Our first stop was Mesa Verde National Park. We really didn't know all that much about it and didn't really know what to expect. We were absolutely blown away. These people lived and flourished in this region over 700 years ago. They built stone communities in the cliffs of the mountains during the 1200s – much like the cliff dwellings we saw at Manitou Springs. They can use dendrochronology from the timbers in the dwellings to pretty closely determine the age of the building. Although there is very little known about these people, their craftsmanship and ability to build is amazing. They built phenomenal homes and communities in an area with a very difficult climate and landscape.
The dwellings that they built were beneath the overhanging cliffs. They were made mostly of sandstone that they shaped almost perfectly into bread loaf sized blocks. Their main staples were corn, beans and squash. They sometimes hunted for game, but archaeologists have since discovered that early years they hunted large animals, but that game appears to have been depleted in later years for these people. They used holes in the bricks to let in light a certain way as a means of a solar calendar, astronomy, equinoxes, etc. To think about the advanced society they presumably had. They think that prolonged drought was probably the primary reason that they abandoned their dwellings. Apparently one of the most important factors in selecting the location for these dwellings was where a seep spring was located, which is when precipitation goes into a rock and travels downward through the layers until it reaches clay and then has nowhere to go but out. In a drought prone area, this was essential. And we were also told that they selected the high up locations because average precipitation is actually higher there than in the valleys.
We took a tour of Balcony House, one of the two dwellings that you can actually go into. The views from there were gorgeous! It's a panoramic view of the entire canyon. We toured through a variety of rooms and saw a kiva – their ceremonial offering place. To get to the dwelling, we had to climb a 32 foot ladder. And then to exit, we had to go through this TINY tunnel. There was one section that was only eighteen inches across. Tight fit! The Puebloans used a variety of short ladders, but mostly used toe and hand notches in the rocks. You can see areas where the pecked out rocks exist. It's completely scary to think about. It's basically a tiny little hole in the rock for their hands and feet to scale the side of the mountain. Can you imagine? I wish I could go back in time and see these little monkeys all over the cliff sides.
After our tour was over, we just drove around the park a bit and explored. There are 4,000 dwellings in the park. At almost any given time, you can look out into the canyon and spot a dwelling. It's just very neat. It was a large civilization. At one spot we got out to see Cliff Palace. Oh my goodness! I don't even know how to describe it. It's just huge with countless rooms and kivas. We just couldn't take our eyes off of it. The most amazing thing about it though was its sheer size. We didn't take the tour to go inside, so I don't know a whole lot about it. I do know, however, that it was not actually a palace. It was a dwelling for many families and some level of government organization happened there as well.
After we left the park, we drove out to Hovenweep National Monument. It's ruins as well, but they're not preserved as well as they are in the park. The park has rebuilt some that have suffered damage. At Hovenweep, they are mostly in the condition they were discovered in. In some cases, very little of the original building is still standing. We took a great hike around the perimeter of the canyon to see the village. It was pretty hot out, but dry heat and bearable. We really enjoyed walking and see everything. Little lizards were running all over the place! The architecture is so good considering that they didn't have any tools for measurement.
We drove out to Canyon of the Ancients National Monument as well, but we were pretty worn out by then, so we only looked at Lowry Ruins. There were very impressive as well, but were mostly just a footprint of the building that used to stand there.
I'm writing this sitting in the truck so that I can hide from the mosquitoes. They're bad tonight. I don't think I'll venture out until Phill gets the fire started.
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