Dan Flores

They painted colorful designs on pottery known as Rio Grande glazeware that frequently included images of parrots or macaws brilliantly marked birds traded up from Mexico and not native to anywhere in the southwest.

Farm implements they fashioned from fire-hardened juniper, arrow points largely from local black obsidian glass, and their axe blades from an aluminum silicate called fiberlite they mined in the high Rockies nearby. Their domestic animals were dogs and turkeys.

Farm implements they fashioned from fire-hardened juniper, arrow points largely from local black obsidian glass, and their axe blades from an aluminum silicate called fiberlite they mined in the high Rockies nearby. Their domestic animals were dogs and turkeys.

Farm implements they fashioned from fire-hardened juniper, arrow points largely from local black obsidian glass, and their axe blades from an aluminum silicate called fiberlite they mined in the high Rockies nearby. Their domestic animals were dogs and turkeys.

Their ancestors had domesticated turkeys around the year 1000 when huntable wildlife near their villages declined and left them protein-poor. Water manipulation and desert agriculture required cooperative effort, so these were town dwellers.

Their ancestors had domesticated turkeys around the year 1000 when huntable wildlife near their villages declined and left them protein-poor. Water manipulation and desert agriculture required cooperative effort, so these were town dwellers.

Their ancestors had domesticated turkeys around the year 1000 when huntable wildlife near their villages declined and left them protein-poor. Water manipulation and desert agriculture required cooperative effort, so these were town dwellers.

They lived in apartment-like rectangular buildings with flat roofs resting on massive support beams, with plastered walls, occasionally built of stacked stone, but more commonly in the Galiseo country of puddled, dried adobes. The buildings often were three to five stories, with entrances, cooking, and daily life carried out on the top roof level.

They lived in apartment-like rectangular buildings with flat roofs resting on massive support beams, with plastered walls, occasionally built of stacked stone, but more commonly in the Galiseo country of puddled, dried adobes. The buildings often were three to five stories, with entrances, cooking, and daily life carried out on the top roof level.

They lived in apartment-like rectangular buildings with flat roofs resting on massive support beams, with plastered walls, occasionally built of stacked stone, but more commonly in the Galiseo country of puddled, dried adobes. The buildings often were three to five stories, with entrances, cooking, and daily life carried out on the top roof level.

The lower levels accessed by descending ladders into rooms that featured gleaming polished floors and walls often painted with murals. The buildings commonly grouped around central plazas.

The lower levels accessed by descending ladders into rooms that featured gleaming polished floors and walls often painted with murals. The buildings commonly grouped around central plazas.

The lower levels accessed by descending ladders into rooms that featured gleaming polished floors and walls often painted with murals. The buildings commonly grouped around central plazas.

The plazas highlighted circular underground ceremonial rooms known as kivas, with fireplaces, perimeter benches, and a central hold, a sepapu it was called, representing humanity's point of emergence from a world below into the present world. San Lazaro left the largest ruins of all the Galisteo villages.

The plazas highlighted circular underground ceremonial rooms known as kivas, with fireplaces, perimeter benches, and a central hold, a sepapu it was called, representing humanity's point of emergence from a world below into the present world. San Lazaro left the largest ruins of all the Galisteo villages.

The plazas highlighted circular underground ceremonial rooms known as kivas, with fireplaces, perimeter benches, and a central hold, a sepapu it was called, representing humanity's point of emergence from a world below into the present world. San Lazaro left the largest ruins of all the Galisteo villages.

Its ruins cover 57 acres and feature the outlines of 27 separate buildings with 1,941 ground floor rooms and a remarkable total of 5,000 rooms. It was settled around 1290, and despite a pair of debilitating droughts in the 1400s, continued to grow for 200 years when its peak population was nearly 2,000 people. That's six times the size of any 21st century Galisteo Valley town.

Its ruins cover 57 acres and feature the outlines of 27 separate buildings with 1,941 ground floor rooms and a remarkable total of 5,000 rooms. It was settled around 1290, and despite a pair of debilitating droughts in the 1400s, continued to grow for 200 years when its peak population was nearly 2,000 people. That's six times the size of any 21st century Galisteo Valley town.

Its ruins cover 57 acres and feature the outlines of 27 separate buildings with 1,941 ground floor rooms and a remarkable total of 5,000 rooms. It was settled around 1290, and despite a pair of debilitating droughts in the 1400s, continued to grow for 200 years when its peak population was nearly 2,000 people. That's six times the size of any 21st century Galisteo Valley town.

By then, many local resources were likely depleted, and the town was abandoned in the early 1500s. The immediate catalyst to that exodus may have been something dramatic, for in 1581, a Spanish party found the town half destroyed.