pueblos of the chaco culture

We woke up early the following morning and drove 6.5 hours to Chaco Culture National Historical Park, which is closer to the northwestern end of NM. The road took us through a few different kinds of terrain. We stopped in one place to take photos, since I liked the scenery. It was very quiet and mostly deserted, which allowed us to walk all over the highway and cross back and forth and stuff.










I had really been looking forward to this park, as it was supposed to be full of ancient ruins. It did not disappoint. Getting there and out was a bit of a pain--more than 30 miles of dirt roads, with much of it being bumpy and poorly cared for. Dealing with the hassle made getting to the park and seeing the ruins that much more worth it.

The structures in Chaco were constructed by the "Ancestral Pueblo" people, sometimes called the Anasazi. Some of the structures are more than 1000 years old, which to me is cool because I think most Americans don't typically think of any part of America having an ancient culture.

There's not much more I can say about this, so I'll let the pictures do the talking. Note that the circular structures in the ground are "kiva", which were used for religious ceremonies (probably smoking peyote or something like that).







Petroglyphs:




In the distance:






Fossilized seashells embedded in the rock:










One of the only snakes I've ever seen in the wild. My dad threw a rock at it to try to get it to come out the other side of a bush...when I was standing on that side of the bush. Thanks a lot, Dad.



Chaco is a great place to visit and an interesting part of American history that most people have never heard of. Highly recommended.