Visitors touring Puye Cliff Dwellings, New Mexico

The volcanic tuff that makes up the rock cliffs at Puye Cliff Dwellings is soft enough to have allowed the Ancient Pueblo inhabitants to carve openings and caves in the cliff face. The rooms and spaces they created were used as additional living, cooking, or storage spaces, located at the back of the adobe structures that once lined the cliffside. The carved-out rooms also provided protection from their enemies, which included armored Spanish soldiers who had travelled north from Mexico, intending to expand their empire in the mid-1500's.

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