Trail of the Ancients Scenic Byway (New Mexico)
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The Trail of the Ancients is a New Mexico Scenic Byway to prehistoric archaeological and geological sites of northwestern New Mexico. It provides insight into the lives of the Ancient Puebloan, Navajos, Utes and Apache people. Geological features include canyons, volcanic rock features, and sandstone buttes. Several of the sites are scenic and wilderness areas with recreational opportunities.
The Trail of the Ancients captures the archaeological evidence of hunter and gatherers who lived in the area since 10,000 B.C. or earlier, in the northwestern portion of the state. The Ancient Puebloans that lived in the area between about 850 and 1250 A.D. are the ancestors of the modern Hopi, Zuni and Rio Grande Pueblo tribes. Navajos, from the Athabascan tribal areas in northwestern Canada, migrated into the area about 500 years ago. Other Native Americans include the Utes and Apaches.
Native peoples left evidence of their lives in ruins of agricultural communities, broken pieces of pottery, tools, pictographs, and petroglyphs. The landscape includes large sandstone formations, desolate deserts, interesting views, and geologic formations.
A key site on the byway are the ruins at Chaco Canyon, which was the "ceremonial center" for puebloan people at that and outlying pueblos between 850 and 1250 A.D. Other key sites are the El Morro National Monument and El Malpais National Monument.
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