Canyon of the Ancients National Monument, Colorado

Canyon of the Ancients National Monument celebrates and protects the largest concentration of archaeological sites in the United States. Located in Montezuma County and Dolores County in Colorado, it covers 163,892 acres (66,325 ha). The site is managed by the US Bureau of Land Management. It surrounds three of the four separate parts of Hovenweep National Monument managed by the National Park Service.

Up to 2005, some 6,000 individual archaeological features have been identified within Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. Human habitation in the area goes back over 10,000 years with the earliest peoples being Paleo-Indians. There is evidence of hunting conducted there, with the discovery of clovis spearpoints from around 7,500 BC.

Canyon of the Ancients National Monument, Colorado
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canyons_of_the_Ancients_National_Monument.jpg
Author: Bureau of Land Management


In around 1,500 BC, the Basketmaker culture inhabited the area. Unlike the nomadic tribes earlier, the Basketmakers led a more sedentary. Later on, around 750 BC, the area was populated by the Anasazi. They lived there long enough to create more permanent structures which grew into villages. Then, rather mysteriously, they abandoned the area around AD 1300. The Ute and Navajo were the most recent Native Americans to live in the area, and were the ones encountered by the Spanish missionaries who arrived in the area after AD 1700.

Canyon of the Ancients has the highest concentration of archaeological remains in the United States. The type of structures range from basic pit style structures to cliff dwellings. At one site, there was a living complex with 420 rooms, 90 kivas and 14 towers. According to scientists, the structure was erected between AD 1250 and 1270.

Visiting Canyon of the Ancients National Monument, Colorado

Visitors can start by visiting the Anasazi Heritage Center. It is located on Colorado State Route 184 in Dolores. Phone (970) 882 5600. To get there, take Interstate-6 (US Highway 6/50) from Denver.

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