Aztec Ruins

Looking through windows at Aztec Ruins

Finally, after 12 years, I took a trip out to the Aztec Ruins last weekend. Wow, what a great trip.

The rounded, eroded walls of the ruins combine with the backdrop of lush Cottonwood trees to give a feeling of being in the jungle. It’s very different than the harsh deserts in which I’m used to seeing ruins.

Aztec Ruins, with town of Aztec in background

What is especially interesting about the Aztec Ruins is their relationship to the ruined city ar Chaco, and the role that Aztec may have played in the history of our Cortez-area ruins (Sand Canyon/Castle Rock Pueblo).

The Aztec Site was built a little bit after the fall of Chaco as a ruling center for the area. Aztec was built very, very quickly - in roughly a decade. It must have been an unspeakably large effort. There are a bunch of architectural similarities between Aztec and Chaco. For example, the proportions of the Aztec buildings followed those of Pueblo Bonito at Chaco.

Books I’ve been reading describe Aztec as an attempted resurgence of the Chaco-esque political system for the Four Corners Area, moved North from Chaco. When Aztec, too, eventually collapsed, the Anasazi political center shifted again, this time south to Paquimé, in Mexico. The three sites are on more-or-less the same North-South meridian…forming Stephen Lekson’s Chaco Meridian.

Folks such as Craig Childs, in his book House of Rain, wonder if the wave of violence in the late 13th century that swept the Southwest was in part politically motivated…teams of Death Squads roaming the Four Corners, enforcing the political status quo by terror. Big, demonstrative acts of violence meant as warnings to other communities, as Aztec’s ruling class tried to hold on to its political power. That certainly would explain the spasms of massacres around 1270-1280 AD.

I don’t know. But that explanation makes sense to me. It’s possible that my acceptance of those hypotheses says more about me than it does the archaeological evidence, but hey.

There are actually two sets of ruins at Aztec - Aztec East and Aztec West. They are separated by a hundred yards or so. Aztec West has been excavated, and is the ruin that is open to the public. Aztec East is un-excavated, and closed.

Some of the ruins in Aztec West have been reconstructed….falling walls repaired, etc. You can see the different types of mortar between the stones in a few places.

One of the neatest walls was ‘The Green Wall’ - it’s got a band of greenish-blue stones running through it about halfway up. These stones were original - not added by the reconstruction. The stones came from a local quarry 2-3 miles away.

Stones in the Green Wall at Aztec

These are very photogenic ruins - there are lots of windows-looking-through-windows, doors-looking-through-doors types of shots. It’s beautiful.

It’s funny how many of the photos I took reminded me of other ruins photos that I’ve seen and liked - I’m betting that a good proportion of those other photos were also taken here.

Windows at Aztec Ruins

Usually I don’t like the idea of reconstruction work at ruins sites…I’d rather see the ruins as-is. But it is really, really neat to see the partially restored structures, too.

Looking into a kiva at Aztec Ruins

The photo above is looking down into a ruined kiva. There’s another, larger kiva at on-site that is completely reconstructed, with wall hangings etc. I’ve never been inside a real kiva to know, but going inside the fully reconstructed kiva felt awfully church-like to me. I’ve never been comfortable in such settings, so did not go all the way in.

Doorway at Aztec Ruins

The photo below is from one of the coolest parts of the trip…it’s a doorway into a series of 4 or 5 connected rooms.

Doorway at Aztec Ruins

I had to bend over nearly double to get through the doorways, but what an experience it was, going from dusty room to room. The light was beautiful…really pretty.

Looking through doorways at Aztec Ruins

It’s really a treat to visit ruins like these. Ones that you can get close to, actually go through.