Bandelier ruins is in the 33,600 plus acre United States National Monument near Los Alamos, New Mexico. This park preserves the homes and territory of the Anasazi (Ancestral Puebloans) who lived in this area during a later era of the Anasazi, people who lived many other places on the Colorado plateau. Most of the ruins structures at Bandelier date to the time period between 1150 and 1600 CE.

This ancient settlement is located on the Pajarito plateau on the slopes of the Jemez volcanic field in the Jemez mountains. The elevations in the area begin at the Rio Grande river, which in this part of its flow is at about 5000 feet and the land from it rises to over 10,000 feet at the peak of Cerro Grande on the rim of the Valles Calders.

Frijoles Canyon has been carved by Frijoles Creek which begins on the snowy slopes of the 10,199 foot Cerro Grande Peak and during its descent to the Rio Grade, it drops some 4,000 feet in elevation and carves its way down into the Pajarito Plateau as it traverse a winding route for more than fourteen miles to Rio Grande.

This dramatic change in elevation on the Pajarito Plateau creates climate differences that support a wide diversity of life. This diversity made the area livable for the ancient Anasazi people, providing them with food, medicine, clothing, supplies and probably a lot more we could never even imagine.

Approaching the dwelling area, there is one location which allows climbing up a ladder to the cave cut into the sandstone cliff. The hole is small but allows plenty of room to enter the inside area.

What I have learned during this visit here is that these sandstone rooms were accessed from the back of the large stone stacked dwellings which were often two, three or more levels high, that were built directly in front of the cliffs.

Methinks, the purpose of cutting rooms into the sandstone was to create a naturally cool and comfortable location for sleeping, despite the climate outside, be it during the summer heat or the winter cold.

For a long distance along the canyon, the ancient Anasazi built their homes along the walls of this canyon. I end up walking for over half a mile down the canyon and still continue to find evidence that this settlement keeps going even further into the canyon.

The height of the population at this settlement seems to occur at the same time when when there was a wide scale migration of the Anasazi from the four corners area, who had abandoned those settlement, which at that time was suffering from a prolong drought, environmental stress and even social unrest. However, this pueblo here at Bandelier was not abandoned until about 1600 CE.