Meandering through Mesa Verde

A cultural history lesson proved to be very intriguing

The drive around Mesa Verde today was even more spectacular than yesterday. We drove to the Chapin Mesa Museum where we learned this area has been inhabited by three distinct cultures since at least 1 AD until about 1,280 AD. The Pueblo people migrated from building sandstone brick villages on top of the mesas to building them within the rock overhangs and caves.

Very many of these cliff dwellings have been discovered, excavated and restored to preserve the heritage and culture of the inhabitants. Around 1,280 AD the Pueblo people left this area. Several theories abound as to why they left. Some say
it was due to drought and the crops would not grow. Others say it just was time to find a new home as life in the cliff dwellings was very hard.

Today we can see evidence of villages with private rooms, storage rooms and religious ceremonial rooms called Kivas. Many of the artifacts found in these sites show a very ingenious and intelligent people. They made very fashionable clothing and painted beautiful paintings on their walls and pottery. Although the peoples have scattered from Arizona to Mexico, their history and vibrancy lives on today through ceremonial dances and artistic expressions. If you take a trip to this part of the US be sure and stop at Mesa Verde. It is the only place where you will see the differences in the development of these native peoples and the way they lived over the passage of thousands of years. Visit www.mesaverdecountry.com for more information.