Aztec Ruins is the name but not ruins related to the Aztec people, but Ancient Puebloans known as Anasazi. People back in the late 1800’s referred to the place as Aztec and the name stuck. The Ancient Puebloans existed during the period of 900 to 1350. These ancients would be the ancestors to the different Pueblo Indian tribes of today. There museum was really good at showing time lines of the Pueblo Indian people going back thousands of years. These ancients were the first to use stone and adobe in their building process.
The site was abandoned around 1300, most scientists believe some sort of drought for the reason. Mesa Verde in Colorado is another example of the Ancient Puebloans since they deserted their site around the same time. This site had a Great Kiva, which is a religious and community center. There also smaller ones that could be used by smaller groups of people. The Pecos Pueblos had a small Kiva compared to Aztec, so they believe that this was a major city during that time. The Great Kiva here was reconstructed in 1934 based on the archeology findings earlier at the site. Was great afternoon, I never really knew anything about the Pueblo Indians, so enjoyed learning some history.
