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Mesa Top Sites
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Colorado
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Mesa Top Sites
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Look closely at this site and you will see three villages built one on top of another. The people of the first village constructed their homes of jacal. Later occupants built a second village on the same site with single-stone-wide sandstone masonry. A third village, built around 1075, represents a major innovation with its use of double-stone, rubble-core masonry—two outer walls with soil and rock fill between them. This sturdy construction allowed for the building of large multi-story room blocks and towers. This village features three circular towers, which may have been used as signaling stations, astronomical observatories, watchtowers, or ceremonial structures. The kiva was a vital part of all three villages, gradually evolving into what archeologists refer to as the Mesa Verde style kiva. As villages continued to increase in size and population, farming became increasingly important, requiring agricultural advancements. Farmers built check-dams—stone terraces built in natural drainages, which created more productive farmland and prevented water runoff and soil erosion.
Fire Temple & New Fire House
~0 min drive
<p>The large open area at the front of Fire Temple is much like the plazas at the center of Pueblo communities today, where social and ritual activities take place. Central plazas like this one began to appear more frequently around this time, suggesting larger, more inclusive…
Cliff Palace View
~1 min drive
<p>Cliff Palace is North America’s largest cliff dwelling, with 150 rooms and 21 kivas. Cliff Palace was an important community center. It may have been an administrative site, an important place of business and cultural exchange, or simply a large village. It stands now as a…
Dolph Kuss
~36 min drive
3.1 mi · Moderate
Millset (Snow)
~36 min drive
6.7 mi · Hard
Sun Point Pueblo
~1 min drive
This was one of the last mesa-top pueblos to be built at Mesa Verde: a 30-room village with a large kiva and tower connected by a tunnel at its center.<br /> <br /> The site lacks the building materials, such as wooden roof beams, by which archeologists usually date occupation…
Cliff Canyon Overlook
~1 min drive
<em>Cliff Canyon Overlook and Cliff Palace Loop Road are open 8 am to sunset from late spring to December 1, or until the first significant snowfall.</em><br /> <br /> The Cliff Canyon Overlook opens up to a stunning view of Cliff Canyon. In the 1200s, Cliff Canyon was a thriv…
Dolph Kuss Loop (Snow)
~37 min drive
3.1 mi · Moderate
Mcphee Overlook
~37 min drive
17 mi · Hard
Oak Tree House
~1 min drive
The families of Oak Tree House were part of a larger community, neighboring many other cliff dwellings in Fewkes and Cliff Canyons.While most cliff dwellings are small, with fewer than 10 rooms, this neighborhood includes many of Mesa Verde’s largest cliff villages.<br /> <br…
Far View Community Sites
~9 min drive
<p>The Far View area was once an extensive farming community and one of the most densely populated regions of the Mesa Verde. This mesa top community includes Far View House, Pipe Shrine House, Coyote Village, Far View Reservoir (currently dry), Megalithic House, and Far View…
