National and State Register

Durango Rock Shelters Archaeology Site

La Plata County

Pioneer southwestern archaeologist Earl Morris conducted excavations in 1938 at these two rockshelters, which constitute the type site for dwellings of the Basketmaker II Period of the Ancestral Puebloan tradition.  Basketmaker II houses were first identified at these sites.

A picture of a rock with some paintings on it in red.

Durango Rock Shelters Archaeology Site