Coronado State Monument, a Photo Gallery
The
Kuaua Pueblo archaeological site is
located within Coronado State Monument. The site is located at 485
Kuaua Road in
Bernalillo, NM, just north of Albuquerque, one mile west of Interstate 25
on State Highway 44. The park features
a campground, a picnic area, and rest facilities. All services are
also found nearby.
The prehistoric Native American
adobe community was built approximately 700 years ago
and abandoned near the end of the 16th Century.
A short and accessible interpretive trail meanders through the pueblo remains
and reconstructed walls. A reconstructed kiva, accessible by
ladder, features recreated prehistoric polychrome murals.
Francisco Vasquez de
Coronado and his army, in search of rumored cities of gold,
are believed to have camped nearby during their exploration of the
Southwest in 1540, hence the naming
of the park.
Excavated in the 1930's and partially reconstructed,
weather and time are taking their toll on this historic ruin. WPA workers
assisted excavation and reconstructed the adobe ruin walls
over the original walls. The rebuilt sections of walls illustrate
the original wall layout of the pueblo. Reconstruction during
initial excavation has already deteriorated significantly, and some
sections now have more recent restorations.
Prehistoric settlers probaby arrived at Kuaua from areas
of the Four Corners depopulated during the Great Drought of 1276-1299,
drawn by the Rio Grande water flowing from the high Rockies.
Kuaua is a Tiwa word meaning evergreen.
The museum displays both Native American and Spanish
Colonial artifacts. The most significant display conserves Kuaua's
kiva mural art. Several of the preserved mural segments are displayed
in a special mural room. A square kiva, excavated (and
reconstructed) in the south plaza, contained numerous layers of some
of the finest Pre-Columbian mural art in the Untied States. The ancient
mural art, based on the archaeological excavations, is accurately
recreated in the reconstructed kiva.
Download a 1280 pixel deskpicture of
this view of the Sandia Mountains across the Rio Grande.
In this view, the Visitor Center is seen from one of the kivas.
The Visitor Center was
designed
by noted architect John Gaw Meem.
Download
a 1280 pixel deskpicture.
PowerPoint: Coronado State Monument
NM Cultural Affairs: Coronado
State Monument
Friends of Coronado State Monument
