To continue with our wonderful visit to Mesa Verde National Park, here is a representation of the pit houses the native pueblo peoples lived in before moving down into the cliff dwellings.
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| An actual pithouse ruins, from 600 A.D. |
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| Cowboys discovered Cliff Palace one winter day in 1888. Nestled in a huge alcove, the dwelling contains about 150 rooms and 21 kivas housing around 100 people during the 1200s. |
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| Unfortunately, we are unable to go down into the ruins like we did in 1977. This was our vantage point this time. When we had come before, our newborn daughter was in a bjorn carrier on my husband's chest as we climbed down the ladders to the ruins and into the kivas. Kivas are round ceremonial structures found within the rooms. All structures would have had roofs. |
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| Oak Tree House |
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| Ruins showing a kiva. |
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| It's amazing to imagine people living in these structures, like cliff swallows! |
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| Fire Temple |
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| If you get to go to Mesa Verde I highly recommend taking a tour! The views from the surface are great, but seeing the ruins up close cannot be topped! |
28 comments:
Brilliant photos of the ancient ruins, love it.
The Cliff Palace is just amazing.. It is a cool place to visit.. Awesome series. Have a great day!
Very interesting and nice shots
Oh yes, I remember going down and seeing it up close and personal. Irene was scared out of her wits around the kiva. You wonder why they cordoned it off....probably some of the ruins was being vandalized no doubt. There is always some rotten apple to spoil it all.
GREAT photos. As always.
Oh, How amazing to know the native pueblo peoples live in that hard environment; I smiled a bit the way you said 'like cliff swallows'. The Cowboys discovered Cliff Palace must have been so surprised♡♡♡
To know your history from place like Mesa Verde National Park is really important , I think. Thank you very much for sharing the tour with us, Marie.
Sending Lots of Love and Hugs from Japan to my Dear friend in America, xoxo Miyako*
i'm glad those homes are protected! just amazing!
Marie, I'm sold on adding this to my bucket list. I have always been fascinated with ancient structures and people living in them. Kind of lets your imagination run wild.
I think they had a pretty good life at this place. At least as long as they could farm the land. Great shots of an interesting site.
I can appreciate why we can no longer go down into the ruins these days. But I can also understand your wanting to get in closer! Fascinating!
These are amazing photos! Amazing.
How interesting. I would love to visit in person.
I think I told you on the first post how much we loved this park -- visited for the first time only a couple of years ago. Your pictures are really really good. And really hard to get such clear beautiful ones as I remember. Very impressed.
The history of these places just makes you stand in awe!
These are amazing, Marie - so nice to see them through your lens! I imagine the peoples who lived here must have felt very safe and protected from the elements, wildlife and other dangers. Someday archaeologists will find our modern apt. houses and imagine our lives, maybe. Thanks for sharing! xo Karen
wow! that must have been incredible to live in those structures. but what did they do when they needed a Dr. I wonder. Just suffer probably....but maybe there were not any sickness much. but they eventually died so....I'm sorry Dr.Pol wasn't your cup of tea.
I'm not an animal lover per se.....but loved the show and his skills plus his honesty. It would be fun to meet one day...but I doubt we will be returning to AZ now that our son is back here. The teepee hotel is tempting though lol. And meeting you would be a treat Marie. Have a nice evening.
Those are very impressive! Imagine the skill involved in creating them. I'm glad they've been preserved.
Hi Marie! Your photos are spectacular. I've never been there so this post is a real treat for me. The cliff dwellings are just amazing. This makes me wonder if the weather was doing crazy things when they were used. Thank you for sharing your excellent photos!
It is great seeing how people lived so long ago. Thanks for sharing with us!
How fascinating! I would love to see this in person. Can you imagine those cowboys coming upon those amazing ruins!
That's fascinating Marie. I love to go those ancient places and just spend time thinking about and imagining how those people lived all those years ago.
I loved Chichen Itza in Mexico when we visited some years ago.
Hi Marie, Great pictures! Can't believe people used to live in there. Such amazing place! I really want to visit it one day.
I remember crawling and climbing all over them back in the day. That said, I'm glad they are being conserved, preserved and protected. Thank you for the photos. I love it out West.
Very interesting post!You took great photos! Have a nice day!
Sometimes it is hard for me to wrap my head around how old these places are, and that people actually lived there. I saw something similar at Montezuma's Castle, mistakenly called that because the first Spanish explorers thought that these people were the Aztecs, which they were not. Lovely photos Marie and most definitely on my bucket list.
I love all of your pictures of this fascinating place Marie! Thanks for sharing.
Things like this just make you stop and wonder about the people of those times. Fascinating place.
Miss Marie!! You won the give-a-way!! Please send my your address to breese823 @ yahoo . com so I can get them on the way to you! :)
I enjoyed seeing your photos of Mesa Verde! There are still tours to go down into the cliff dwellings, but they have to be lead by park rangers, and are an extra fee and scheduled. We did nit have time to go on a tour, but hopefully we will return for an extended visit one day.
I have always been interested in antiquity and the associated sites and information. How nice that you have several dedicated to this. Posts Wonderful to see and read. Thank you for sharing:-)
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