Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument
United States National Park Service
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Alternate file
Date
1270-1300Description
Stone wall with missing rafter poles, looking out to the gorge; A U.S. National Monument created to protect Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings in the Gila Wilderness on the headwaters of the Gila River in southwest New Mexico. The national monument was established by President Theodore Roosevelt through executive proclamation. Considered by archaeologists to be on the northern most portion of the Mogollon People's sphere of influence, the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument is home to two prominent Mimbres Culture sites among a collection of smaller sites. Archaeologists have identified 46 rooms in the five caves on Cliff Dweller Canyon, and believed they were occupied by 10 to 15 families. The Mogollon Peoples are believed to have inhabited the region from between 1275 and into the early 1300s CE or Pueblo III Era. A museum and visitors center is located at the monument near the TJ Ruins. Source: Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page (accessed 9/5/2015)
Type of Work
historic site; excavation (site)Subject
architecture, Native North Americans, Ancestral Puebloan, Mimbres
Rights
Rights Statement
Licensed for educational and research use by the MIT community only