architecture practiced by other contemporaneous cultural groups occupying the southwestern United States. Besides ceremonial kivas, their pueblos had large "community rooms" and some featured ballcourts and walled courtyards, similar to those of the Hohokam culture. The last known evidence of Sinagua occupation for any site comes from Montezuma Castle, a limestone cliff dwelling by Beaver Creek in Verde Valley. This 65-room structure was believed to be built by Sinagua women between 1100 and 1350 CE. Art and material culture Known as Alameda Brown Ware, their plain pottery was built using the paddle-and-anvil method. Their clay was grey or brown, tempered with crushed potsherds, and painted with buff, brown, and red slips. They carved with imported red argillate. Migration and cultural shifts Sinagua peoples left the Verde Valley by the early 15th century. Like other pre-Columbian cultures in the southwest, the Sinagua apparently abandoned their permanent settlements around this time, though the precise reasons for such a large-scale abandonment are not yet known; resource depletion, drought, and clashes with the newly arrived Yavapai people have been suggested. Descendants Several contemporary Hopi clans trace their ancestry to immigrants from the Sinagua culture, who they believe left the Verde Valley for religious reasons. Pima, Tohono O'odham, Yavapai, and Zuni also potentially have cultural, linguistic, and historical connections to the Sinagua people. Melanie O'Brien, acting manager of the National NAGPRA Program, writes of Montezuma Castle: Evidence demonstrating continuity between the people of the Verde Valley during A.D. 1125–1425 and the Hopi Tribe includes archaeological, anthropological, linguistic, folkloric, and oral traditions. Ceramic vessels made only on the Hopi mesas are found at the sites and are similar to items made by historic and modern Hopi people. Additionally, plain woven and painted textiles, coiled basketry, and woven matting are similar to items made and used by modern Hopi people. Living Hopi clan members also have ancestral names and traditional stories about specific events and people at each site. Cliff dwellings of the Sinaguas Notes References See also Desert farming, present-day applications of non-irrigated farming by Native Americans of the southwestern United States Ancient Pueblo peoples Hohokam Mogollon Oasisamerica External links Logan Museum – Ancient Cultures of the Southwest Montezuma Castle National Monument Palatki Archaeological Site Selected, Annotated Bibliography of Southern Sinagua Archaeology Tuzigoot National Monument Wupatki National Monument Native American history of Arizona Native American tribes in Arizona Oasisamerica cultures Archaeology of the United States Puebloan