Casamero Pueblo is an archaeological site including the partially excavated and stabilized ruins of an 11th-century

Ancestral Puebloan The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Anasazi, were an ancient Native American culture that spanned the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, an ...

community in Prewitt, New Mexico in

McKinley County McKinley County is a county in the northwestern section of the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 71,367. Its county seat is Gallup. The county was created in 1901 and named for President William ...

. It was an outlier of

Chaco Canyon Chaco Culture National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park in the American Southwest hosting a concentration of pueblos. The park is located in northwestern New Mexico, between Albuquerque and Farmington, in a remote c ...

. It is on the Trail of the Ancients Scenic Byway.

Geography

The ruins are located on McKinley County Road 19,Trail of the Ancients.
New Mexico Tourism Department. Retrieved August 14, 2014. near Tecolote Mesa. Tecolote means "owl", and the red sandstone mesa has a formation that looks like the eyes of an owl.

History

Casamero Pueblo was an outlier of

between about 1000 to 1125. Built with core-veneer masonry, the pueblo has 22 rooms on the ground floor and may have had 6 rooms on the second story. The settlement had 37 or more additional sites, many masonry dwellings, and a Great Kiva. Andrews Ranch, an outlier within the vicinity, was connected to the pueblo via a Chacoan road. Between 1966 and 1967 the pueblo was excavated. The masonry was subsequently stabilized.

Facilities

The ruins are open throughout the year and are accessed via a short trail from the parking lot.

References

{{coord, 35.426176, -108.053635, display=title Buildings and structures in McKinley County, New Mexico Native American history of New Mexico Oasisamerica cultures Parks in McKinley County, New Mexico Pre-historic cities in the United States Puebloan buildings and structures