Pueblo Grande de Nevada (Lost City)
Ancestral Pueblo Lost City Museum Site
Ancestral Pueblo Virgin branch Basketmaker III–Pueblo II·Ancestral Pueblo (Virgin Anasazi / Ancestral Pueblo)·🇺🇸 Nevada, United States
About
About Pueblo Grande de Nevada (Lost City)
Ancestral Pueblo (Virgin Anasazi) complex (300 BCE–1150 CE) on Muddy River floodplain, 100+ sites known as Lost City, center at Pueblo Grande (100 rooms, Great Kiva 17 m diameter) submerged partly by Lake Mead after Hoover Dam 1935. Basketmaker III–Pueblo II adobe-walled pueblos with Great Basin–Mesa Verde ceramics, turquoise, cotton irrigation along Muddy/Virgin River. Harrington 1924 excavations recovered 17,000 artifacts.
Why it mattersOnly low-desert Ancestral Pueblo complex inundated by modern reservoir demonstrating Virgin Anasazi western frontier and drought abandonment.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Extent of Lake Mead submergence original town plan
- 02Virgin Anasazi relation to Ancestral Pueblo Mesa Verde vs isolated
Theories
- 01Virgin branch riverine oasis adaptation vs Colorado Plateau
- 021150 drought and lowered water table abandonment model
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- 300 BCE–1150 CE (Basketmaker III–Pueblo II peak)
- Period
- Ancestral Pueblo Virgin branch Basketmaker III–Pueblo II
- Culture
- Ancestral Pueblo (Virgin Anasazi / Ancestral Pueblo)
- Builders
- Ancestral Pueblo Virgin Anasazi
- Purpose
- Irrigated river pueblo town and regional trade center
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
300 BCE–1150 CE (Basketmaker III–Pueblo II peak)
Initial construction
c. 1408 CE
Major expansion
On the ground
Structures & features
36.5094° N · 114.3711° W · 420 m · 2 mapped features
Pueblo Grande de Nevada (Lost City) central feature
featureMain architectural feature
36.5094° N · 114.3711° WPueblo Grande de Nevada (Lost City) secondary sector
sectorSecondary sector
36.5104° N · 114.3701° W
Gallery