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The Mesa Verde National Park

Mesa Verde National Park The Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado contains an amazing collection of cliff dwellings built by the Anasazi people who lived in the area between about 600 AD and 1300 AD. The word "Anasazi" derives from a Navajo word meaning "the ancient ones". The building remains here show us a people who were skilled builders, artistic in their crafts and who developed a vigorous civilisation. The area was established as a National Park in 1906. I have been only able to show a few of the hundreds of ancient buildings in the park.

Above: Spruce Tree House is the third largest cliff dwelling in the park, the Cliff Palace and Long House being Larger. It was constructed between 1200 AD and 1276 AD contains over 100 rooms and 8 kivas, or ceremonial chambers.

Left: Another view of the Spruce Tree House showing the 216 foot long natural cave in which it is built. At the widest point the cave goes back 89 feet into the rock and is thought to have been the home for around 100 people

Right: The Cliff Palace Ruins is the largest cliff dwelling in North America. It was rediscovered by modern man in December 1888 when two cowboys, Charlie Mason and his brother-in-law Richard Wetherill, were looking for stray cattle and came across what looked like "a magnificent city".

Left: The Cliff Palace Ruins are built in a cave of sandstone, deposited during the Cretaceous Period some 78 million years ago. Water seepage and erosion formed the cave which once housed over 200 people in its buildings. The Cliff Palace contains over 200 rooms and has 23 kivas. The Anasazi people who lived here had no association with the modern day Navajo people who moved into the Mesa at a much later date.

Right: Beryl descends into one of the Cliff Palace kivas. Kiva (pronounced kee-vah) is a Hopi word for a ceremonial room. These rooms were entered by ladder from the roof and had a fire pit in the centre, a ventilator opening in one wall and between a deflector wall which prevented a direct draught from the vent to the fire. These rooms were probably used for weaving and social gatherings as well as ceremonies.

	Left: The Sun Temple. This D shaped structure was probably used for some kind of ritual or ceremony but the structure was never completed.
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