Chaco Culture National Historical Park, National Historical Park in northwestern New Mexico, US.
Chaco Culture National Historical Park is a historical park in northwestern New Mexico preserving ancient stone complexes in the desert. The ruins reveal multi-story residential blocks, round ceremonial chambers called kivas, and connecting pathways extending across the dry terrain.
Chaco Canyon was the centre of Ancestral Puebloan culture between 900 and 1150, when sandstone blocks were quarried and timber hauled from ranges over 80 km away to raise 15 major complexes. A 50-year drought beginning in 1130 is thought to have driven the migration away, and by the end of that century the buildings were sealed and abandoned.
The name Chaco comes from the Navajo language and refers to the dry river bed running through this area. Visitors today witness the ongoing connection of descendant communities through ceremonies and pilgrimages to these grounds.
Access requires unpaved roads that become impassable during rain. Most walking routes begin at the canyon floor and lead between the stone ruins, making sturdy footwear necessary.
The walls of some chambers still show traces of mineral pigments applied to the plaster back then. Some large rooms possess acoustics that make whispers audible across several meters.
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