Mesa Verde, Cortez, CO. # 9, Aug. 16, 2013

This posting will conclude my visit to Mesa Verde with much more to see but I just ran out of time and will have to come back some time and spend more time here at this marvelous historical location.

Sun Point View

The literature at the park indicates the view from Sun Point is one of the best in Mesa Verde. Visible from here are a dozen cliff dwellings set in alcoves high up in the Cliffs and Fewkes Canyons, along with the interesting mesa top building called Sun Temple across the canyon. Between the years A. D. 1200 to 1300 half of the population of Chapin Mesa was concentrated here in these dwellings. At the same time many more thousands of people were living north of Mesa Verde along the Dolores River  and in Montezuma Valley. As I Mentioned there are numerous cliff dwelling along these two canyons and some of the more notable  are Mummy House, Oak Tree House, Sunset House, Fire Temple, New Fire House, and the most famous one Cliff Palace.  Along the upper walls of Navajo Canyon is Square Tower House. Posting # 6 also has photos and information about other cliff dwellings. I found it very interesting that while you are standing on one side of the canyon looking at dwellings in the alcoves and cliff across the canyon from you you may also standing on top of similar dwellings in the cliff right below where you are standing.

Kodak House  Is an Example Of A Split Level House.

Interesting Statistic About Number Of Cliff Dwellings

Rugged Cliffs And Where One Canyon Splits Into Two Canyons.

 It Is Hard To See But On The Far Upper Left Is A Cliff Dwelling As Well As On The Upper Right.

Oak Tree House

Oak Tree House Description

Oak Tree House Description Continued

Oak Tree House. Note The Upper Level As An Example Of Split Level Housing.

Oak Tree House is dated to around the period A. D. 1250. Archaeologist Jesse Walter Fewkes excavated in this 50 room dwelling.  He found three more kivas in addition to four known ones. These three had fine masonry. Five metates ( grinding stones ) had been set in the floor in one kiva. A bundle of grass was found on one of the metate which might have been used to sweep away  the meal once it was ground. You can imagine the countless hours these women spent  turning corn into cornmeal which was a staple of their diet.

Note the stone wall at the bottom and in the middle of the photograph showing the technique they used to level the area around their dwelling.

Fire Temple

Fire Temple And New Fire House Description

New Fire House Description

New Fire House Description

New Fire House. In The Center Of The Photograph On The Face Of The Cliff Dividing The Lower And Upper Levels If You Look Closely Or Enlarge The Photograph You Can See The Hand And Toe Holds They Used To Climb Up To The Second Level.

 Researchers do not believe Fire Temple was a place where people lived but was an area for performing ceremonial dances that were attended by people from all over the mesa. There is a large open courtyard that may have been a stage. In early 1900 when Fewkes excavated the area he noted a rectangular floor plan, a high banquette or bench, and a white band of plaster across the back wall. This was once called Painted House because of the figures of rain clouds, cactus, humans, and animals painted on the wall.

Closer View Of  New Fire House

Closer View Of Features Of  New Fire House. You Can See Where 
Some Reconstruction Work Is Proceeding.

Close Up Of Upper Level Room. Note It Is Built All The Way To The Roof Of The Cliff/Alcove.

Sun Temple Is Located On The Mesa Top

Description Of Sun Temple

Sun Temple Description And Outline. It Is Difficult To See How They Entered 
The Structure And Various Interior Areas.

Walls Are Now Protected From Erosion.

Sun Temple. This All I Could See From The Highest Place I Could Find. You Can See How The Walls Have Been Capped To Protect Them From Erosion. The Small Walled Area Just To The Right Of The " Do Not Enter Sign " Is Thought To Be A " Solar Marker " And That People From The Surrounding Cliff Dwellings Attended Ceremonies Here. At The top Of The Wall Just To The Right Of The Solar Marker Is A " Spout " I Will Call It. I Saw No Mention Of What Purpose It Served. My guess Is That When They In Modern Times Put A Cement Cap On The Walls This Served As A Point For Water To run Off The Wall To The Outside Rather Than The Inside.

Looking Inside Sun Temple Showing How Wall Have Been Capped To Preserve Them.

