Bandelier National Monument, Los Alamos, NM

We took our first field trip as a group this past Friday to Bandelier National Monument in Los Alamos, NM.  It is a beautiful little park with wonderful films, exhibits, and trails that take you to the cliff dwellings and long houses of the Puebloan peoples.

Bandelier has a long human history and links to the modern Pueblos. Traditions which began in the distant past are still practiced today. At Bandelier, evidence of the Ancestral Pueblo people can be found in the dwellings, artifacts, and continuing culture of the modern pueblos. Early Spanish settlers, the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC), and  the National Park Service also left their mark on the local landscape.

People have lived in this area for over 10,000 years.  Ancestral Pueblo people built homes in the park's canyons and on the mesas.

Hunting

Groups of Paleoindians followed the movement of large, now-extinct species of ancient bison and mammoths. For the hunt, they crafted stone spear points and cutting tools, such as the Clovis point seen here. To improve their hunting success, they propelled their sharp spears with an altatl. This tool improved the power and distance a spear could be thrown. Warming temperatures and the extinction of many species of large animals brought an end to the Paleoindian lifestyle.

By 1550, the Ancestral Pueblo people had moved from this area to pueblos along the Rio Grande.  After over 400 years the land here could no longer support the people and a severe drought added to what were already becoming difficult times. Oral traditions tell us where the people went and who their descendents are. The people of Cochiti Pueblo, located just south and east along the Rio Grande, are the most direct descendents of the Ancestral Pueblo people who built homes in Frijoles Canyon.  Likewise, San Ildefonso is most closely linked to Tsankawi.