Yesterday we made the long drive from Carlsbad Cavern to Santa Fe. The day was cool (never got above 40 degrees) with periodic drizzle or snow but no wind so the drive went smoothly. We woke up this morning in the Santa Fe KOA to a blanket of snow and 28 degrees but the sun came out (and so did the wind) so the snow quickly melted.

We relaxed and showered and sipped lots of coffee this morning then drove a short distance to Pecos National Historical Park, and it is amazing! Going there is like a pilgrimage to the foundation of modern scientific archaeology. A. V. Kidder, known as the father of southwestern archaeology, excavated there from 1915 to 1929, and his research there established the significance of stratigraphic excavations and of artifact chronological typology (principles that Rick has applied to spear and arrow points in eastern Idaho). This visit has been, perhaps, the most interesting and rewarding of everything we have done so far on this trip.

Pecos contains the ruins of pit-house dwellings beginning around A.D. 1100 expanding to a massive village of 2000 people by 1400.

The 600 room "apartment"  buildings were 4 and 5 stories high with 20 kivas (subsurface religious structures scattered in the plazas). Abby wanted to check out a reconstructed kiva.

It was built on the top of a naturally defensible high ridge overlooking valleys in all directions. It continued to be a thriving town when a Spanish exploratory expedition arrived in 1540 returning to settle in 1598. The Spanish missionaries built a massive church adjacent to the native village completed in 1625. The church was destroyed when the native Pecos rebelled against Spanish oppression driving them out in 1680. However the Spanish returned with military force and rebuilt the church and convent  in 1717. The vitality of the community of Pecos deteriorated thereafter. The last few natives packed up and left in 1838, and the Spanish abandoned their efforts there.

While Rick was taking a picture of Sharon and Abby "in church" Sharon took a picture of Rick. The picture shows what some of the surrounding terrain is like.

While we walked through the unexcavated parts of the Prehispanic ruins we were amazed at the amount of pottery and stone tool fragments littering the ground surface adjacent to the trail (and we were not supposed to step off of the trail or collect any artifacts). Most pottery sherds are from plain utility ware vessels but we saw a few decorated fragments within reach. We took pictures and put the sherds back exactly were they were; and after we finished the tour we went back into the visitor's center to the excellent exhibits including the pottery chronology.

We determined that this sherd is probably from a bowl of the Glaze III type dating from A.D.1425 to 1490.

Tomorrow we plan to go the modern native and artist community of Taos, and on Tuesday go to the prehistoric ruins in Bandelier National Monument. Then off to Albuquerque on Wednesday.