Another View Inside Sun Temple

In 1915 Dr. Jesse Walter Fewkes worked on excavating this site and it was his conclusion that Sun Temple was built as a worship place. Because of its size it is referred to as a temple. Dr. Fewkes believed the D shape of the structure was intentional from the beginning. The exterior wall is nearly 1,000 feet long and almost every stone in the masonry walls are pecked on the surface some with geometric designs. These four thick walls are double coursed stone and the area between the courses was filled with a rubble core. It is believed the structure which has 30 rooms or so was never finished because no household goods or roof beams were never found. The floor in the Sun Temple is the natural rock of the mesa. The big question has been and continues to be why was so much planning and work in personal time and materials invested in Sun Temple and desert it before it was finished. Also when you look at the size of the project you have to realize this was a community project. To me if it was a ceremonial place for worship and not for residence then a roof would not have been needed. No mention is made of any holes in the floors where roof supports would have been placed. Also, because of the width of the Sun Temple it would have presented a difficult task to get the water to run off the edges of the structure rather than inside it. Just one more interesting question.

House Of Many Windows. The Next Few Photos Will Be Enlargements So you Can Read The Text.

House Of Many Windows

House Of Many Windows

House Of Many Windows

Song Of The Lark ( 1915 )

House Of Many Windows

House Of Many Windows

Dwelling Remains

Hemenway House

Hemenway House Description

Creation Of Mesa Verde As A National Park

Mary Tileston Hemenway

    As you might suspect many of the cliff dwelling are not accessible by tourist under any circumstances         while others can be accessed by ranger led tours. Obviously there is a nominal fee for these and they are scheduled throughout the day. You have to purchase the tickets at the entrance into the park which incidentally is basically 23 miles from the top of the Mesa.  A few of these tours will take you to some amazing sites.

Balcony House

This is the most adventurous cliff dwelling tour. It is one hour long and you climb a 32 foot ladder, crawl through an 18 inch wide 12 foot long tunnel and climb up a 60 foot open cliff face with with steps and two 10 foot ladders to reach the exit. This was a " medium size " cliff dwelling which had 40 rooms and is located in Soda Valley and it is believed that it was first explored by Prospector S. E. Osborn in the spring of 1884.

Here Is A Photo On The Information Sign Telling About Balcony House.

Here Is Another Photograph Of A Tour Group Listening To A Ranger Instructing Them And  
Preparing To Climb One Of The  Ladders

Long House

Another tour available is to Long House which is accessed by a tram ride to and from the trail head. This tour is 90 minutes long and you climb two 15 foot ladders and experience a 130 foot change in elevation as you reach the exit. This is a round trip 3/4 mile trip hike. The tour starts on the Wetherill Mesa which is 29 miles from the park entrance.

Long House

Close Up View Inside Long House

One Of The Ladders Inside Long House

View Inside Long House

View Of Rooms Inside Long House

Long House

Another interesting tour available that I was not able to see but would love to see is what is called  " twilight in the park ". This is a tour that goes to Cliff Palace and is conducted nightly. At Cliff Palace you see historical figures from Mesa Verde's past. These characters locked in their own time period give a fascinating perspective on the Mesa Verde experience.

Photograph From Mesa Verde Visitor Guide Telling About " Twilight In The Park ".

Mummy House

The following five pages ( photographs  ) are from The Mesa Verde National Park web site and contain an article written by Jean McWhirt entitled " Esther ". Esther is the name given to a female mummy found  in 1938 in a  cleft in a cave in Falls Creek Canyon nine miles north of Durango, Colorado. So you say OK why are you telling us about her while you are visiting Mesa Verde. Esther is in the Chapin Mesa Archaeological Museum  and she is from the Basket Weaver/Maker period that lived in Mesa Verde and the surrounding area. I am sorry for the darkness of these images but I could not make them any brighter. I think you will find them interesting.

About Esther

About Esther

About Esther

About Esther

Jean McWhirt  was an long time employee of the National Park Service  when she died in 1969. She started to work for the National Park Service in 1939 and served until she married Addison Pinkley in 1942.  When he entered the US Navy she stopped work for a while. He served aboard the US submarine  Squalus . This sub was credited with going into Tokyo Harbor and sinking many Japanese merchant ships. The Squalus went into the jaws of the enemy a second time and was sunk with the loss of all aboard. Jean, following the death of her husband in 1943 returned to the National Park Service. Just like I say you never know what is just over the next hill or around the next curve in the road. In this instance it was Esther in the Mesa Verde Museum. They also had a nice place to eat at the museum and I enjoyed some good food. Next I went to see the  most famous cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde and that is Cliff Palace.

