Aztec Ruins National Monument

— Part of our southwest vacation in 2010 included Aztec Ruins NM and Chaco Culture NHP. The first and foremost thing to learn about this national monument is that its name, Aztec, is a misnomer. A nineteenth century erroneous belief, according to the National Park Service, stated “that the ancestors of the Aztecs migrated southward into Mexico from the U.S. Southwest.” Established in January 1923, the monument was also added as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 at the same time as Chaco Culture NHP. The National Parks Conservation Association says that Aztec Ruins is “the largest ancestral Pueblo community in the region, preserving incredible historic buildings, roadways and artifacts from the 11th through the 13th centuries.” Archaeologists believe that this community had anywhere from 450-500 rooms. It is easy to see this in the photo above by the number of rooms in just that one area.

In the park you will find several kivas and houses used by the Puebloan people. The park is about 320 acres and is located in northwestern New Mexico, just 10 miles (16 km) from the Colorado state line. It is also in this park that one will find a reconstructed kiva (the Great Kiva) providing visitors with an inside view of what those structures looked like. “Kiva” comes from a Hopi word meaning a ceremonial chamber. There were small round kivas as well as large ones. In the photo below, you have a reconstructed Great Kiva. These large kivas were believed to be used for communal activities and ceremonies.