Montezuma Castle National Monument was next. The impressive dwelling, situated about 90 feet up a cliff, is one of the best-preserved in North America. Access into the structure was most likely permitted by a series of portable ladders, making it difficult for enemy tribes to penetrate. Neither part of its name is correct, however. The dwelling was built by the Sinagua people, not the Aztecs, abandoned more than forty years before Montezuma was born, and was not a "castle", but instead functioned more like a five storey "prehistoric high rise apartment complex". |