Moki steps, sometimes spelled alternately as Moqui steps, are a recurring feature found in areas of the American southwest previously inhabited by the Ancient Pueblo Peoples

Ancient Pueblo Peoples

Ancient Pueblo People or Ancestral Pueblo peoples were an ancient Native American culture centered on the present-day Four Corners area of the United States, comprising southern Utah, northern Arizona, northwest New Mexico, and southern Colorado...

 and other related cultures. The steps consist of alternating hand and toe holds carved into vertical or near-vertical sandstone surfaces. The steps are usually two to three inches deep, and three to four inches in width and height.

Location and Use

Moki steps are often found near cliff-dwelling

Cliff-dwelling

Cliff dwelling is the general archaeological term for the habitations of prehistorical peoples, formed by using niches or caves in high cliffs, with more or less excavation or with additions in the way of masonry....

s and water sources. They may have allowed relatively quick access to difficult-to-reach areas such as slot canyon

Slot canyon

A slot canyon is a narrow canyon, formed by the wear of water rushing through rock. A slot canyon is significantly deeper than it is wide. Some slot canyons can measure less than one metre across at the top but drop more than 30 m to the floor of the canyon.Most slot canyons are formed in...

s, look-out positions, and granaries. In some cases, Moki steps are thought to have provided access to fertile canyon bottoms from more defensible dwellings on or above surrounding cliffs. The steps may have been used in conjunction with handmade ropes.

Similar sets of depressions may have been carved by non-indigenous settlers or explorers. In other cases, recent visitors may have deepened or widened a previously existing set of Moki steps. There is no published criteria for determining the origin of a given set of steps.

External links

• http://www.flickr.com/photos/amalaura/541864353/ Picture