![](https://www.cpr.org/cdn-cgi/image/width=3840,quality=75,format=auto/https://wp-cpr.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2019/10/Aztec-Ruins-National-Monument.jpg)
The ruins of ancient, multi-story stone buildings stand near Farmington, New Mexico. It’s called Aztec Ruins National Monument, although it’s a misnomer. Ancestral Puebloans built these about 900 years ago. The largest of these buildings consists of more than 400 masonry rooms. And on the ceilings -- there’s graffiti. Who wrote it, and what does it tell archaeologists about the history of the site? Cortez historian Fred Blackburn is engaged in that research.