The Puye Cliff Dwellings are the ruins of an abandoned

pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...

, located in Santa Clara Canyon on

Santa Clara Pueblo Santa Clara Pueblo (in Tewa: Khaʼpʼoe Ówîngeh ɑ̀ʔp’òː ʔówîŋgè ″Singing Water Village″, also known as ″Village of Wild Roses″ is a census-designated place (CDP) in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, United States and a federa ...

land near

Española, New Mexico Española is a city primarily in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, United States. A portion of the central and eastern section of the city is in Santa Fe County. Founded as a railroad village some distance from the old Indian town of San Juan de l ...

. The site was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...

in 1966.

Ancient pueblo dwellings

Between 900 and 1580, up to 1500

Pueblo people The Puebloans or Pueblo peoples, are Native Americans in the Southwestern United States who share common agricultural, material, and religious practices. Currently 100 pueblos are actively inhabited, among which Taos, San Ildefonso, Acoma, Z ...

lived in the area where they hunted game and cultivated food. Native peoples first settled in the area in the late 10th century of the

Pueblo II Era The Pueblo II Period (AD 900 to AD 1150) was the second pueblo period of the Ancestral Puebloans of the Four Corners region of the American southwest. During this period people lived in dwellings made of stone and mortar, enjoyed communal activit ...

, living in dispersed farmstead dwellings at the east side of the

Jemez Mountains The Jemez Mountains are a group of mountains in Rio Arriba, Sandoval, and Los Alamos counties, New Mexico, United States. Numerous Puebloan Indian tribes have lived in the Jemez Mountains region since before the Spanish arrived in New Mexic ...

. Their settlements increased and changed over time in the Pueblo III Era, when they lived in larger, concentrated villages of Otowi, Puye, Shufinne, Tsankawi, Tsirege, and Tyuonyi.''Puye Cliff Dwellings History.''
Puye Cliffs. Retrieved 10-14-2011. The Puye Cliffs complex, the largest complex on the

Pajarito Plateau The Pajarito Plateau is a volcanic plateau in north central New Mexico, United States. The plateau, part of the Jemez Mountains, is bounded on the west by the Sierra de los Valles, the range forming the east rim of the Valles Caldera, and on the e ...

, includes two levels of

cliff-dwelling In archaeology, cliff dwellings are dwellings formed by using niches or caves in high cliffs, and sometimes with excavation or additions in the way of masonry. Two special types of cliff dwelling are distinguished by archaeologists: the cliff ...

s and surface and cave dwellings. The two levels of cliff dwellings, the mesa top and reconstructed 'Community House' are accessed by paths and about twelve stairways and ladders cut into the side of the cliff. One level of cliff dwellings is over long and the second is about long. The dwellings were carved out of soft volcanic

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock ...

(the

Bandelier Tuff The Bandelier Tuff is a geologic formation exposed in and around the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico. It has a radiometric age of 1.85 to 1.25 million years, corresponding to the Pleistocene epoch. The tuff was erupted in a series of at ...

) on about a cliff ridge. The rock is relatively soft and can be excavated using wooden tools. The cliff dwellings held about 740 rooms and ruins at the base of the cliff that likely held additional dwellings.''Puye Cliff Dwellings - Ancestral Home of the Santa Clara Indians.''
Legends of America. 2003-2011. Retrieved 10-14-2011. On top of the mesa are cave dwellings of the

around which a multi-storied puebloan village was built. The south portion of the complex had 173 rooms on the ground floor. The total number of rooms is not known, but would include rooms on the northern side of the complex and the upper levels. In the center of the complex was a large plaza. About 1580 (after the end of the

Pueblo IV Era The Pueblo IV Period (AD 1350 to AD 1600) was the fourth period of ancient pueblo life in the American Southwest. At the end of prior Pueblo III Period, Ancestral Puebloans living in the Colorado and Utah regions abandoned their settlements a ...

) drought finally forced the villagers to leave for locations nearer to the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

valley. Present day inhabitants of

, some to the east, are descendants of the Puye. The American Indians living in pueblos in northern

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

traditionally speak the

Tewa language Tewa is a Tanoan language spoken by Pueblo people, mostly in the Rio Grande valley in New Mexico north of Santa Fe, and in Arizona. It is also known as Tano, or (archaic) Tée-wah. Dialects and usage The 1980 census counted 1,298 speakers, ...

. The Tewa name 'Puye' can be translated as 'pueblo ruin where the rabbits assemble or meet'. In 1907 Edgar Hewett, with the Southwest Society of the

Archaeological Institute of America The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) is North America's oldest society and largest organization devoted to the world of archaeology. AIA professionals have carried out archaeological fieldwork around the world and AIA has established re ...

, excavated Puye Cliffs. It was the first systematic excavation of a prehistoric pueblo in the Rio Grande valley. File:Puye 2.jpg,

Kiva A kiva is a space used by Puebloans for rites and political meetings, many of them associated with the kachina belief system. Among the modern Hopi and most other Pueblo peoples, "kiva" means a large room that is circular and underground ...

and ruins on top of mesa File:Puye 3.jpg, Cliff dwellings File:Puye 1.jpg,

Petroglyphs A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

File:Puye 4.jpg, Steps, worn into the rock

Recent history

The cliff dwellings were declared a

in 1966, under the name of "Puye Ruins."Note: A National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination document should be available upon request from the National Park Service for this site, but it appears not to be available on-line from th
NPS Focus search site
In 2000, a planned burn of trees in

Bandelier National Monument Bandelier National Monument is a United States National Monument near Los Alamos in Sandoval and Los Alamos counties, New Mexico. The monument preserves the homes and territory of the Ancestral Puebloans of a later era in the Southwest. Most ...

burned out of control. The resulting

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...

, known as the

Cerro Grande Fire The Cerro Grande Fire was a disastrous forest fire in New Mexico, United States of America, that occurred in May 2000. The fire started as a controlled burn, and became uncontrolled owing to high winds and drought conditions. Over 400 fam ...

, eventually claimed , some 250 houses in Los Alamos, and devastated Santa Clara Canyon. Puye Cliff Dwellings site has been reopened to the public. Current information can be obtained from Santa Clara Pueblo.Se
Santa Fe New Mexican article about Santa Clara Canyon
(Accessed 29 May 2006). Tours can be scheduled to explore the cliffs and learn of their history.

In popular culture

The area features extensively in the 1952 film ''

The Atomic City ''The Atomic City'' is a 1952 thriller film directed by Jerry Hopper and starring Gene Barry and Lydia Clarke. The story takes place at Los Alamos, New Mexico, where a nuclear physicist (Barry) lives and works. Terrorists kidnap his son and ...

''.

References

External links

Puye Cliff Dwellings

Puye Ruins National Historic Landmarks Program

{{authority control 12th-century architecture Archaeological sites in New Mexico Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in New Mexico Buildings and structures in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico Cliff dwellings Dwellings of the Pueblo peoples Former populated places in New Mexico History of Rio Arriba County, New Mexico Jemez Mountains National Historic Landmarks in New Mexico National Register of Historic Places in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico Populated places on the National Register of Historic Places in New Mexico Puebloan buildings and structures Pueblos on the National Register of Historic Places in New Mexico Ruins in the United States Santa Clara Pueblo Tewa

Ancient pueblo dwellings

Recent history

In popular culture

See also

References

External links