Cliff Palace

Cliff Palace

Life In Cliff Palace

Every Body Worked

The Pueblo builders shaped the stones into building blocks with tools made of harder river bed rocks. Water for making mortar was plentiful in the springs and it was carried in jugs and jars to the builders. In this artist rendition men, women and children are all working.

Cliff Palace One Of The Best Preserved Cliff Dwellings It Had 150 Rooms And More Than 20 Kivas.

Close Up Of Part Of Cliff Palace. A Frequently Asked Question Is About The Relative Small Size Of The Doorways And Windows. The Reason Is That The Average Man Was Under 5 Foot  6 Inches While The Average Woman Was Under 5 Feet.

Close Up View Of Part Of Cliff Palace

Cliff Palace

Cliff Palace As Seen From A Viewing Area. Groups Touring The Site Led By A Ranger 
Come By Me On This Viewing Platform

Most Of The People On The Viewing Platform Are Looking Down Into Cliff Palace. In Talking To Several Of Them I Learned They Had Family Members Who Were In The Tour Group Just Going Down To Cliff Palace. The Trail Going Down Starts Here At This Platform. The Lady On The Far Right Was Watching Her Son Going Down And She Was Calling To Him To Get His Attention. I Say Calling It Was Not Much More Than A Loud Whisper. I Suggested She Call Out Loud And She Was Reluctant To Do So. I Told Her This Is Most Likely A Once In A Lifetime Occasion So Don't Missed The Opportunity. She Did. She Yelled His Name And He Heard And Turned Around And Waved To Her. She Said Thank You To Me. I Think I Told You This Before In Some Form Of Communication.

Tour Group Headed Into Cliff Palace. The Ranger Waits To The Right For Everyone To Get There.

Tour Group Gathers Around A Kiva. The Ranger Is On The Right Next To A Wall. He Is Wearing A Hat.

Group Listens To Ranger Presentation

Tour Group Leaving Cliff Palace Listen To Ranger. The Ranger Is The Last To Leave.

Tour Group Starts To Exit Cliff Palace On Climb Back To The Mesa Top

Just A Little Farther To The Ladder

Up They Go. See The Exit Sign

More Head For The Exit

Finally The Top After A Long Ladder Climb

I find It Interesting That People Throw Coins Into Fountains To " Make A Wish " And Here They 

Throw Coins Into This Crevice In The Rocks Overlooking Cliff Palace. I Wonder How Often They

 Collect These Coins? In Reading The Tour Guide Books I Did Not Sign Up For This Tour As I Figured It Would Be A Little To Much For Me But After Seeing The Trail I Could Have Handled It. Sorry I Didn't Take The Opportunity.

This Character Just Keeps Following Me Around The United States. Do You See The Handle Of His Walking Stick. That Thing Looks Familiar.  He Even Has A Park Passport Book In His Pocket. 
I Wonder???

Mesa Verde As Viewed On The Road Back Down.

Tunnel On The Way Down From Mesa Verde

There is so much more to say and tell about Mesa Verde but I need to move on as I still have a long way to go and lots more to see and tell you about.  I will be heading mostly north now toward Moab, Colorado. I would love to come back Mesa Verde and spend more time here. I hope you have enjoyed you tour with me. My reminder to you is to remember that God loves you and so do I.

Grandpa Bill

Preparing for winter, Oct 4, 2013

I am working on the final Mesa Verde posting but the fall season won't let me stay on it. Trying to get the yard ready for a long sleep this winter. I have spent much of the last 2 days cleaning the plant room mopping the floor etc. Today Michael came over and help me move the banana plants, elephant ears and a couple of other things into the plant room. That biggest elephant ear just about got the best of us. I am having real doubts whether it will survive because it is so tall it wont get enough light even with the lights I have in the plant room. Well if it doesn't its baby which is about 5 feet tall can take it's place.

