Travel

A visit to Chaco Canyon in New Mexico with archeologist Larry Baker

KCBX | By Tom Wilmer

Published January 17, 2017 at 3:02 AM PST

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Chaco Canyon's four-story tall Pueblo Bonito

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Chaco Canyon pueblo interior passsageway

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Chaco Canyon window to the past

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Chaco Canyon architectural sophistication

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Chaco Canyon architectural sophistication

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numerous outlier communities surround Chaco Canyon

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Chaco Canyon outlier structure

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pictoglyph at Chaco Canyon outlier

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Chaco Canyon outlier pictoglyph

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Chaco Canyon outlier stories on stone

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Hawk shadow at Chaco Canyon

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Chaco Canyon pueblo ruins

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Chaco Canyon stories on stone

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Chaco Culture National Historical Park is located in Northern New Mexico near Farmington. Archeologist Larry Baker, Executive Director at nearby Salmon Ruins Archeological Research Center and Library talks about the once thriving community of as many as 20,000 residents.

Occupied from around 800A.D., to the 1,200s when environmental degradation led the residents to abandon their community. Chaco Canyon, administered by the National Park Service is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.