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Pueblo Tyuonyi ruins, one of several Ancestral Pueblos at Bandelier National Monument |
Bandelier National
Monument is a 33,727 acre park preserving Ancestral
Pueblo sites and keeping the area safe which has hosted human
activity for over 10,000 years. The Frijoles canyon area holds the Tyuonyi
Pueblo, Long House and talus houses of cliff dwellings. Bandelier holds over
3000 documented Ancestral Pueblo sites with very few restored. The main loop
trail is only 1.2 miles long and is partially handicapped accessable.
The Ancestral Pueblo people, once called the Navajo word Anasazi for "Ancient Enemies", came to this land
around 10,000 years ago, starting as hunter-gatherers, roaming the mesa tops
above the canyons where they eventually grew the 3 main plants of the time: corn, squash and beans, and hunted small animals for meat and hide.
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Swiss Cheese-like holes in the soft volcanic tuft |
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And carved Cavates in the tuft |
The mesa top is called Pajarito (for
little bird) and was formed by two violent volcanic eruptions of the
Jemez Mountains 14 miles to the west about one million years ago, now the site of Valles
Caldera National Preserve. Each of the two eruptions were 600 times more
powerful than the 1980 eruption at Mount St. Helens.
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Looking up the canyon walls |
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Morning light on the cactus |
The soft volcanic tuft now looks like
Swiss cheese along the Frijoles Creek area. Trees and shrubs grow well in
the canyon alongside the permanent stream and draw wildlife. The reliable
water source must have been very important to the Ancestral Pueblo people,
providing drinking and cooking water, plus water for plants.
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Canyon wall houses |
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Inside the Cavates with the metates |
The 400-room Tyuonyi Pueblo housed about
100 people. There were 3 kivas inside the walls and only one entrance. Ground
floor rooms typically stored food and turkeys, with family housing above. Most
rooms were either entered via a rooftop ladder, some by a small doorway.
Ceilings were wood logs covered with earth and mud, random awnings shaded some
homes.
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Roof entry |
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Ladders, ladders everywhere |
The south-facing canyon walls, warmer
during the winter, held 2 story Pueblos with 2-3 stone built rooms, with one or
two rooms carved from the cliff face using stone tools. Cavate ceilings were
blackened with soot to harden the stone and make it less crumbly. Horizontal rows of holes show where the roof beams were placed. The walls
and floors were mud plastered, requiring constant maintenance.
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More Cavates, more ladders |
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The beginning of the Long House along the cliff, note the holes in the wall for ceiling posts |
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And steps with helpful modern handrails |
The Long House ruins go almost half a mile
along the cliff face. One painted wall was uncovered and is now on display. Petroglyphs
are cut above the roofs into the cliff with carvings of turkeys, dogs,
lightning and parrots. Yes, parrots were traded here, along with copper bells as part of an extensive
trading network from Mexico to the US Central Plains. The petroglyphs seem to
have much deeper and specific meanings to the native people who carved them, and may be considered another language. Ideas
were traded here too as there are significant construction techniques found in
the big kiva that mirror those found at Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde.
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Found hidden behind plaster, this wall shows how it had been painted at one time |
500 people were living here at the peak on the Pajarito Plateau around 1325 CE. Most Pueblos ranged from 150 to 500 rooms, some contained 1000 to 1500 rooms.
It has been 450 years since people lived in the Pueblos at
Bandelier, and they had lived there previously for 400 years, growing food,
raising children, and living life. Modern Pueblo peoples still visit the site
and respect their elders. There is so much more to explore here and I'll be back to spend more time at Bandelier.
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Frijoles creek on its way to meet the Rio Grande |
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View of the cliff face from the creek |
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Looking back at the cliffs from the visitor center, the large kiva is on the left just past that tree |
Bandelier National Monument runs shuttle
buses every 30 minutes daily 9am to closing from the park welcome center
in White Rock. Parking at the canyon site is extremely limited and the
buses make it a much safer trip. If you are camping at Juniper Campground, drive
on to the actual park entrance, pay there and setup camp in the
campground. Keep your entrance tab for
the bus. A bus also runs from the campground down
to the Frijoles Canyon every 30 minutes.
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Parting shots of flowers on the way out |
To find Bandelier National Monument, drive north on US 285 &
US 84 from Santa Fe, turn left onto NM 502 and follow to NM 4 near White Rock. It is
about a 40-45 minute drive from Santa Fe.
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