Aztec Ruins and Chaco Canyon by Nancy J. Farrier

My husband and I just returned from a trip to New Mexico where we visited Aztec Ruins, just outside of Farmington. The Ruins were fascinating and the information was something I wanted to share with you.

Small doorways
to navigate

The name Aztec Ruins is a bit deceptive since there is no historical indication that the Aztecs came north. Instead, the person at the Ruins suggested that the Spaniards at that time traveled north and named everything Aztec—possibly because they were so impressed with the Aztecs and their culture.

So, who inhabited Aztec Ruins? The consensus is that in the late 1000s and 1200s the ancestors of the Pueblo people built and inhabited the Ruins. They were migratory and the first known place they built a home was in Chaco Canyon to the south of Aztec Ruins.

 

By Rationalobserver
Wikimedia Commons

Chaco Canyon was the home of the ancestral Pueblos from about 850 A.D. to the early 1000s. In Chaco Canyon, they built what is called Pueblo Bonito, a house that had approximately 800 rooms and 37 kivas—ceremonial chambers. It is thought to have housed around 1,000 people. There are other sites within the park that housed even more people, along with more ceremonial kivas.

Original roof/ceiling

It is thought that the Pueblos left Chaco Canyon and migrated north. Some of them ended up building the ruins in current day Aztec, New Mexico. The historic site is Aztec Ruins.

The Ruins has a great Kiva, a ceremonial structure that still has the original rooms with a reconstructed building and timber roof. The room is mostly underground and has a sacred feel to it. There are pits inside and ladders leading to upper rooms at the back of the structure. The construction is fascinating.

Great Kiva ladder leading to
back rooms and exit

Great Kiva fire pit
and floor vault

Inside wall showing
use of stones.

Throughout the Ruins the structures, whether the houses or the standing kiva, are more polished on the outside, but a little rougher on the inside. There is a use of homemade bricks interspersed with rocks, making an interesting design. Along one of the outer walls, there is a section that is made up of green rock set among the bricks. It is unknown why they did this, maybe just for a design.

One of two roofless kivas

The large kiva contained a central fire pit, two floor

Another roofless kiva

vaults, and four pillars at each corner of the sunken room. There was bench seating around the outer walls. The intricate ceiling was beautiful and there were probably places for torches to add light. It is thought that the people put sticks across the floor vaults to use as foot drums during ceremonies. There were other smaller kivas that didn't have a roof. 



The Great Kiva was excavated in 1921 by Earl Morris. In 1934 he led the crew that reconstructed parts that were missing. After finding bits of plaster from the original walls, Morris matched the reconstruction paint color and type as best he could.

Corner doorway in
upper back

One of the questions in the construction is the unusual use of corner doorways. There are two of them in Aztec Ruins. These are unique and detract from the stability of the walls. There is much debate about the reason these corner doorways were installed, but no clear indication of the reason.

North wall of ruins

There are so many fascinating aspects to the Ruins, but one of the most amazing to me was the north wall of the building. It was designed so that if you stand at the end at dawn on the summer solstice, you could watch the sun rise along the wall. Lining up the walls with the solstice was something the Pueblo people did. It also aligns with sunset of the winter solstice. I would love to be there at one of those times and see that phenomenon.

Green rock section on outer wall.

The Pueblo ancestors left Aztec Ruins by around 1300. There is no obvious reason, possibly because of drought or social factors. They traveled north where they established the Mesa Verde ruins in Southern Colorado. You can read an HHH article about Mesa Verde here.

Have you ever visited Aztec Ruins? It's a fascinating place. There is so much history and so many questions about the people who lived here. I loved the reverant feel of the place and the care that is taken to keep it intact.

Nancy J Farrier is an award-winning, New York Times best-selling author who lives in Southern Arizona in the Sonoran Desert. She loves the Southwest with its interesting historical past. When Nancy isn’t writing, she loves to read, do needlecraft, play with her cats and dog, and spend time with her family. You can read more about Nancy and her books on her website: nancyjfarrier.com.