JOLEE-Power-Edition-2020

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United States
Mesa Verde
By Susan Berger
New York / San Francisco / Hong Kong / London / Tokyo /
Rome / Toronto
The Ancestral Puebloan people, or Anasazi as they were formerly known,
occupied the Four Corners region of the USA, covering parts of Colorado,
New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. Beginning in 1000 to 1100 AD they built
600 dwellings out of stone, mortar and plaster into the high canyon walls,
reaching their architectural peak in the 1200s. The structures were
primarily residential, although some were used for storage and rituals. By
1300, the area was abandoned.
Cowboys discovered the cliff dwellings in the 1880s. The arid climate and
shelter from overhanging rocks has served to preserve them, and today it is
possible to see how the Anasazi lived over 700 years ago. The dwellings,
which were reached via retractable ladders, can be visited in the same
manner today. Inside, you can see ceilings blackened by hearth smoke and
handprints in the walls. The largest of the cliff dwellings is Cliff Palace,
which has 150 rooms. The dwellings were originally up to four stories high.
Families lived in architectural units organized around kivas, which were
circular rooms. Inside the kiva was a fire pit and a ventilation shaft, and
additional rooms fanned out from it, including storage areas. The Ancestral
Puebloans had time for leisure activities, creating beautiful murals,
advanced pottery, and jewelry.
It is not known why the site was abandoned, however by 1300 the people
had migrated south. In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt established
Mesa Verde National Park to “preserve the works of man”, the first cultural
national park in the USA.
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