From a Student's Discovery to the Original Indiana Jones - The History of Aztec Ruins

From a Student's Discovery to the Original Indiana Jones - History of Aztec Ruins

00:34 - Where is Aztec?
01:03 - Learning About the Ruins
02:53 - North Eastern View
03:42 - Earl Morris
04:50 - Pictographs
05:51 - Digital Treasure Hunt
08:40 - Original Doorways
09:40 - School Trip’s Creepy Discovery
11:50 - Ancient Burial
12:18 - NAGPRA Act
13:25 - Venetian Blind Doorway
14:26 - Funding Runs Out
15:13 - From Great Kiva
15:44 - Documentation and Dendrochronology!
16:39 - Inside the Great Kiva
17:21 - Discovery of the Great Kiva
18:26 - Saving the Great Kiva


On this episode of View Master Travels, I set out to visit the Aztec Ruins National Monument in New Mexico, inspired by my vintage View-Master reel from 1947. Before this trip, I didn’t even realize there were “Aztec” ruins in North America! We stayed in Farmington, and to our surprise, an overnight snowstorm made for an unexpected start to our journey. The ruins, located just outside the town of Aztec, greeted us with cold rain, making the visitor center a welcome stop before heading out to explore.

One of the first things I learned was that these ruins actually have nothing to do with the Aztecs. The name came from early European settlers who mistakenly associated them with the Central American civilization. In reality, they were built by the Ancestral Pueblo people around 1100 AD. The site’s largest structure has over 500 rooms and was once a bustling trade and gathering center. By the early 1300s, the inhabitants had moved away, likely toward Santa Fe. Excavations began in the late 19th century, led by Earl Morris—an archaeologist whose work helped uncover thousands of artifacts and preserve the site as a National Monument.

One of the biggest mysteries I tackled was trying to locate a pictograph from my View-Master reel. After searching the ruins and consulting guides, I turned to digital archives for answers. I eventually found evidence that the pictographs had been buried in 1992 to protect them from weather damage. This deep dive into historical records made me feel like a “digital Indiana Jones,” piecing together lost knowledge using modern tools. It really showed me how archaeology isn’t just about digging in the dirt—it’s also about uncovering forgotten research.

The trip also led me to some eerie discoveries, including a tale from 1881 when a group of schoolchildren stumbled upon human skeletons in a hidden chamber. Over the years, many burial artifacts were removed, but thanks to modern laws protecting Indigenous remains, most have been returned to their rightful descendants. The highlight of the site, though, was the Great Kiva—a massive ceremonial chamber reconstructed under Morris’s guidance. Standing inside, I couldn’t help but feel the weight of history. This journey to Aztec Ruins was more than just matching View-Master images; it was a deep dive into archaeology, history, and the stories of those who came before.

Sound Effects:

Ambiance of a grand church: https://freesound.org/s/475954/
Wind blowing on top of a mountain: https://freesound.org/s/156045/
Egyptian Tomb: https://freesound.org/s/472832/
People in a cave: https://freesound.org/s/735547/
Two people talking in Spanish: https://freesound.org/s/772877/
Keyboard typing and mouse clicks: https://freesound.org/s/450282/
Horror Ambiance: https://freesound.org/s/179059/
Slide Projector: https://freesound.org/s/463693/

Music:

Lost Frontier by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Light Thought var 4 by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Tech Talk by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Mind Scrape by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Horror Music by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Living Voyage by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...