It seems impossible that nearly a 1000 years ago, this spot in the midst of seemingly arid wasteland was bustling with trade and activity. What meets the eye now at a glance are dusty plains and broken parchment as seen from above, spots of brittle green from dry brush. And yet set in the middle of a shallow canyon are remnants of the life that once abounded in this land, hollow skeletons left behind. There are large stone complexes, walls several feet in height with tiny windows cut out. A complex network of roads radiates out from central buildings, linking several satellite constructions together. Some such as the Pueblo Bonito have 800 rooms and exactly 39 kivas, chambers dug partially into the earth where ceremonies could be held. In a time without cranes or modern machinery, these extensive structures had been put up, suggesting that whoever built these had a rather good grasp of engineering and were developed as a civilization, more than we would have expected in what looks like dead man’s land.

This was the home of the Anasazi Chacoans, ancestral Puebla of South America that few are aware of. And the Chaco Culture National Historic Park is one of the best preservations of their society, made of 10 to 13 primary ruins and hundreds of smaller satellite sites. Exploring Chaco Culture Park, you’re taking a walk through history, taking the exact same path a Chacoan might have a millennium ago.