Archeologists conclude that the surrounding area has been inhabited since about 9500 BC. There was seasonal habitation up on Mesa Verde beginning about 7500 BC and permanent residents on the plateau and in cliff alcoves since about 550 AD. It is not easy to get up there and for the early mammoth hunters there was no point in making the rather significant effort. Hunter-gatherer civilizations were succeeded by an agricultural civilization that thrived on Mesa Verde until the late 1200s or early 1300s AD. Evidence of farm fields is common on top of the mesa. There are more than 4300 archeological sites and 600 cliff dwellings.
The Anansazi, or Ancestral Puebloans as they are now called, built the impressive sandstone storage units and villages that are the primary attractions for visitors today. Evidence suggests the sandstone blocks were shaped by using the harder rock from down in the river bed. You have to admire the architectural skill required to build rock structures some of which have round walls. The advantages of building in cliff alcoves include more warmth in the winter when the sun is lower in the sky and shines back into them. In summer there is shade from the overhang when the sun is higher in the sky. Also, summer temperatures tend to be 10 to 20 degrees cooler because of the higher elevation up on the mesa. There are seep springs along the cliff faces and a nearly five-mile-long moist corridor at the Mancos River.
The location of the cliff dwellings also provided protection from warlike neighbors who would have found it difficult to get up from below or down from above. The history of the whole world is that prosperous people attract those who want to take what they have. The Ancestral Puebloans were prosperous enough to trade for goods that came from as far as the sea coast. Their neighbors must have been well aware of that and envied them for what they had. There are numerous indications of warfare.
Access to the cliff dwellings was difficult by design and it still can be a challenge for visitors. When we were there the first time, there was a plywood "tunnel" next to the ticket station. The sign said, if you can't crawl through this, you can't go on the tour. That tunnel represented the space limitations of the actual rock tunnel at Balcony House: 12 feet long, 18 inches wide and high. Even if you are small enough, you might have physical limitations that make it difficult to crawl on your hands and knees through 12 feet of rock. Or, you might have a modest aversion to tight spaces. The tour also requires climbing ladders for a total of 60 feet. One of those ladders is 32 feet. Scared of heights? Don't go. Concerned about your balance or the strength of your hand grip? Don't go. Want to see something fantastic? You definitely ought to go.
The view from the "front porch" at Balcony House. No rail. Mothers, watch your children.
At the entrance to the Morefield Campground, I was confused at first about which way to go. No, wait. I'm still confused.
That round pit room is a kiva. It was originally thatched over and used for religious rituals and political meetings. Early kivas were square until someone figured out how to make a curved wall.
Fire pit in the floor and smoke hole in the roof of this kiva.
Getting there is half the fun.
Except for this woman. She said, "I thought they were kidding about the ladders!" By the way, the puebloans did not use ladders. They carved toe and finger holes in the cliff face.
During the heat of the day, mule deer came to rest in the shade behind our campsite.
Petroglyphs, like these, are images carved into rock surface. Pictographs are pictures painted on.
This pictograph must have been done by an Ancestral Puebloan teenager.
It is way, way up on the cliff face where only a kid would risk going. (Think of water tower graffiti.)
Most farming was done up on the top of the mesa but you can see green terraces here.
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