Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado (USA) – photo, description, map

At the top of a huge highland, in the 18th century, the Spaniards, wandering through North America in search of an overland trade route, discovered a vast forest. Against the lifeless backdrop of mountain ranges, abundant vegetation seemed like a real miracle. They named this area “Messa Verde”, which means “green table” or “green plateau”.

Story

Settlers from Europe began to populate the beautiful “oasis” only by the end of the 19th century. The local places were well suited for grazing, despite the abundance of canyons. This is what cowboy Richard Weatherill did. On December 18, 1888, while looking for a lost cow, he stumbled upon an extraordinary sight. A real fortress with towers could be seen on the stones; because of the blizzard, it seemed to be floating in the air. Struck by what he saw, the cowboy returned there after the bad weather. What he found there surprised even more.

Right in the rock one could see a multi-storey stone building. Numerous windows blackened the yellow walls. Nearby, in a huge niche, there were more buildings. To get to unusual structures, Richard and his brothers had to build a ladder. Later, they explored the entire district for a whole year, and found about 180 more such abandoned villages.

Weatherill and his brothers called the inhabitants of these buildings “Anasazi”. In the language of the Navajo Indians who lived next door, this word means “ancestors.” Later it turned out that the descendants of these people were the Pueblo peoples: Hopi, Taos, Akoma, Zuni … In their language, “anasazi” means “enemy” or “conqueror”. Therefore, in our time, those ancient inhabitants of Mesa Verde are called the “Ancient Pueblos”, since, judging by the studies of the settlements, they were extremely peaceful.

Mesa Verde rock dwellings

This was written in detail in the scientific work of 1893 by the Swedish researcher of antiquity Gustav Nordenskiöld “The Rock Dwellings of Mesa Verde”. So the whole world learned about the abandoned cities located in the southeast of Colorado. But it also led to trouble. “Black archaeologists” plundered most of the artifacts, destroyed several buildings. In 1906, the state took this historical monument under protection. Mesa Verde has now become a national park in which it is forbidden to change anything or carry out any work.

According to researchers, the first people in these places appeared in the 5th century. They hunted, were engaged in gathering, dugouts covered with tree branches served as dwellings for them. By the 7th century, they were increasingly sedentary, mastered agriculture, and began to comprehend the basics of construction. Houses with a large number of rooms were built in natural rock niches. Such a dwelling hid them from the weather. In summer it is not so hot, in winter there is protection from the wind. They fastened small blocks of sandstone and wooden beams with clay, erected walls where possible, filling the niche. Many of the walls are plastered and decorated with ornaments.

The period of 11-13 centuries is considered to be the heyday of this civilization. The population already numbered about five thousand people. Beans, corn were grown on the plateau, nuts and berries were harvested. The hunters supplied their people with meat. The local forests abounded with game, and in the depths of the canyon you can always find water. Heavy, in our modern view, was only the road home.

The recesses in the rocks are located in rather hard-to-reach places. To get to them both from above and from below, additional devices are needed. In addition to holes in the rock for arms and legs, the Indians weaved stairs from yucca, made tunnels in stone.

rock palace

All housework was done outside. The rooms are very small, although with an average height of people then 155cm, quite suitable for habitation. Spacious halls for religious ceremonies, called “kivas”, storerooms, all these make up the ancient cities of the ancestors of the pueblos.

The largest and most striking building, the Rock Palace, has 150 rooms and 75 courtyards. The “house with a balcony” also accommodated many residents, but it was also very difficult to access. To get to it, you need to overcome a ten-meter staircase, a narrow tunnel, and stone steps. Now not all local buildings are available for inspection by tourists due to the fact that it is very difficult to get to them, in some places even dangerous. Therefore, tours of historical buildings are conducted by special rangers.

Viewing platforms for tourists

Basically, travelers admire the view of the ancient rock cities from the observation platforms located opposite. From here a stunning landscape opens up. In the middle of the cliff, the old apartment buildings look like toys. It is striking that these buildings were erected by people who did not know metal, all their tools were wooden, bone, stone …
Why they left these places, scientists do not know for sure. The generally accepted version is a drought that lasted more than twenty years, although some suggest that these tribes were attacked by invaders, although there is no exact evidence for this.

The park has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1978.

Mesa Verde National Park on the map