“ The large mound at the base of the cliff contains over three centuries of trash discarded by the cliff dwellers above. As the layers of food-remains, wornout tools and broken pottery accumulated, an unwritten history of the lives and times of these people was provided. What will our dumps and landfills “tell” future archeologists about our lifestyles?
7
WHY CAN’T WE GO UP THERE? Montezuma Castle is irreplaceable! Most of the structure is over 600 years old and once housed about 50 people. Nearly one-half million people now view this ruin yearly. ”

“ If archeologists examine our gravesites 600 years from now, what will they learn about us?
14 Survival
Beaver Creek flows regardless of the season! Most of the time it is gentle and clear. However, dry periods may reduce streamflow to a trickle hidden beneath the rocky creekbed. Limbs and twigs are often lodged in the trees along the creek. This debris is evidence of the power and height of rampaging flood waters. The cliff dwellers probably knew and accepted all these moods.
Directly across the creek, buried beneath years of river deposits, are remnants of prehistoric irrigation ditches. ”

“ Over the centuries natural weathering has reduced this structure to a pile of rocks and dust. Perhaps the people who built in the cliffs chose this site because they understood desert creeks. Occasionally, the flats below are covered by floodwaters.
For the future
This ruin has never been excavated. Wouldn’t doing so add to our knowledge of its occupants? Probably. But instead of calling in the archeologists today, why not leave this site undisturbed for a while longer? Archeology is a relatively new science and its techniques are continually being developed and refined. ”