Tonto National Monument has two cliff dwellings open to visitors. The steep hike up is well worth the effort to see them up close.
Aztec Ruins National Monument Aztec Ruins National Monument, near Farmington, New Mexico, is a fabulous 400-room Great House that dates back about 900 years. The ruins were named by the early Americans who first explored it, and the name is a misnomer because these buildings were actually built by the Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Anasazi, and not by the Aztecs. The Aztecs lived much further south and had their stronghold just outside of modern- day Mexico City. The ruins consist of a huge maze of masonry stone walls with occasional tree limb rafters and floor joists remaining. We were enchanted as we wandered freely from room to room. Archaeologists theorize that many of the rooms were used for food storage, and a few may have been used as living quarters. While some doorways are standing height even today, we had to stoop to pass through others. We were intrigued that several doorways are "T" shaped like the doors the Mayans built into their structures 600 years prior and thousands of miles south. Like other Ancestral Puebloan communities in the Four Corners region of the Southwest, there are many Kivas in these ruins. These circular rooms may have been used as gathering places for meetings or ceremonies. The Great
The Ancestral Puebloans built a huge community at Wupatki. Several smaller villages lie along a 65-mile drive.
SOUTHWEST RUINS Story by Emily Fagan Photos by Emily and Mark Fagan
Today, Arizona and New Mexico are beloved by RV travelers for their beautiful scenery and exciting outdoor adventures. Back in the 1100s to 1500s, this part of the continent was just as popular among the ancient peoples for farming, making pottery and tools, and living in tight-knit settlements built into cliffs and constructed from hewn stone. These people later abandoned their communities, and they left behind enticing fragments of their homes and crafts that provide some clues as to who they were and how they lived. For those of us fascinated with the mysteries of the ancient people that came before us 500 to 900 years ago, there are several places in the American southwest where you can wander through the rooms they built and even see their fingerprints in the adobe walls.
SOUTHWEST RUINS
COAST TO COAST SPRING MAGAZINE 2019
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