Tsankawi
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Tsankawi is a detached portion of
Bandelier National Monument Bandelier National Monument is a United States National Monument near Los Alamos in Sandoval and Los Alamos counties, New Mexico. The monument preserves the homes and territory of the Ancestral Puebloans of a later era in the Southwest. Mos ...
near
White Rock, New Mexico White Rock is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Los Alamos County, New Mexico. It is one of two major population centers in the county; the other is Los Alamos (the county seat). The population was 5,725 at the 2 ...
. It is accessible from a roadside parking area, just north of the intersection of East Jemez Road and State Road 4. A self-guided 1.5-mile loop trail provides access to numerous unexcavated ruins, caves carved into soft
tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock co ...
, and
petroglyphs A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...
.


Origin of the name

The name Tsankawi (''Sa'ekewikwaje Owingeh'') may mean "village between two canyons at the clump of sharp round cacti" or more simply (''san-ke-wii'') "
Opuntia ''Opuntia'', commonly called the prickly pear cactus, is a genus of flowering plants in the cactus family Cactaceae, many known for their flavorful fruit and showy flowers. Cacti are native to the Americas, and are well adapted to arid clima ...
sharp gap" in the
Tewa language Tewa ( ) is a Tanoan language spoken by several Pueblo people, Pueblo nations in the Rio Grande valley in New Mexico north of Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe, and in Arizona. It is also known as Tano, or Tée-wah (archaic). There is some disagre ...
of the nearby San Idelfonso
puebloans The Pueblo peoples are Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans in the Southwestern United States who share common agricultural, material, and religious practices. Among the currently inhabited Pueblos, Taos Pueblo, Taos, San Il ...
.


History

Tsankawi (san-KAH-wee) was built and occupied by the
Ancestral Puebloan The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as Ancestral Pueblo peoples or the Basketmaker-Pueblo culture, were an ancient Native American culture of Pueblo peoples spanning the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southe ...
people. Archeological evidence indicates that Tsankawi may have been constructed in the 15th century and occupied until the late 16th century, toward the end of the Rio Grande Classic Period.
Dendrochronology Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of chronological dating, dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed in a tree. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, ...
(tree-ring dating) indicates that a severe drought occurred in the late 16th century. Traditions at several
Tewa The Tewa are a linguistic group of Pueblo people, Pueblo Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans who speak the Tewa language and share the Pueblo culture. Their homelands are on or near the Rio Grande in New Mexico north of San ...
Pueblos, including
San Ildefonso Pueblo San Ildefonso Pueblo (Tewa language, Tewa: Pʼohwhogeh Ówîngeh ’òhxʷógè ʔówîŋgè"where the water cuts through" ), also known as the Turquoise Clan, is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, Santa Fe Coun ...
,
Santa Clara Pueblo Santa Clara Pueblo (in Tewa: Khaʼpʼoe Ówîngeh ɑ̀ʔp’òː ʔówîŋgè "Singing Water Village", also known as "Village of Wild Roses" is a census-designated place (CDP) in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, United States and a federally rec ...
,
Pojoaque Pueblo Pojoaque (; Tewa: Pʼohsųwæ̨geh Ówîngeh/P'osuwaege Owingeh ’òhsũ̀wæ̃̀gè ʔówîŋgè, Po’su wae geh, which translates to “water gathering place”, is a unincorporated community in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. It ...
, and Tesuque Pueblo claim ancestral ties to Tsankawi and other nearby pueblo sites. Archeological evidence indicates that Indigenous people first settled the surrounding area in small communities during the late 12th century. Over time, fewer but larger communities were built, and Tsankawi was one of these larger communities. According to Pueblo tradition, the people of Tsankawi spoke
Tewa The Tewa are a linguistic group of Pueblo people, Pueblo Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans who speak the Tewa language and share the Pueblo culture. Their homelands are on or near the Rio Grande in New Mexico north of San ...
, while those in Frijoles Canyon (the main section of Bandelier) spoke
Keres In Greek mythology, the Keres (; Ancient Greek: Κῆρες) were female death-spirits. They were the goddesses who personified violent death and who were drawn to bloody deaths on battlefields. Although they were present during death and dyin ...
. While their languages were different, their religious beliefs, lifestyles, and worldviews were similar. Even today, the active pueblos San Ildefonso and Cochiti retain strong social and traditional ties with these two cultural sites. The 1.5-mile trail through Tsankawi takes the viewer along centuries-old paths of the ancestral Pueblo people. In many areas, the trails have been worn into the rock 8 to 24 inches or more, as the natives traveled from the mesa tops to their farms in the canyons below. The trails also connected to other villages in the surrounding area - the travelers commonly wore sandals or walked barefoot. Much of the site has never been excavated. Edgar Hewett, however, excavated at least 2 burial mounds near the main pueblo room blocks during his studies of the area during the late 1800s and early 1900s.


