building through seasons of change

The Tyuonyi cliff and cave dwellings of the Ancestral Pueblo are a site to behold. I’m going to break up the visit across two entries, as the second part involved getting over a fear of heights.

The Ancestral Pueblo people lived here from approximately 1150 CE to 1550 CE. They built homes carved from the volcanic tuff and planted crops in mesa top fields. The people of Cochiti Pueblo, located just south and east along the Rio Grande, are the most direct descendants of the Ancestral Pueblo people who built homes in Frijoles Canyon.

Every space had its purpose, from the kivas and structures on the grounded portion of the settlement…

…to the reconstructed and preserved cliff portions. This is one of the only dwellings I’ve encountered where there was laddered access to the interior rooms.

The beauty of Pueblo architecture is the result of functional necessity and impermanence as they eventually migrated to other parts of the canyon due to environmental shifts. It’s a lesson for anyone experiencing a transition to or new season in life.