When you can visit Mesa Verde National Park, the home to five cliff dwellings that are open for viewing and around 594 that are not open to the public. In 1888, two cowboys discovered the dwelling they named ,”Cliff Palace”. The stones in front were broken away; but behind them rise walls of a second and third stories. Still farther back little houses rested on the ledges. Their masonry work amazes craftsmen to this day. These dwellings are amazing to view.
Doorways are one architectural feature that is studied to understand the Ancestral Pueblo past. The two basic shapes are rectangular and T-shaped. The rectangular openings allowed entry and exit from private spaces and the T-shaped doorways provided access to public spaces. The T-shaped passes might have had religious symbolism to them. Both doorways are very short so we had to stoop to walk through them.
Is Duffey photo bombing Jerry! These doorways would be shorter if the top was on the room!
We toured Balcony House where we had to climb ladders on the side of a cliff, slide through slim openings, walk on the edge high about the canyon bottom and crawl 12 feet through a tunnel. We saw the kiva that was used as a place to gather.
Duffey and Carole walked down the long steep switchback trail to Spruce House, the third largest and best preserved cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde, built around A.D. 1200.. Jerry and I walked about half way down the steep hill and then looked through his binoculars! These dwellings are huge and it is believed the widespread drought from A. D. 1276 might have been the reason they were deserted.
We walked to Far View, an ancient Farming Community. This was a densely populate area with the attraction being the greater moisture at this higher elevation, 7,700 feet. Embedded in the wall was a stone with a circular design that may have indicated how they planted their crops.
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