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Prehistoric Ruins

Native American prehistoric ruins and wickiups

12 posts

Ancient Tomales Wall

Ancient Tomales Wall

Out on Tomales Point, a peninsula that juts out into the Pacific Ocean in Point Reyes, is an ancient Native American rock alignment. The Coastal Miwok tribe, whose ancestors are believed to have built it, call it the “Spirit Jumping Off Rocks.” In a place where there are few other

Cutthroat Castle - Hovenweep

Cutthroat Castle - Hovenweep

The Cutthroat Castle Pueblo was built around the same time as the other Hovenweep Puebloan ruins. Although the pueblo looks small, many people would have lived around it in the area. The site is along a canyon and is unusual in that it had a kiva built on top of

Hand Painted Pueblo - Hovenweep

Hand Painted Pueblo - Hovenweep

These are the remains of a small pueblo village site inside Hovenweep National Monument and surrounded by the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. The pueblo was probably built in the 1200s by Ancestral Puebloans (Anazasi). This tower is along the side of a canyon and completely below the rim.

White Mountains Wickiup

White Mountains Wickiup

I had known about a wickiup, a traditional Native American dwelling high in the White Mountains of California, for a while. I thought it would be an interesting find, so I decided to go on a hike to see if I could track it down. The information I had didn’

Hovenweep – Square Tower Group

Hovenweep – Square Tower Group

One of my favorite little national parks is Hovenweep National Monument. It is a quiet little area in the Four Corners part of Utah. It is one of the few campgrounds I actually enjoy visiting. Most of the towers and buildings of Hovenweep Castle and the Square Tower Group were

Montezuma Creek and the Three Kiva Pueblo

Montezuma Creek and the Three Kiva Pueblo

There are many small Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi) ruins and Ute and Anasazi petroglyph sites scattered along Montezuma Creek. Some are hard to spot, so you have to keep an eye out for them. Near the middle of the canyon is Three Kiva Pueblo, where the BLM has restored one of

Panamint Wickiup #2

Panamint Wickiup #2

This site had been in the back of my mind for years and years, but it wasn’t until recently that we finally decided to track it down. What a quiet and neat place. It took a couple of trips and a few hours of hiking, but we finally found