Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde Park, Colorado, US (36)

Cliff Palace is the largest

cliff dwelling In archaeology, cliff dwellings are dwellings formed by using niches or caves in high cliffs, and sometimes with excavation or additions in the way of masonry. Two special types of cliff dwelling are distinguished by archaeologists: the cliff ...

in North America. The structure built by the Ancestral Puebloans is located in

Mesa Verde National Park Mesa Verde National Park is an American national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Montezuma County, Colorado. The park protects some of the best-preserved Ancestral Puebloan archaeological sites in the United States. Established ...

in their former homeland region. The cliff dwelling and park are in

Montezuma County Montezuma County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,849. The county seat is Cortez. Mesa Verde National Park, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, Yucca House National Monu ...

, in the southwestern corner of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, in the Southwestern United States.

History

Tree-ring dating indicates that construction and refurbishing of Cliff Palace was continuous approximately from 1190 CE through 1260 CE, although the major portion of the building was done within a 20-year time span. The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as Anasazi, who constructed this cliff dwelling and the others like it at

Mesa Verde Mesa Verde National Park is an American national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Montezuma County, Colorado. The park protects some of the best-preserved Ancestral Puebloan archaeological sites in the United States. Established ...

were driven to these defensible positions by "increasing competition amidst changing climatic conditions". Cliff Palace was abandoned by 1300, and while debate remains as to the causes of this, some believe that a series of

megadrought A megadrought (or mega-drought) is a prolonged drought lasting two decades or longer. Past megadroughts have been associated with persistent multiyear La Niña conditions (cooler than normal water temperatures in the tropical eastern Pacific Oc ...

s interrupting food production systems is the main cause. Cliff Palace was rediscovered in 1888 by

Richard Wetherill Richard Wetherill (1858–1910), a member of a Colorado ranching family, was an amateur archaeologist who discovered, researched and excavated sites associated with the Ancient Pueblo People. He is credited with the rediscovery of Cliff Palac ...

and Charlie Mason while they were out looking for stray cattle.

Description

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 , while the average woman was closer to Cliff Palace contains 23

kiva A kiva is a space used by Puebloans for rites and political meetings, many of them associated with the kachina belief system. Among the modern Hopi and most other Pueblo peoples, "kiva" means a large room that is circular and underground ...

s (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 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 large square tower is to the right and almost reaches the cave "roof". It was in ruins by the 1800s. The National Park Service carefully restored it to its approximate height and stature, making it one of the most memorable buildings in Cliff Palace. It is the tallest structure at Mesa Verde standing at tall, with four levels. Slightly differently colored materials were used to show that it was a restoration. File:Cliff Palace Dwellings.jpg, Cliff Palace dwellings File:Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde Park, Colorado, US (37).jpg, File:Mural 30, Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde.JPG, 13th-century mural in a rectangular tower, Cliff Palace File:Cliff Palace Tower.jpg, Round tower, Cliff Palace in 1941.
Photograph by Ansel Adams File:Mesa Verde NP cliff palace ground plan.jpg, Cliff Palace Ground Plan (from survey by R. G. Fuller) from book by

Jesse Walter Fewkes Jesse Walter Fewkes (November 14, 1850 – May 31, 1930) was an American anthropologist, archaeologist, writer, and naturalist. Biography Fewkes was born in Newton, Massachusetts on November 14, 1850, and initially trained as a zoologist at H ...

c 1909

References

Bibliography

*Chapen, Frederick H. ''The Land of the Cliff-Dwellers''. Appalachian Mountain Club, W. B. Clarke and Co., Boston, 1892. Reprinted by the University of Arizona Press, with notes and foreword by Robert H. Lister, 1988. . *Noble, David Grant. "Ancient Ruins of the Southwest", pp. 36–43.Northland Publishing, Flagstaff, Arizona 1995. . *Oppelt, Norman T. "Guide to Prehistoric Ruins of the Southwest", pp. 159–161. Pruett Publishing, Boulder, Colorado, 1989. .

External links

Cliff Palace
at National Park Service

at National Park Service
Map showing location of Cliff Palace
at National Park Service {{Coord, 37, 10, 00, N, 108, 28, 22, W, display=title Buildings and structures completed in the 12th century Mesa Verde National Park Cliff dwellings Dwellings of the Pueblo peoples Puebloan buildings and structures Ancient Puebloan archaeological sites in Colorado Archaeological museums in Colorado Native American history of Colorado Buildings and structures in Montezuma County, Colorado Landmarks in Colorado Pre-Columbian cultural areas Oasisamerica cultures Ruins in the United States Former populated places in Colorado Historic house museums in Colorado Museums in Montezuma County, Colorado Former populated places in Montezuma County, Colorado