Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico

Bandelier National Monument preserves something rare: the opportunity to walk through centuries of human ingenuity. Wing's 1955 handbook remains the definitive guide to these ancient ruins, tracing the remarkable journey of the Pueblo peoples who called the Pajarito Plateau home. From the Basketmaker period through the Late Pueblo era, he documents how these ancestors built cliff dwellings and communal structures that still stand, including the dramatic Tyuonyi and Long House. The book weaves archaeology with living tradition, showing readers how modern Pueblo Indians maintain connections to these ancestors through agricultural practices, spiritual beliefs, and oral history. Beyond the ruins themselves, Wing paints the landscape as the ancients knew it, rich with game, timber, and the volcanic tuff they carved into homes. For visitors standing among the cliff dwellings today, this book provides the context that transforms stone walls into stories.