Archaeology of the Southwest
The southwestern United States is unusually rich in both recent and ancient ruins. In the company of expert local archeologists visit some of the most dramatic and inaccessible sites, including Chaco Canyon and other Anasazi ruins. This trip will provide you with a comprehensive overview of the archaeology of this unique area.
Day 1
Home/Albuquerque. Arrive in Albuquerque and transfer on your own to Hotel Albuquerque. Welcome reception and overview of the trip by your study leader. Dinner to follow.
Day 2
Acoma/Zuni/Gallup. This morning we drive an hour west to Acoma Pueblo. Acoma Pueblo is perched atop a forbidding mesa rising 400 feet above the valley floor. Known as "Sky City," Acoma has been inhabited since the 12th century and is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful of the Pueblos.
After lunch at Acoma, we will continue west towards Zuni Pueblo to visit the A:Shiwi A:Wan Museum and Heritage Center. At the museum, the director will guide our group through the story of the Zuni emergence which is depicted in a beautiful mural. Following this visit, there will be a tour of the old Mission Church. At the church, the group will view another beautiful mural that depicts the Shalako ceremony of the Zuni. Continue on to the Holiday Inn Express in Gallup.
Day 3
Hubble Trading Post/Chinle. We will begin the day at the Hubbell Trading Post. Now a National Historic Site, the establishment offers a unique glimpse into the time when traders served as reservation dwellers' main contact to the outside world. We end the day in Chinle, Arizona, where we stay within Canyon de Chelly National Monument at the Thunderbird Lodge.
Day 4
Canyon de Chelly/Hovenweep/Mesa Verde. After breakfast, we depart for our half-day exploring Canyon de Chelly National Monument, one of the longest continuously inhabited places in North America. Our tour begins with a ride through the canyons in 4-wheel drive vehicles. Canyon de Chelly's cultural resources, including distinctive architecture, artifacts, and rock art, are extremely well-preserved and evoke the prehistoric canyon inhabitants who called this magnificent area home. Narrow canyons are framed by sheer red and yellow cliffs and lined with white sand streambeds. Canyon de Chelly also sustains a living community of Navajo people who are connected to a landscape of great historical and spiritual significance, a place infused with collective memory. There will be a box lunch in the Canyon de Chelly then onward to explore the rarely visited Hovenweep. Hovenweep is a series of magnificent ruins straddling the Utah and Colorado border. As we wander along the trails of this National Monument, we examine a series of multi-storied towers that were built by ancestral Puebloans, mostly between 1200-1300 AD. These striking towers may have been celestial observatories, defensive structures, storage facilities, civil buildings, homes, or any combination of the above. While archaeologists have found that most towers were associated with kivas, their actual function remains a mystery. These buildings were once part of larger pueblos built into rock shelters that covered the cliff faces. Stay at the Far View Lodge one night.
Day 5
Mesa Verde National Park/Durango. Spend the entire day at Mesa Verde, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The archaeological sites found in Mesa Verde are some of the most notable and best-preserved in the United States. About 600 AD a group of native people chose Mesa Verde for their home, and for more than 700 years their descendants lived and flourished here. Over the centuries they built elaborate, stone, multi-storied "apartment houses" in the sheltered recesses of the towering canyon walls. Our full-day tour takes us to explore some of these spectacular cliff dwellings and their associated pre-historic farming terraces and pithouses. Stay at the Strater Hotel one night.
Day 6
Durango/Chimney Rock/Aztec Ruins. In the morning, visit Chimney Rock, a "line of sight" set of kivas atop a large rock outcrop. After lunch, continue to multi-storied Aztec Ruins National Monument, located on the north bank of the Animas River. This five hundred-room complex was built almost 1,000 years ago and contains a large and beautifully restored kiva in the central plaza. Enjoy a special group dinner this evening at one of Aztec's colorful restaurants. Overnight at the Step Back Inn for one night.
Day 7
Aztec/Chaco Canyon/Abiquiu. In the morning we drive to Chaco Canyon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where we spend the entire day. A recent survey by archaeologists has recorded more than 2,000 ancient sites within the valley and nearby areas. This arid, tree-less canyon was the center of Anasazi culture between 850 and 1250 AD. It was a hub of ceremony, trade, and administration for the prehistoric Four Corners area. Chaco is remarkable for the distinctive architecture of its monumental public and ceremonial buildings. To construct the buildings, along with the associated Chacoan roads, ramps, dams, and mounds, required a great deal of well-organized and skillful planning, designing, resource gathering, and construction. The Chacoan people combined pre-planned architectural designs, astronomical alignments, geometry, landscaping, and engineering to create an ancient urban center of spectacular public architecture—one that still has the power to amaze and inspire us a millennium later. Enjoy a catered dinner under the stars at Chaco. After dinner, head back to Abiquiu overnight. Stay at the Abiquiu Inn for one night.
Day 8
Taos/Pueblo de Taos/Santa Fe. At an altitude greater than 8,000 feet and located in the valley of a small tributary of the Rio Grande, Taos comprises a group of habitations and ceremonial centers which are representative of a culture largely derived from the traditions of the prehistoric Anasazi tribes who settled near the modern borders of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado. Pueblo de Taos, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is thought to have appeared between 1000 and 1400 AD. The smooth-walled, multi-story architecture has long inspired painters and photographers. The current pueblo played a pivotal role in the pueblo revolt of 1680. Lunch and the afternoon are free to explore the town. As we head to Santa Fe, we will take the high road home and stop in Las Trampas. Las Trampas mission church is located in Las Trampas, a Spanish colonial village established in 1751, set in a beautiful mountain valley south of Taos on the old "High Road." We will try and arrange to have the Church to visit. Return to Santa Fe for dinner own your own. Stay at the Inn on the Alameda for two nights.
Day 9
Santa Fe. There will be a walking tour of the historic Santa Fe Plaza and the rest of the afternoon free OR optional visits to the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. Farewell dinner at the Compound.
Day 10
Shuttle to Albuquerque Airport, then home.
Itineraries are samples and may change according to availability of the speaker and locations. All itineraries may be customized and modified to suit circumstances.