Early modern settlers in the area thought the pueblo was built by Aztec Indians, hence the name of the ancient pueblo as well as the modern town of Aztec, New Mexico.
But these people were not Aztec, but ancestral Pueblo people, similar to the people who lived at Chaco Canyon to the south and Mesa Verde to the north. They were sometimes called "Anasazi", a word from the Navajo language which means "old people."
The pueblo was abandoned in 1300, and the people moved on -- perhaps to the Rio Grande pueblos, or south to Zuni and west to the Hopi Indian vilages.
The Aztec ruins are among the best Indian ruins John and I have seen. Very well preserved; we were able to go through some intact rooms which still have their ceilings. And we were able to go inside the great kiva as well, somthing we have not been able to do at other pueblo ruins we have visited.
The coolest thing is to stand among the ruins and realize that people lived and worked and laughed and cried here a thousand years ago. WOW
NATIONAL MONUMENT ENTRANCE AND VISITOR'S CENTER:
THE GREAT KIVA:
INSIDE THE GREAT KIVA:
SOME OF THE INTACT ROOMS AT THE RUINS:
METATE FOR GRINDING CORN:
BUILDING ON THE NATIONAL PARK GROUNDS:
3 comments:
Those Indians were pretty advanced with pretty cool digs.
I have been here as a kid and it is on our long, long list of places to see... maybe this summer or fall.
Thanks for sharing the photos.
Very neat! Similar to my family's trip to Mesa Verde last year, but without all the climbing! LOL!
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