It is hard to realize that cool weather is just around the corner with the hot weather we are having. The last several days have been in the low to mid 80's with high humidity. The forecast is for a few more days of heat with higher humidity and lots of rain feed with the moisture from the tropical storm currently in the Gulf of Mexico. The storms that are in Nebraska and that area are due here Sunday night so I am glad to get my stuff moved inside. Perhaps the snow that is in Denver can't be to far in the future.

I changed to decoration on the front door and put new fall flowers on Mom's grave. They look good. I also put the new fall decorations out in front of the house as you will see in the following photos. The last few days have been kind of melancholy for me as it seemed that every thing I did brought back special memories of Mom and some times that gets the best of me. I miss her so much but I know for sure better days are coming someday and we will be together again.

Bale Of Straw, Pumpkins, Gourds, Shock Of Corn, Mums, Humming Bird Feeder 

And Flowering Cabbage And Kale

Different View And The Begonias Are Still Beautiful. They Will Be The Plant Of Choice Next Spring.

I am having great fun watching my two humming birds as they continue to chase each other off the feeder.  These birds I have are young and I don't know when they will be big enough to fly south but they are feeding enough to grow fast. Also, I will be watching closely to see when the other birds or squirrels find that the shock of corn actually has a dozen or so full ears of corn on it. When they discover that the fun and activity will pick up.

Well it is time to think about going to bed so remember that God loves you and so do I.

Grandpa Bill

Mesa Verde, # 8, Cortez, CO., Aug.,17, 2013

Today I want to explore some more about the " Pit House ".

Diagram Of A Pit House

As we have seen Pit Houses were the first dwellings of these Puebloan people and were first built on top of the Mesa and later built in connection with the Alcove and Cliff Dwellings and early Puebloan villages during the period of A. D. 700 to 950.  Often times Pit houses were constructed almost on top of or on older pit house that had been destroyed earlier. While archaeologists searched some of these pit homes they discovered charred timbers and scorched adobe rubble which was evidence of intense heat. In these pit houses the fire pit was only six feet below the ceiling laced with sticks and timber dried by innumerable cooking fires a pit house was a hazardous place to live and definitely a " fire trap ". Archaeologists have determined that the majority of the pit houses were destroyed by fire. Later pit houses had a ventilation shaft and were dug deeper apparently an effort to lessen the danger of fires destroying the house. Some pit houses would become special rooms where ceremonies were likely held. As these old pit house ruins have been examined  many tools and artifacts have been found; such as, a stone Mano held in the hand to grind seeds and corn on a large flat rock called a metate. Also found were deer bones, awls for making holes in leather, turkey bones, pottery sherd's, a piece of someones prized woven cloth sandal and a bowl filled with tiny seeds. 

Ventilating A Pit House

Illustration Of How To Ventilate A Pit House

What Life May Have Looked Like In A Pit House As A Family Sits Around A Fire

Above I Mentioned That Pitt Houses Were Rebuilt On Or Near Older Ones 

As This Diagram Depicts. The Older House Was On The Left.

This Is Excavation Site Of A Pit House Shown In The Diagram Above

Drawing Showing The First Pit House  Then The Ruins Of The First Pit House  

And Then The Second Pit House

Excavation Showing Old And Newer Pit Houses

Close Up View Of Excavation Of Pit House Site. You can See The Fire Pit In 

The Center Of The Room And The Deflector Rock In Front Of the Ventilation Shaft

In the photograph above the row of sand stones slabs protruding into the larger room actually formed part of the north wall of the smaller pit house and held back the ashes and loose fill. The  first dwelling may have had a standard antechamber for storage, the second house has covered evidence of it. The builders may have found it easier to enlarge the old storage area into living space. The reason for the reoccupation of these dwellings and enlarging them is not clear but speculation is that ancestral ties. religious beliefs or expediency may have played a part.

Next we have an example of a Crescent-Shaped Village  which followed the building of Pit Houses which was a trend to living above ground..

Crescent-Shaped Village

View Of Ruins Of Village Room On Left

Center Of Row Of Room In Crescent-Shaped Village

View Of Ruins Of Far Right Room In Village

Deep Pit Room Was Part Of  The Village And Believed To Be A Kiva.

