Mesa Verde National ParkMrs. Smith

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•Located in southwestern Colorado about 28 miles west of Durango

•Apartment-like homes are built in to the side of the cliffs. •Archaeologists say that Pueblo lived here for about 1,000 years. •The “apartments” are arranged in several stories. •The communal houses are built of stone, mud mortar and wood.

Cliff Dwellings of Ancient Pueblo People

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E This is known as “Cliff Palace.” The round structures in front are called “Kivas.” Kivas were rooms used by the Pueblo for religious rituals.

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A large kiva at Far View Ruins. Note the bench along the side along the base of the kiva. The kivas originally had roofs with access and ventilation shafts. Holes and structures along the sides of the kiva had spiritual significance.

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•Mesa Verde was the first National Park and was instituted by President Theodore Roosevelt.

•Mesa Verde is Spanish for green table

•Ancestral Pueblo people made it their home for over 700 years, from A.D. 600 to A.D. 1300.

•Today, the park protects over 4,000 known archeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings.

Pictographs found at Mesa Verde

Ancestral Puebloans made Mesa Verde their home from about A.D. 550 to 1300. For more than 700 years they and their descendants lived and flourished here.

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•Cedar Tree Tower is one of several tower sites that have been discovered on the mesa tops.• Towers were primarily built during the Classic period (A.D. 1100 to 1300) at Mesa Verde and are usually associated with a kiva.

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Far View was one of the most densely populated parts of the mesa from A.D. 900 to about A.D. 1300. Nearly 50 villages have been identified within a half square mile area, and were home to hundreds of people. Today, several excavated and stabilized sites are linked by a trail system within a short walking distance. These surface sites include Far View House, Pipe Shrine House, Coyote Village, Far View Reservoir, Megalithic House, and Far View Tower.

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•Sun Temple's features classify it as a ceremonial structure•Some believe the symmetrically planned "D" shaped building was never completed. Yet its size alone points to the amount of labor that went into its construction. •The walls probably were between 11 and 14 feet high. •Today, modern concrete covers the top of the walls to prevent moisture from going into the rubble placed between the walls.

Basin of Sun Temple

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•The Badger House Community consists of several sites dating from about A.D. 650 to the late 1200s.