The ruins at Aztec National Monument in New Mexico have been carefully stabilized to give a feeling of what the place was like centuries ago.
Little visited Aztec National Monument has endless small adjoining rooms that housed both food storage and living quarters.
The circular Kivas may have been used for meetings or ceremonies.
deposited a layer of volcanic ash across the plains, and it is thought that it helped hold the moisture in this dry land, making it possible for the ancients to farm successfully. However, like their brethren at Tonto and Aztec Ruins National Monuments, the people of Wupatki also abandoned their homes after just a century, around 1250, possibly because of a massive drought. All of these ancient ruins are fun to visit and there are many places to stay in an RV nearby. If you are heading to the Southwest and want to take a few walks far back in time, these four National Monuments are a must see!
FOR MORE INFORMATION www.nps.gov/azru • www.nps.gov/band
www.nps.gov/band/planyourvisit/tsankawi • www.nps.gov/tont www.nps.gov/wupa • Here is a link to a map showing the locations of these ruins:https://goo.gl/maps/UVtRraJBuvB2
Some doorways at Aztec National Monument are “T” shaped, reminiscent of the Mayan doorways hundreds of miles south and built hundreds of years earlier.
SOUTHWEST RUINS
COAST TO COAST SPRING MAGAZINE 2019
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