Mesa Verde Part II

After viewing the exhibits at the park headquarters we left to take the Mesa Top Loop. This is the area of the earliest settlements, the earliest being about 550 AD. Originally the Anasazi or 'ancient ones' made their home in pit houses around the mesas rim. Here's what I saw.

Click on any picture to enlarge it.

The big change since I was last here is the fact that these ruins are now stabilized and covered. In the 70's the sites were open to the elements.

Here's what they mean by canyon barriers

Another example of why it would be hard to sneak up on them.

Eventually they began to master stone construction and came out of the ground and began building above ground.

About 1200 AD the Anasazi moved off the mesa and began constructing their villages in the alcoves of the cliffs. No one seems to know why this happened or the purpose. In the late 1200's in the space of a generation or two this was all abandoned. Tomorrow we will move on to the cliff dwellings. 

Laundry was completed yesterday, so I have the entire day off to enjoy the good life.