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| Sue's Ruin in the morning light. |
Here's another view of the reconstructed pueblo, known as Sue's Ruin, on the Kelly Place property. Sue's Ruin is just one of the many remnants of the Ancestral Puebloans that can be found on a quick walk around the main lodge.
The pueblo, named after the property's original owner's wife, was in use between about 980 and 1225 AD and spans two distinct construction styles, Pueblo II and Pueblo III. The Kellys first excavated this 13 room pueblo and its kiva in the 1960s but back filled it once they were done to prevent further deterioration of the fragile walls. The pueblo and kiva were again excavated in 1988 and stabilized with the help of trained archaeologists.
The pueblo, named after the property's original owner's wife, was in use between about 980 and 1225 AD and spans two distinct construction styles, Pueblo II and Pueblo III. The Kellys first excavated this 13 room pueblo and its kiva in the 1960s but back filled it once they were done to prevent further deterioration of the fragile walls. The pueblo and kiva were again excavated in 1988 and stabilized with the help of trained archaeologists.
While this image makes the pueblo look rather small, it's a trick of perspective. From this angle, the back side of the pueblo, only the very top of the reconstructed walls stick out above the tall grasses along the ridge of a hill. The pueblo, and its kiva, is actually large enough to house several families.
Sue's Ruin provided an excellent subject for me while I stayed at Kelly Place. It's accessible (only a couple hundred feet from the main lodge), photogenic and just plain interesting. I've got a number of interesting images to share just of this small part of my trip, and many of the others show the pueblo's true size much better, but next up is Sand Canyon Trail. If I don't keep these posts at least somewhat in chronological order, it's going to quickly turn into a mess of confusion for me.
