Mysterious US city preserves pre-Columbian culture

HOUSTON, Texas - In the arid and remote northwest corner of the southwestern US state of New Mexico, lie grand structures that represent the center of a thriving culture 1,000 years ago.

Chaco Culture National Historical Park, known locally as Chaco Canyon, preserves a significant find of pre-Columbian culture that is still being studied by archaeologists who are trying to solve the mysteries of its purpose and the reason for its inhospitable desert location.

"Chaco Canyon was a high civilization, far beyond anything that anybody had any idea existed here. When they started building the masonry structures, it was a completely different way of shaping space. It's really a new world view," said G.B. Cornucopia, the interpretive ranger at the park.