Here truly was a “melting pot.” Indian families came from the north, south, east, and west. In the cinder-covered area is the only place where we find the Pueblo dry farmer from eastern and northern Arizona mingling with the Hohokam irrigation farmer from the south; where there are strong influences from the Mogollon groups to the south and east along with those from a more backward and, as yet, little-known people from the west. Each tribe came with their precious corn seed and digging sticks to cultivate the cinder soils. They met and mingled. In the earlier village ruins it is possible to distinguish these various people by characteristic styles of their utensils, tools, and weapons, but as time went on these differences became less and less apparent. The Villages Villages were developed throughout the cinder-covered area. One of the most important and longest inhabited of these was a ruin which is now called Wupatki—a Hopi Indian word for “Tall House.” Here was a spring, one of the few in this arid region. Wupatki is one of the most spectacular pueblos in northern Arizona. Its sandstone walls rise from a sandstone spur at the base of a black lava mesa that overlooks the Painted Desert. From an insignificant pueblo of a few rooms, Wupatki grew until it became the largest in the region. During the 1100’s it contained more than 100 rooms, was in places at least three stories high, and had an estimated population of from 150 to 200 persons. To one side of the ruin, protected from the prevailing winds, was an open-air amphitheater which apparently was used for public ceremonies. In the valley below is a “ball court,” the only stone-masonry one that has been discovered in the Southwest. Little is known of the game itself, but it was very popular in southern Arizona and was brought up by migrants from that region. Wupatki was partially excavated and a few of the rooms restored by the Museum of Northern Arizona in cooperation with the National Park Service in 1933-34. [Illustration: The Wupatki ruin] Around the Citadel was another concentration of prehistoric Indians. Within a square mile there are more than 100 sites, varying in size from earth lodges to the larger pueblos. The Citadel itself, as yet unexcavated, is a fortified apartment house. Probably it was once two stories high and contained nearly 50 rooms. Its impregnable position on top of a small lava-capped mesa, overlooking a wide expanse of country, suggests that it served as a retreat during times of stress. Numerous loop-holes through the thick walls strengthen this impression. On the terraced slopes of the mesa are circles of boulders, the remains of more temporary homes. It is possible that the Citadel was built to guard a water supply that existed in the nearby limestone sinkhole. Just below the Citadel is the small pueblo now called Nalakihu, a Hopi word for “House Standing Alone.” It, like Wupatki, was excavated and partially restored in 1934.