Old Roads

Ever try to photograph a thousand-year-old road in the desert? The ancient Anasazi built a system of "roads" in the eleventh and twelve centuries, even though they did not have wheeled vehicles nor large beasts of burden. Their purpose remains a mystery. Until fairly recently, archaeologists believed that these roads were restricted to the Chaco Canyon area in northern New Mexico. However, several Bluff, Utah archaeologists have been discovering a number of Chaco roads and Chaco-style features, such as Great Houses, in southeast Utah.

One road northwest of Bluff is exceptionally distinct from the air at sunrise and sunset when it casts a straight shadow across the desert floor. Yet from ground level, it is quite faint. The folks and dog in the foreground are standing on the road and if you look closely another person is in the upper left distance, also on the trace of the road.

Following it southeast, one comes to a set of remarkable steps dropping into a canyon. Whether or not these were carved by the ancient ones or "improved" later by cowboys, is still an unanswered question.