Back to the Ruins....

  Vacation time is approaching and you may be thinking about places and sights you want to see this summer.  Let's share some of our special vacation pictures of the sights we have enjoyed.  You may feel like you just 'take pictures' and are not a real photographer but you would be surprised at what you may come up with just by keeping your camera ready, (even your phone camera) and watching this wonderful world around us.

   Several years ago we went back to a place of my family roots.  Some of my uncles and grandpa helped to dig out an Aztec ruins site in New Mexico that still stands today and is an interesting place to visit. 

  Just on the outskirts of a little town named (not surprisingly) Aztec, New Mexico, there is some acreage that contains the ruins of an actual Aztec city.

  This will be a tour of the site so the post will be just a little longer than usual.  Please enjoy and then consider sending some of your favorite photos of sights you've seen on your vacations. I would like to hear from anyone with pictures of Caves, Petrified forests or Dinosaur remains along with other historical sites you think other's would be interested in seeing. Let's start planning our summer....

photographer:  Photo Amature

Aztec Ruins, near Aztec, New Mexico

 2 Lower levels of a Meeting Room (left)

Square holes are windows between rooms

 and a kitchen with grinding stones (right)

 Below shows how wooden beams made up the ceilings and floors between home levels.

 The holes seen were for either the small ceiling beams

or vent holes

 Stones were chisled to shape for walls (left)

Demonstration of chisling motions possibly used to shape stones (right)

 Small doorways between rooms joined the apartments

 Aparently the Aztecs were small people

 I especially liked the patterns in the stones.

Large Beam, window, and smoke stained walls.

Spaces between stones were filled with small flat

stone slivers and then mortar.

 

 Large beams still visible between rooms

 

Note doorway shape, cool

Ceremonial Kiva was rebuilt to show how a complete one looked, inside and out.  This one has been totally rebuilt and refurbished with stone, wooden beams and paint.

 

 The rectanglar pits seen may have been fire pits or for other ceremonial uses.

 These Round discs are almost a yard in diameter.  Their use is unknown but may have had some religious symbolism.

This Kiva is deep into the ground with more than one level.  Note how the large beams were layered at angles across each other to create the floor or ceiling between levels in order to cover the very large expance.

 

 Along one side of the Ruins the wall was layered with dark blue-black stones.  They may have denoted an area of prestige among the royalty of the city.

Even the layers of very thin stones seemed to be used as a decorative addition to the outside city wall.  By the photo above they could also have been a means to level the wall as it was built.

This was the only apartment or home that was also decorated inside with the bluish stone.  This could possibly have been the actual home of the city's Leader or other Royalty such as a religious Leader.

The Blueish stones were smoother and more care was taken in their placement, and was obviously a decorative motif.  It  is unknown whether there was religious or other importance connected to the blue stones.

 

OK, Your turn.  Please contact me at the email listed in the upper right side bar and send in your pictures to share as soon as possible.  Also, suggestions are always welcome to enhance this blog and to bring you things you will enjoy viewing.

  Remember,  amateurs wanted to join in at anytime!

 

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