Canyons of the Ancients National Monument
CANM · Canyons of the Ancients
Basketmaker II–Pueblo III 1500 BCE–1300 CE (peak 1000–1300)·Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi, Basketmaker to Pueblo III)·🇺🇸 Colorado, United States
About
About Canyons of the Ancients National Monument
Largest archaeological landscape in US implying 30,000 people: 176,000-acre (71,200 ha) monument with 6,355 recorded sites – villages, cliff dwellings, kivas, towers and shrines from Basketmaker to Pueblo III – densest ancient settlement in US (100 sites per square mile in places). Includes Lowry Pueblo (National Historic Landmark, 40 rooms, 8 kivas with Great Kiva painted murals) and Painted Hand Pueblo in Canyons, managed by BLM since 2000 for research preservation.
Why it mattersDensest known Ancestral Puebloan landscape; laboratory for population nucleation to cliff-dwelling shift and 13th-century regional depopulation.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why such extreme density (100 sites per sq mile) in narrow canyons without perennial water
- 02Whether canyon site clusters represent sequential or simultaneous settlement
Theories
- 01Great Drought and social circumscription drove canyon concentration before Mesa Verde collapse
- 02Monument as buffer zone between Chaco and Mesa Verde interaction spheres
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.1500 BCE–1300 CE; villages mostly 900–1300 CE
- Period
- Basketmaker II–Pueblo III 1500 BCE–1300 CE (peak 1000–1300)
- Culture
- Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi, Basketmaker to Pueblo III)
- Purpose
- Dense agricultural settlement system on mesa and canyon rims with pueblo villages
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.1500 BCE–1300 CE; villages mostly 900–1300 CE
Initial construction
c. 1355 CE
Major expansion
On the ground
Structures & features
37.3703° N · 108.8044° W · 1870 m · 3 mapped features
Lowry Pueblo
pueblo40-room Pueblo III pueblo with Great Kiva
37.5833° N · 108.5856° WPainted Hand Pueblo
puebloTower and cliff dwellings in canyon alcove
37.3642° N · 108.8125° WSand Canyon Pueblo
pueblo420-room fortress pueblo mesa top (unexcavated)
37.4108° N · 108.7156° W
Gallery