By A. D. 850 most Mesa Verde people lived in above ground dwellings rather than in pit houses. The joining of rooms together may have reflected a greater degree of cooperation required by the expanding population. These houses were built on foundations of upright stone slabs. The walls were constructed by setting poles upright and weaving small sticks between them, then plastering them with mud. This technique is called " wattle and daub "

The large pit room shown above was used for ceremonies as well as cooking and sleeping. The slabs and floor cavities are typical of earlier pit houses. Some villagers may have found it better to move back into the pit room during the winter as the pit room would be easier to heat than the above ground house. Villages of this time only had one or two pit rooms . This may have been because spiritual matters evolved from family and community affairs. It is believed that the pit room was a transition from pit houses to kiva. The fact that no domestic features such as manos and metates and storage areas suggests a move toward a more formally structured religious chamber. This pit room is unique in that it is rectangular in shape rather than round and the reason for this change is unknown..

Diagram Of How This Pit Room May Have Looked. Note The Roof Is Near Ground Level

Diagram Of How A Pit House May Have Looked. Note The Sloped Walls

Next we move on to Stone villages rather than pit houses or Wattle and Daub type buildings as shown next.

Wattle And Daub Style

Diagram Of What A Stone Village May Have Looked Like

Ruins Of he Foundation/Walls Of Stone Village

When you compare the walls of this stone village with others you will find  these walls indicate masonry construction where loose stones are cemented together with clay. This village is like others in that it has houses in a row, a plaza and a pit room except for the masonry construction. Historians are uncertain why they started building houses above ground. There may have been a shortage of good house building timber or the frequent house fires may have forced them to find a safer house. One thing that is sure and is evidenced as you tour the mesa and stop to realize the learning and development these people were making as they move from below ground dwellers to above ground dwellers to stone villages to as we will see later the shaping and fitting of stones together to support multistory villages. In this connection they moved from having villages built with post and adobe walls to single course masonry strong walls, to double course stone walls which were even stronger. A third new feature came into being and that was a round tower that were often associated with a kiva and connected to the kiva by an underground tunnel. All we have are questions as to what purpose they served. For example were they defensive structures or watch towers? Did they serve a religious or ceremonial purpose? Did they mark the beginning of troubled times on Mesa Verde?  Or could they have meet the needs of a combination of all three of these questions? Because the Pueblo people choose to build and rebuild their homes on the same sites over several hundred years and over the old building much of the archaeological history was lost.  In one location an unusual collection of jewelry  was found beneath a floor surface including pendants, beads, and four exquisite necklaces, including one with 458 white shell beads. Buried in one of the kivas was a cache of bird, mammal and reptile bones. The final question comes to mind and that is why did they stay in the same location for centuries because the area is rather exposed to weather extremes and the closest water was a quarters of a mile away. It may have been the good farm land or it may have just simply been that it was home and that is where the family had always lived not much different than  our families up until a generation or so ago.

Ceremonial Chamber

 The above photograph is an Anasazi kiva which is an underground religious room. Archaeologists  in trying to understand what events occurred here look at modern Pueblo Indian kivas and beliefs.  The small circular hole in the floor is a sipapu, a symbolic entrance into the underworld the Pueblo place of origin. By this time in their development, pit rooms had evolved into more formalized religious structure. This early kiva design was continued in Mesa Verde villages. The hole in the back wall near the floor is a ventilator shaft which exits at ground level near the fence at the top of the photograph. You can see three short stone columns or pilasters on the bench or shelf  which circles the floor were used to support the roof timbers.

Ventilator shaft

Artists Rendition of Events In The Ceremonial Chamber.

Village Upon Village. As Mentioned Above Often Villages Would Be Vacated Or New 

Structure Built On Top Of The Old One. In This Instance It Happened Three Times.

