Today we visited our next National Park, Mesa Verde. Mesa Verde is famous for the cliff dwellings located within it. These dwellings were the homes of the ancient Puebloan people, ancestors of the Pueblos living in the southwest today. We toured the dwelling known as Cliff Palace, for which we descended stone steps 100 feet. This dwelling was a community of about 100 people, all living and working for the common good. They grew corn, pinto beans, and squash. Cliff Palace was built around 1100 A.D. It was abandoned around 1300 A.D.
This is known as a kiva, or sacred underground room. These pillars supported a grass and thatch roof, with one hole in the center for a ladder.
These stones are held together with a mortar mix of sand and water.
These doorways are about 4 ft high. The People (as they are now known) stood about 5' to 5'5".
This dwelling was built from the inside of the cave to the outside. It has rooms that go back 90 feet from the front.
This is one of the ladders in a narrow opening in the rock that we had to climb up to get to the top of the mesa. There were three of these 10' ladders.
Tomorrow we will be riding the Durango - Silverton railway. See you then.
These doorways are about 4 ft high. The People (as they are now known) stood about 5' to 5'5".
This dwelling was built from the inside of the cave to the outside. It has rooms that go back 90 feet from the front.
This is one of the ladders in a narrow opening in the rock that we had to climb up to get to the top of the mesa. There were three of these 10' ladders.Tomorrow we will be riding the Durango - Silverton railway. See you then.
Susan and Denis
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