Mesa Verde National Park and the Anasazi...

The story of the Anasazi spans hundreds of years, and as you can read on the park site, there is much archeologists still don't know after a century of study: http://www.nps.gov/meve/historyculture/people.htm

All I can do is offer a few scenes and hope to do more when I do my web site later. Here is the towering butte that greets you as you enter the park.

 

A number of the pit houses have been preserved atop the mesas from the agricultural eras. The houses would have been amid the cultivated fields. These holes were covered with slanted walls and roofs of sticks:

 

 

The final century the Anasazi spent at Mesa Verde before dispersing for unknown reasons to surrounding areas was the period of spectacular cliff house construction.

 

Amazingly, they built in alcoves high in sheer cliffs. For defense? One might suspect so, but nobody knows for sure.

 

The climbing skills and physical condition needed to reach these settlements are dizzying. There are at least four communities high in crevices in the cliffs seen here. 

 

 

 

Some of the larger settlements are very sophisticated. This is Balcony House as seen from Soda Canyon Overlook . A park ranger is explaining the settlement to visitors:

 

 

 

This smaller community is Square Tower House:

 

 

 

And here, a large group visits the Cliff Palace:

 

 

Much more to come!