Casa Rinconada, great kiva 1140-1200 AD, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico, USA.

T-shaped passage into ancient stone kiva. Casa Rinconada, occupied about AD 1140-1200, is an isolated great kiva (out of four in Chaco Canyon), built 63 feet (19 m) in diameter with a circular inner bench, masonry firebox, masonry vaults, 34 niches, four large pits for seating roof supports, plus an unusual 39-foot (12 m) passage dug underground through sandstone and shale. Chaco Culture National Historical Park hosts the densest and most exceptional concentration of pueblos in the American Southwest and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Chaco Canyon is in remote northwestern New Mexico, between Albuquerque and Farmington, USA. From 850 AD to 1250 AD, Chaco Canyon advanced then declined as a major center of culture for the Ancient Pueblo Peoples. Chacoans quarried sandstone blocks and hauled timber from great distances, assembling fifteen major complexes that remained the largest buildings in North America until the 1800s. Climate change may have led to its abandonment, beginning with a 50-year drought starting in 1130.

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Contained in galleries: New Mexico: Chaco Culture National Historic Park, Highlights 2014, 2014 Mar 15-Apr 09: SW favorites: southwest (UT, NM, TX), OR, CA, USA: New Mexico favorites, 2014 Mar 15-Apr 09: all: southwest (UT, NM, TX), OR, CA

T-shaped passage into ancient stone kiva. Casa Rinconada, occupied about AD 1140-1200, is an isolated great kiva (out of four in Chaco Canyon), built 63 feet (19 m) in diameter with a circular inner bench, masonry firebox, masonry vaults, 34 niches, four large pits for seating roof supports, plus an unusual 39-foot (12 m) passage dug underground through sandstone and shale. Chaco Culture National Historical Park hosts the densest and most exceptional concentration of pueblos in the American Southwest and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Chaco Canyon is in remote northwestern New Mexico, between Albuquerque and Farmington, USA. From 850 AD to 1250 AD, Chaco Canyon advanced then declined as a major center of culture for the Ancient Pueblo Peoples. Chacoans quarried sandstone blocks and hauled timber from great distances, assembling fifteen major complexes that remained the largest buildings in North America until the 1800s. Climate change may have led to its abandonment, beginning with a 50-year drought starting in 1130.