Aztec Ruins National Monument

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Aztec Ruins National Monument
IUCN Category III (Natural Monument)
Location	San Juan County, New Mexico, USA
Nearest city	Aztec, New Mexico
Coordinates	36°50′9″N 107°59′53″W / 36.83583, -107.99806
Area	317.71 acres (1.29 km²)
Established	January 24, 1923
Visitors	39,538 (in 2007)
Governing body	National Park Service

Chaco Culture*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Type	Cultural
Criteria	iii
Reference	353
Region†	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	1987  (11th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO.

The Aztec Ruins National Monument preserves ancestral Pueblo structures in north-western New Mexico, United States, located close to the town of Aztec and northeast of Farmington, near the Animas River. Salmon Ruins and Heritage Park, with more ancestral Pueblo structures, lies a short distance to the south, just west of Bloomfield and near the San Juan River.

The buildings date back to the 11th to 13th centuries, and the misnomer attributing them to the Aztec civilization can be traced back to early American settlers in the mid-19th century.

The site was declared "Aztec Ruin National Monument" on January 24, 1923, and with a boundary change it was renamed "Ruins" on July 2, 1928. As an historical property of the National Park Service the National Monument was administratively listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. Aztec Ruins was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites, as part of the Chaco Culture National Historical Park, on December 8, 1987.

[edit] References

• The National Parks: Index 2001–2003. Washington: U.S. Department of the Interior.

[edit] External links

• National Park Service website
• American Southwest, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary
• UNESCO World Heritage site