The Puye Cliff Dwellings are the ruins of an abandoned pueblo, located in Santa Clara Canyon on Santa Clara Pueblo Reservation land near Española, New Mexico. Established in the late 1200s or early 1300s and abandoned by about 1600, this is among the largest of the prehistoric Indian settlements on the Pajarito Plateau, showing a variety of architectural forms and building techniques.

The site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1966.

The name Puye (Tewa language: pu, “cottontail rabbits,” and ye, "to assemble") possibly suggests a place for hunting rabbits.

Ancient pueblo dwellings

The Puye Cliffs complex includes two levels of cliff-dwellings and both surface and cave dwellings. The two levels of cliff dwellings, the mesa top and reconstructed 'Community House' are accessed by paths and about twelve stairways and ladders cut into the side of the cliff. One level of cliff dwellings is over long and the second is about long. On top of the mesa are cave dwellings of the Pueblo II Era around which a multi-storied puebloan village was built. The south portion of the complex had 173 rooms on the ground floor. The total number of rooms is not known, but would include rooms on the northern side of the complex and the upper levels. In the center of the complex was a large plaza.

About 1580 (after the end of the Pueblo IV Era) drought finally forced the villagers to leave for locations nearer to the Rio Grande valley. Present day inhabitants of Santa Clara Pueblo, some to the east, claim to be descendants of the Puye residents.

In 2000, a planned burn of trees in Bandelier National Monument burned out of control. The resulting wildfire, known as the Cerro Grande Fire, eventually claimed , some 250 houses in Los Alamos, and devastated Santa Clara Canyon. Puye Cliff Dwellings site has been reopened to the public. Current information can be obtained from Santa Clara Pueblo.

Tours can be scheduled to explore the cliffs and learn of their history. The site is available to the public within opening hours. Visitors must check in through the Puye Cliffs Welcome Center.

The area features extensively in the 1952 film The Atomic City.

See also

  • List of National Historic Landmarks in New Mexico
  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico
  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Sandoval County, New Mexico
  • Tsankawi
  • Tsirege

References

  • Map and short guide showing how to find Puye
  • Puye Ruins National Historic Landmarks Program
  • Pictures of the cliff dwellings