Tsankawi village

The village was built out of tuff stone (plastered inside) and mud. It was roughly rectangular in shape, with about 350 rooms and an enclosed central courtyard or plaza. Various rooms were used for cooking, sleeping, and for storing food for the winter months or when crops failed. The architectural design with rooms surrounding a central plaza is still used by present-day Puebloans. The buildings were two or three stories high, with roofs made of wood and mud. The Tsankawi inhabitants were dependent upon the environment for survival. The climate was dry, averaging 15 inches of rainfall a year, yet the inhabitants developed an agricultural way of life. They used native plants such as the
piñon pine The pinyon or piñon pine group grows in southwestern North America, especially in New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah, with the single-leaf pinyon pine just reaching into southern Idaho. The trees yield edible nuts, which are a staple food ...
, juniper, rabbitbrush, saltbush, mountain mahogany, and yucca for food, dyes, medicine, and tools. They also cultivated corn, beans, and squash. However, natural resources were scarce in this sparse environment, and over time, the Puebloans depleted their resources. Firewood became hard to find, and the soil became exhausted due to centuries of farming. During the 16th century, an extended drought, indicated by tree ring dating, forced the inhabitants to move on. The pueblo at San Ildefonso, away, has the tradition that their ancestors lived at Tsankawi and the surrounding area. The people of Tsankawi were not isolated. There were many villages on nearby mesas or in the canyons. The people traded tools, blankets, pottery, feathers, turquoise, seashells, and agricultural products, and they also joined together for religious activities. The village plaza may have been a gathering place for dancing and ceremonies. Since there was no metal, tools were made from local materials. Obsidian formed by the Jemez volcanoes were used to make arrow points, knives, and scrapers. Volcanic basalt was used as manos and metates to grind seeds and corn; it was also used to enlarge the soft tuff caves and shape blocks used in building. After the inhabitants left in the late 16th century, the buildings fell into ruin. The roofs collapsed, and the walls crumbled. Wind-blown materials filled the cracks and crevices so that only mounds of rubble could be seen with pieces of pottery lying on the ground.


Tsankawi cave dwellings

The ancient pueblo inhabitants of Tsankawi not only had a settlement on top of the mesa, but they built their homes along the base of the cliffs. They dug caves into the soft, tuff stone and extended the dwelling with walls made of talus rock mortared with mud. The roofs were made with timber and mud. These dwellings are called talus pueblos. 354 talus pueblos have been documented on Tsankawi Mesa, with most located at the boundary between the Tshirege and Otowi members of the
Bandelier Tuff The Bandelier Tuff is a geologic formation exposed in and around the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico. It has a radiometric age of 1.85 to 1.25 million years, corresponding to the Pleistocene epoch. The tuff was erupted in a series of at ...
that forms the bedrock of the mesa.Bloom, Ryan Alexander. ''The Forgotten Side of Bandelier - Archeology of the Tsankawi Ruins at Bandelier National Monument.'' 2019. Since the time that the talus pueblos were inhabited, the masonry walls have collapsed. The only remaining evidence is caves, or cavates, carved into the cliffs and socket holes which were used to support timber for the roofs. While they were not exposed to the elements, the caves are blackened from fires used for cooking and heat during the winter months. The talus pueblos were built on the south facing side of the mesas. During the winter months, the afternoon sun would warm the southern cliffs, melting the snow. However, the north-facing cliffs frequently had snow all winter long. The walls were plastered with clay, perhaps for aesthetic reasons, or to help prevent the walls from crumbling. Artwork along the walls can be seen in a number of the caves in the form of pictographs carved into the rock and painting remnants where clay still sticks to the walls.


Tsankawi petroglyphs

Numerous
petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...
s (designs carved into stone) can be found around Tsankawi, located along the cliffs and in some of the cave dwellings. Carvings were made in soft, tuff stone which is easily eroded, meaning many drawings have become difficult to see or have disappeared altogether. Some of the meanings of the figures are known among modern-day Indigenous people and are culturally significant to them. Among the petroglyphs are figures of people, animals, birds, four-pointed stars and other designs. Similar carvings can be found at Frijoles canyon and an extensive collection of petroglyphs can be found south of Bandelier National Monument at Petroglyph National Monument.


Duchess castle

To the northeast are the remains of a home and school built by Madame Vera
von Blumenthal The Blumenthal family is a Lutheran and Roman Catholic German noble family, originally from Brandenburg-Prussia. Other (unrelated) families of this name exist in Switzerland and formerly in Russia, and many unrelated families (quite a few of them ...
(not actually a duchess but a baroness) and her lover Rose Dougan in 1918. They provided instruction to the potters of local pueblos on how to revive techniques with the intent of making the pottery more collectable, which would, in turn, provide income to the pueblo community.


Directions

The Tsankawi section of Bandelier National Monument is located on State Highway 4, twelve miles from the main section of the park. GPS coordinates of entrance: 35.859, -106.224


See also

* Tsirege *
Puye Cliff Dwellings 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 a ...


References

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External links


National Park Service info
:

{{Pre-Columbian North America Archaeological sites in New Mexico Bandelier National Monument Protected areas of Santa Fe County, New Mexico Puebloan buildings and structures Cave dwellings