Achieving Dreams (Mesa Verde National Park Post)

While I was reading my earlier post, on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, I realized I forgot to put in which rim I like better.  I do like the North Rim better.  My reasoning for that statement is in the other post if you care to seek it.  

Going to Mesa Verde (Green Table in Spanish) has been a goal of mine since I first learned about the Anasazi in third or fourth grade.  

The Anasazi People are known by archeologists as Ancestral Puebloans, but both names refer to the same group.  I learned about these cliff dwelling people as Anasazi, so that is how I am going to refer to them. Although the Anasazi are most known for their homes in the cliff faces, they did not always live this lifestyle.  Originally nomadic, these ancestors of the cliff dwellers were called Basketmakers, because of their skill in weaving.  Farming on top of the mesas in which the fertile soil existed had begun to replace hunting and gathering.  They lived in pit houses on the mesas.  The Anasazi began making pottery and using the bow and arrow instead of the atlatl or spear.  These pit houses would later become kivas.  By 750 AD, they began building homes above ground using wooden poles and adobe.  By 1000 AD, they began to construct structures out of stone masonry.  The Anasazi also began to move off the mesas and use those mostly for farming. Between 1100 and 1200, which archeologists refer to as the Classic Period, the Anasazi began moving into the cliff dwellings Mesa Verde is famous for.  Near the end of the 1200s, a drought occurred in the four corners area, and the Anasazi began to leave their cliff dwellings and migrate south.  Archeologists are unsure of why exactly they left as they had no written language, but several theories exist.  One is the drought.  Another is that they exhausted the area's supply of resources.  

An early gutter!  This spout-like drainage pipe from the roof was probably used to collect rainwater.   

This was at one time a reservoir.  

The Balcony House Tour

Looking up at Balcony House

We had to climb this ladder to enter.  However, the Anasazi who lived here crawled in and out of the tunnel we exited through.  In other spots, hand and foot holds were used.  

Walking around the courtyard.  

Through a window.  

A kiva, such as this one, would be used for ceremonies or family gatherings.  It would have a flat roof, and a ladder down the chimney, a hole in the roof, to enter.  It would also have a keyhole like opening that was a ventilation shaft.  The brick wall to the left of the fire pit would prevent the air from the vent from blowing directly on the fire and would circulate it around the room.    

The Cliff Palace Tour.  

Cliff Palace from above.  Cliff Palace was actually not used as a palace.  It was named for its massive size.  It is the biggest cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde, about 150 rooms.   

This structure was 4 stories tall!

A storm was coming!  The views were the most dramatic from the highest part of the park at the fire watchtower, built help discover fires and prevent them before they cause too much damage.

Amy