Sandia Ranger District

About forestry service, 88044, La Mesa, NM, US, New Mexico

Tijeras is a village in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 465 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Albuquerque metropolitan area. == Pre-Columbian == The Tijeras Pueblo Archaeological Site is located in Tijeras at 35° 04′ 30″ N, 106° 23′ 01.″ The site was occupied by Ancestral Puebloans from about 1313 CE to 1425 CE. In the first phase of its occupation the Tijeras Pueblo had about 200 rooms in terraced buildings arranged in a "U" shape with a large ceremonial Kiva at the center. The pueblo was partially abandoned after about 1360 but rebuilding began about 1390, although the pueblo never regained its previous size. It was abandoned about 1425. The reasons for the abandonment of the pueblo are unknown, although it may have been because of drought and water shortages. The Tijeras Pueblo Archaeological Site is open to visitors. A museum on the site is open weekends and a self-guiding trail winds through the ruins. == History == Tijeras was part of the Carnuel land grant, created in 1763 to defend Albuquerque from the raids of Comanche, Kiowa, and Plains Apache American Indians.