Significant historic and prehistoric sites are studied and protected from activities that could disturb them. Many have been listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Some are being developed for you to visit. If you find a historic or prehistoric site, please remember that they are fragile and non-renewable resources that belong to us all. Look at artifacts, but please put them back where you found them so that the next visitor can enjoy them as you do.
Artifacts are also important for the information they can provide to trained archeologists.
For these reasons, all sites and artifacts are protected by Federal Law. They lived in small camps, often located on meadow edges or in small caves. Their transient lifestyle gave way to a more sedentary one after cultivated crops were introduced to the region from Mexico. These hunters and gatherers gradually became farmers between 300 BC and AD 500. At about AD 500 a group known as the Anasazi appeared.