FIRST RUINS CONSISTS OF TWO KIVAS AND TEN FAIRLY WELL PRESERVED ROOMS. PICTOGRAPHS CAN BE SEEN ON THE WALL BEHIND THE RUINS, MOSTLY WHITE, THICK-LINED ELEMENTS TYPICAL OF THE GREAT PUEBLO PERIOD.

First Ruins Gallery
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I visited the First Ruins Site in the Canyon de Chelly Canyon complex on the morning of Saturday, March 7, 2026.  My friend Richard and I were with Leander Staley of Beauty Way Jeep Tours as part of our Spring 2026 Rock Art Trip (Part 2) and this was our first stop of the day.  The above photo was taken with my Samsung S22, while the photos below were taken in RAW format with my Nikon D500 and processed in Lightroom Classic.  First Ruins was not a spectacular site, but a nice combination of ruins and pictographs to start our day off!

WHILE WE DIDN'T MAKE IT TO THE FIRST SITE FOR THE BEST MORNING LIGHT, IT WAS STILL MUCH BETTER THAN FULL MID-DAY SUN. A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE RUIN!
THIS LARGE KIVA STRUCTURE AT FIRST RUINS IS REMARKABLY WELL PRESERVED.
STANDING WALLS AT FIRST RUINS.
MOST OF THE PICTOGRAPHS AT FIRST RUINS ARE WHITE, AND LOCATED ABOVE THE FAR LEFT HAND PART OF THE RUINS.
DETAIL OF A PORTION OF THE MAIN PANEL AT FIRST RUINS. NOTE THE GOLD AND RED DETAILS ON THE LARGE RECTANGULAR ANTHROPOMORPH. IN THE LOWER LEFT CORNER ARE A LARGE QUANTITY OF RED AND BLACK HAND PRINTS. A FEW PETROGLYPHS CAN BE SEEN, MOST NOTABLY, THE ANTHROPOMORPH BELOW AND TO THE RIGHT OF THE RECTANGULAR BODIED PICTOGRAPH.
THE RIGHT HALF OF THE MAIN PANEL HAS A NUMBER OF RED ELEMENTS, INCLUDING A WATER BIRD AND SEVERAL HUMAN FIGURES.
ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE OF THE RIGHT HAND PORTION OF THE MAIN PANEL.
THE FAR RIGHT HAND AREA OF THE ART AT FIRST RUINS HAS SEVERAL YELLOW/GOLD ELEMENTS INCLUDING A SMALL ANTHROPOMORPH TO THE LEFT OF THE RAKE LIKE GEOMETRIC.
HANDPRINTS AND A DOG ADORN THE TOP PART OF THE MAIN PANEL.
THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE PHOTOS FROM FIRST RUINS, CAPTURING THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE INTRICATE STONE WORK AND SOMETIMES SLOPPY GREAT PUEBLO STYLE OF ROCK ART.