Main Pueblo Loop Trail Stop 5

waffle garden
By 1200 AD the Ancestral Pueblo people began to practice agriculture planting corn, beans, and squash

Photo by Sally King

Evidence of the first people in this area dates back to over 11,000 years. Stone spear points have been found but early hunter-gatherers moved across the landscape and didn’t build many permanent structures. As these early people traveled following game animals they collected nuts, fruits, and seeds when available. Look around. If you had been traveling through this area for generations, would you pick the lush canyon bottom or the drier mesatops for your permanent home? The reality is that the Ancestral Pueblo people did both, living much of the year in the canyon but traveling to the mesa in the summer to farm.

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Last updated: July 3, 2024

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Bandelier National Monument
15 Entrance Road

Los Alamos, NM 87544

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