiful House” in the Hopi language. Located at the end of this trail it had nine rooms constructed from local limestone and sandstone in the last decade of the 1100s. Both the interior and exterior walls may have been coated with plaster, though none of the coating remains today. Although this area does not look like farmland today, the inhabitants of Lomaki were skilled dry farmers who probably used techniques similar to what contemporary Hopi people use today. Fields were located on the flat mesa tops, in washes, and on terraced hillsides. The presence of just a few inches of black cinders created a mulch layer which helped hold moisture. The two smaller structures on either side of the earth crack may have housed extended family of the people living in Lomaki. These dwellings are only a few of dozens surrounding both Lomaki and Citadel. With a keen eye you can spot other walls on top of nearby mesas. At one time this was a thriving community who traded with other communities for hundreds of miles. Although it is no longer physically occupied, Hopi believe the people who lived and died here remain as spiritual guardians. These places are remembered and cared for, not abandoned.

JESEN Photo