The park conserves the remains of an ancient village constructed on top of a mesa and inhabited from approximately AD 1050 to 1200. With a year-round water supply, fertile fields, a broad view of the surrounding countryside, and abundant wild game, wood, and stone, the village was able to support about 200 people.

The park retains the name formerly used for this culture although the preferred term today is Ancestral Puebloan, a name more acceptable to their descendants.

The park museum explains how the villagers lived, while a reconstructed pueblo allows visitors to see for themselves. You can try your hand at grinding corn the Indian way with a mano and metate.