5 July 2010
Bandelier National Monument
Posted by Jessica Ball
One of the neat things about Los Alamos is that Bandelier National Monument is only a few minutes away. The volcanic tuff at Bandelier erupted from the Valles caldera about 1.25 million years ago, but it’s not just a site of geologic interest; it’s also an archaeological site. Bandelier refers to Adolph Francis Alphonse Bandelier, a Swiss-American archaeologist who conducted research into the history of the Pueblo people in the American southwest.
On the drive to the park visitor center, there’s some fantastic columnar jointing in the tuff. (Columnar jointing occurs when hot volcanic material, either a lava flow or pyroclastic deposit, cools from the outside in and shrinks, forming cracks. These cracks often create geometric shapes that extend down into a deposit, creating columns.)
In the Frijoles Canyon, there are scads of cliff dwellings and the ruins of villages of the Ancestral Pueblo people, who moved into the region around 10,000 years ago. (They were formerly called “Anasazi” by archaeologists, but today’s Pueblo people consider the Navajo term disrespectful). The village below was most highly developed in the late 1400s, and contained multistory dwellings and storage buildings.
The cliff dwellings at Bandelier are located mostly on the south side of the canyon, which means that they stay cool in the summer and warmer in the winter. It was a very hot day when I visited, and there was a significant temperature drop once you were sheltered by the cliffs.
Many of the cliff dwellings used to have structures built in front of them, leaving the caves as back rooms. Holes for the ceiling poles are still visible in the tuff, which is relatively soft and quite easy to hollow out.
One of the most interesting sites in this area of the park is known as the Alcove House, a huge shallow cave in the canyon wall. It holds a reconstructed kiva and the remnants of dwellings, but it’s quite a challenge to reach – and not at all fun for anyone who’s afraid of heights! Like many of the other cliff dwellings in the park, the Alcove House is only accessibly by ladder; unlike the dwellings in the earlier photos, the ladders are very long (140 feet altogether). The photo below shows one of three that you have to climb to get up there!
It’s a little hard to take photos of the whole alcove when you’re in it, but the view down Frijoles Canyon is excellent. It also highlights how the natural propensity of the Bandelier tuff to erode into caves – something that the first visitors to the canyon certainly noticed and took advantage of!
I only had one day to explore Bandelier, which is unfortunate (it has more than 70 miles of trails), b
ut I’m glad I had the chance to visit on this trip. This area offers a fascinating blend of volcanology and archaeology, something that I (with my sadly unused archaeology minor) really appreciate.
ut I’m glad I had the chance to visit on this trip. This area offers a fascinating blend of volcanology and archaeology, something that I (with my sadly unused archaeology minor) really appreciate.
Jessica Ball is a volcanologist at the U.S. Geological Survey, researching volcanic hydrothermal systems and stability, and doing science communication for the California Volcano Observatory. She previously worked at the Geological Society of America's Washington DC Policy Office, learning about the intersection of Earth science and legislative affairs. Her Mendenhall postdoc and PhD focused on how water affects the stability of volcanoes, and involved both field investigations and numerical modeling applications. Her blogging covers a range of topics, from her experiences in academic geosciences to science outreach and communication to her field and lab work in volcanology.
The trails at Bandelier are nice, you should check them out next time. There's good rafting nearby, too, should that float your boat.I didn't know pyroclastic deposits could form columns – that's really interesting!
Check out Puye, too. Smaller site, but up on a hill, so there's a longer view.
Nice photos. I see your from Western New York, ever been to Eighteen Mile Creek?
Helena – will do, as soon as I get back out there! Haven't tried rafting yet, but I'm sure I'd have a blast.dlandauer – Someone did mention that to me, although sadly I didn't have enough time. Next trip!Norm – I've been out there a couple of times looking for trilobites. Definitely one of my favorite spots in the area.
Eighteen mile is where I take the youngsters to learn about collecting, they always find more than they can carry out. We use snorkel gear to find high quality fossils in the shallow water.
Tuff Cookie, thanks for posting about Bandelier. I recently took a field trip through the park and other areas around the Valles caldera. It's a cool place to think about the effects of inverted volvanic stratigraphy (i.e. the top of the magma chamber is thought to be at the bottom of the outcrop). Also, If you are into rhyolites, there are some gnarly quartz and feldspars in a glassy groundmass. Flow indicators like mad as well. So yea, by far one of my favs in New Mex…cheers