At first when you look at the above photograph/diagram it looks like a puzzle of circles and rectangles. Large pits seem dug at random and foundations overlapping.  But really there are three distinct villages here with different architectural styles and each with its own kiva and underground ceremonial chamber. For at least 150 years a succession of Pueblo farmers occupied this same tract of land. as noted earlier this does not seem to be a truly desirable area as the  mesa top has harsh weather and the drainage is poor. The snow is lingers making for late planting times as well as chilling the earthen rooms. You may wonder why did they build over a prior village. It does not seem logical does it? Also to me I keep wondering what happened that the village was empty so a new one could be built over it especially since the area was occupied for over a century. One thing seems certain by tearing down the old structures they had a ready source of building materials. The villages are now flattened, but scattered fragments yield clues to the villagers lives. Three wall types are visible. 1. post and adobe. 2. single course masonry one stone thick and 3. double-course masonry. This seems to have been a place of architectural experiment.  Although the inhabitants left no calendar or no written record each occupation can be fixed in time. A kiva timber from the Third Village has a tree ring date of A. D. 1074. Other villages dates can be approximated by comparing ruins along the mesa. In a relative brief time span, Anasazi building methods show increasing stability and technical sophistication.

Pains Taking Effort To Learn About These People. James A. Lancaster,Archaeologist  

Working At The Site In 1950.

Excavation To Unearth A Culture

Did you ever wonder how the archaeologist determine where to start digging? I have. Sure in this case I assume they knew of the alcove and cliff dwellings and perhaps some other structures but here it says there was only a low mound of dirt and a few building stones and it did not look very promising.  To start you don't just grab a shovel and start digging like I do in my back yard. If you are serious you have to be careful or your first shovel full of dirt might cut right through a rare artifact. In this case they found two kivas that were from two earlier villages one of which was from a village estimated to be 100 years apart in time.

Comparison Of Kiva Style Of Construction

Look How Deep This Is

Another View

Here You Can Clearly See The Fire Pit And The Ventilator Shaft

Another View

View Of Ventilator Shaft, Fire Pit And Entry Into Central Structure

Partial View Of Central Structure

Kiva Alignment Was Very Important to These Early Puebloans

Closer View Of The Alignment Of The Ventilator Shaft, Fire Pit And Sipapu

Explanation Of Kiva Key Features Orientation

Finish Of Explanation Of Kiva Features Alignment. I Need To Point Out Here That The Last 10 Or So Photographs Are Of The Area First Uncovered By Archaeologist James A. Lancaster.

Another Example Of the Perfect Alignment Of The Ventilator Shaft And The Stone To Deflect The Heat,

The Fire Pit And The Sipapu. Some Of The Round Hole In The Floor May Have Been For The Poles To Support The Roof Which Was In Most Instances Covered With Dirt. Also You Will Notice On The Ledge You Can See Six Square Features And In Some Of These Kivas These Also Were To Set The Poles On For Support Of The Roof. Other Holes In the Floor I Do Not Know What They Were For.

Sun Point Pueblo is one of the last mesa-top pueblos built at Mesa Verde and is a part of a cluster of sites in the Cliff Palace Fewkes Canyon area. The pueblo's rooms enclosed an interesting kiva tower complex. The kiva was more than 12 feet in diameter and had a banquette, fire pit, ventilator, and sipapu which as previously explained represented the entrance from the underworld. The walls were plastered and contained small niches. A tunnel was dug  to connect the kiva to the round tower. At some point the tunnel was filled and the tower mostly torn down. The " dimpled " marks in the stones of the kiva were a technique that began in the A. D. 1200 era and the purpose is unknown.  The people lived at Sun Point Pueblo for about 10 years then some unknown event(s) occurred that caused them to move. They lost a considerable amount of investment in time and effort. I did not learn how long it took for them to build this pueblo but it must have been several years and a lot of hard work.

Sun Point Pueblo

Details About Sun Point Pueblo

Diagram Showing Tunnel Connecting Tower And Kiva. The Kiva Has Become A Central  Point In Village Life. In Mesa Verde It Is Common To Find A Tunnel Connecting The Tower And Kiva. Speculation Is That The Tunnel May Have Allowed A Sudden Dramatic Entrance During Ceremonies.

Much Of Sun Point Pueblo Is Gone Now.

Sun Point Pueblo Tower Remains Kiva On Either Side

Kiva With Remains Of Tower To The Right. Again You Can See The Main Features Such As
The Fire Pit Ventilator Shaft And Tunnel To The Tower.

From the mesa  top at some point the Puebloan started building in the cliffs and alcoves of the cliffs and that will be what we look at next in the last posting about Mesa Verde. 

As always remember that God loves you and so do I.

Grandpa Bill