MYSTERY is the chief impression conveyed by this view of ancient Cliff Palace. The contrasting lights and shadows in the scene display more than bare piles of lifeless stone. For this largest ruin in the Mesa Verde group was the communal home for generations of the Southwest's prehistoric builders, and the careful workmanship of Stone Age mechanics stirs the imagination of modern beholders.
Who were the builders? Where did they come from? What became of them? The types of masonry displayed in the ruins seem to resemble those of no other race of ancient people.
The Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in North America. The structure built by the Ancient Pueblo Peoples is located in Mesa Verde National Park in their former homeland region. The cliff dwelling and park are in the southwestern corner of Colorado, in the Southwestern United States.
The Cliff Palace was constructed primarily out of sandstone, mortar and wooden beams. The sandstone was shaped using harder stones, and a mortar of soil, water and ash was used to hold everything together. "Chinking" stones were placed within the mortar to fill gaps and provide stability. Many of the walls were decorated with colored earthen plasters, which were the first to erode over time. Many visitors wonder about the relatively small size of the doorways at Cliff Palace; the explanation being that at the time the average man was under 5' 6", while the average woman was closer to 5'. The Cliff Palace contains 23 kivas (round sunken rooms of ceremonial importance), and 150 rooms and had a population of approximately 100 people.
One kiva, in the center of the ruin, is at a point where the entire structure is partitioned by a series of walls with no doorways or other access portals. The walls of this kiva were plastered with one color on one side and a different color on the opposing side. It is thought that Cliff Palace was a social, administrative site with high ceremonial usage. Archaeologists believe that the Cliff Palace contained more clans than the surrounding Mesa Verde communities. This belief stems from the higher ratio of rooms to kivas. Cliff Palace has a room to kiva ratio of 9 to 1. The average room to kiva ratio for a Mesa Verde community is 12 to 1. This ratio of kivas to rooms may suggest that Cliff Palace might have been the center of a large polity that included surrounding small communities.
A Navajo legend asserts that the cliffdwellers, who were displeasing in the sight of certain gods, were turned into fishes and carried away by the floods. Navajo Indians, accordingly, will not eat fish.
Possibly long continued drought may have driven the people from their prehistoric apartment houses. There are said to be Hopi legends which indicate kinship with the ancient people who lived in these cliff dwellings.
Cliff Palace is the most pretentious prehistoric apartment house built by ancient men of the Southwest without the aid of metals.
Obviosly, we're not permitted to hunt the Cliff Palace, but it is such an incredible place that I had to include it here.
Who were the builders? Where did they come from? What became of them? The types of masonry displayed in the ruins seem to resemble those of no other race of ancient people.
The Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in North America. The structure built by the Ancient Pueblo Peoples is located in Mesa Verde National Park in their former homeland region. The cliff dwelling and park are in the southwestern corner of Colorado, in the Southwestern United States.
The Cliff Palace was constructed primarily out of sandstone, mortar and wooden beams. The sandstone was shaped using harder stones, and a mortar of soil, water and ash was used to hold everything together. "Chinking" stones were placed within the mortar to fill gaps and provide stability. Many of the walls were decorated with colored earthen plasters, which were the first to erode over time. Many visitors wonder about the relatively small size of the doorways at Cliff Palace; the explanation being that at the time the average man was under 5' 6", while the average woman was closer to 5'. The Cliff Palace contains 23 kivas (round sunken rooms of ceremonial importance), and 150 rooms and had a population of approximately 100 people.
One kiva, in the center of the ruin, is at a point where the entire structure is partitioned by a series of walls with no doorways or other access portals. The walls of this kiva were plastered with one color on one side and a different color on the opposing side. It is thought that Cliff Palace was a social, administrative site with high ceremonial usage. Archaeologists believe that the Cliff Palace contained more clans than the surrounding Mesa Verde communities. This belief stems from the higher ratio of rooms to kivas. Cliff Palace has a room to kiva ratio of 9 to 1. The average room to kiva ratio for a Mesa Verde community is 12 to 1. This ratio of kivas to rooms may suggest that Cliff Palace might have been the center of a large polity that included surrounding small communities.
A Navajo legend asserts that the cliffdwellers, who were displeasing in the sight of certain gods, were turned into fishes and carried away by the floods. Navajo Indians, accordingly, will not eat fish.
Possibly long continued drought may have driven the people from their prehistoric apartment houses. There are said to be Hopi legends which indicate kinship with the ancient people who lived in these cliff dwellings.
Cliff Palace is the most pretentious prehistoric apartment house built by ancient men of the Southwest without the aid of metals.
Obviosly, we're not permitted to hunt the Cliff Palace, but it is such an incredible place that I had to include it here.