Aztec Ruins National Monument

The Aztec Ruins [ ˌ æstek rʊ ː ns] ( German Aztec Ruins) form a cultural and historical memorial of the type of National Monuments in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of New Mexico, are protected in the several well-preserved ruins of earlier pueblos. Among the solitary complexes include Hubbard Site, Mound F, East Ruin, Earl Morris Ruin and the West Ruin, the latter of which is open to the public only.

Unlike the name suggests, the Pueblos were not built by the Aztecs, but erroneously named after them. Early settlers believed in remembering stories about the conquest of Mexico, that they had been built by them. The National Monument is located near the border coloradischen in the newly -Mexican Aztec, which can be reached from the direction of Durango to the north and Albuquerque in the south via Highway 550.

History

Discovery

First recordings made ​​in 1859 by the geologist Dr. John S. Newberry, who was then still vorfand relatively well preserved pueblos. However, in the next 50 years they fell victim to sporadic looting. As in 1878, the anthropologist Lewis H. Morgan came to this place, he found that about a quarter of the stones was removed by settlers to be reused as building material. Only when the country came in 1889, privately owned, it remained relatively spared from further destruction, and came in 1923 with the appointment of a National Monument finally under national protection.

Earl Halstead Morris initiated at the end of the 1920s the first systematic excavations. He spent the next seven years with the excavations on the West Ruin, the Great Kiva, as well as some areas of the East Ruin (East Ruin ). Among other things, he discovered next to differences in style and that it had to have been two distinct periods in the settlement. In 1930, under his supervision, the reconstruction of the Great Kiva - typical of the Pueblo culture ceremony room - which was completed four years later. 1923, the ruins were designated as a National Monument.

Colonization

Around 1111 the first settlement was established at this point, which forms the western ruins today. In its design, it is similar to those in Chaco Canyon. She had three floors, included more than 400 rooms and several kivas, including the Great Kiva. In the following decades, the settlement developed into a center of trade and ceremonial events. With the decline of the Chaco culture but this was already around 1150 again in decline. This also there were the effects of drought.

Around 1200 began the second phase of settlement. The pueblo was partially redesigned existing unfinished building completed. At this time was a little off building a second settlement, today's East ruin. The design of this and also of tags similar to the buildings in the Mesa Verde National Park. Also finds of pottery indicated a connection to this culture.

Around 1300 left the Aztec people. The exact reasons are not known, possible causes could have been another drought or shortage of raw materials.