SmugMug
Home  Login  Help  
 
 View Cart
Brian Vauter  > National Parks > Mesa Verde National Park 2006
Visit to Mesa Verde National Park, August of 2006. Only spent a day and a half in the park. So much to see. The park begs for black & white images, so some of the pictures have other versions.
Gallery pages:  1  2  >  
< 6 of 15 >
Brian Vauter > Panoramic view - Long House, Mesa Verde National Park, CO.
Long House is one of three tours the Park Service offers to the various ruins within the park. Long House is the second largest dwelling in Mesa Verde. It contains around 150 rooms, 21 kivas, and an unusually large central plaza.
Brian Vauter > Panoramic view - Long House, Mesa Verde National Park, CO
The most unusual feature of Long House is the large central plaza, seen in the image above as the broad, flat area in front of the buildings.
Brian Vauter > Long House, Mesa Verde National Park, CO
The ladders are modern versions of what the Ancestral Puebloans used to gain entry to the different levels within the dwelling. Today, the guided tour uses these ladders to move through the structures.
Brian Vauter > Spruce Tree House, Mesa Verde National Park, CO
Spruce Tree House was likely constructed between A.D. 1200 and 1276 by the Ancestral Puebloans. They used to be known as the Anasazi, but the name has been changed to "better reflect the ancestral origins of the people." Anyway, Spruce Tree House was first discovered in December of 1888 by Richard Wetherill and Charles Mason. They named the dwellings after a huge spruce tree they found growing in front of the site. It is said that they used the tree to climb down from the cliff above. The tree was cut down by a later explorer.
Brian Vauter > Spruce Tree House details, Mesa Verde National Park, CO
Brian Vauter > Spruce Tree House detail. The poles sticking from the rock face were used to support a balcony up on the third level of the structure. the small holes bewteen the first and second floors may have also been where poles emerged from the wall.
Brian Vauter > Spruce Tree House, Mesa Verde National Park, CO
This is the first courtyard with Spruce Tree House. The wall at the back has 20 rooms behind it split over three stories. Each room measures about 6 x 8 x 5-1/2 feet and likely had one or two people living in it. The holes with sticks in them on the courtyard floor lead down into two of the eight kivas. Kivas were special rooms used for ceremonial purposes.
Brian Vauter > Far View House, Mesa Verde National Park, CO
Far View House was constructed between A.D. 1100 to 1300. The complex had at least 40 rooms on the ground floor. There may have been a second level. Far View House is part of the larger "Far View Community" which existed on the mesa top.
Brian Vauter > Coyote Village, Far View Community, Mesa Verde National Park, CO
Evidence beneath some of the structures indicates that the land around Coyote Village had been occupied as far back as A.D. 800. The Far View area was one of the most densely populated sections of Mesa Verde with hundreds of people living among some 50 villages scattered about over a 1/2 square mile area.
Spruce Tree House detail. The poles sticking from the rock face were used to support a balcony up on the third level of the structure. the small holes bewteen the first and second floors may have also been where poles emerged from the wall.
 > Spruce Tree House detail. The poles sticking from the rock face were used to support a balcony up on the third level of the structure. the small holes bewteen the first and second floors may have also been where poles emerged from the wall.
Spruce Tree House detail. The poles sticking from the rock face were used to support a balcony up on the third level of the structure. the small holes bewteen the first and second floors may have also been where poles emerged from the wall.
Original size: 2912px x 4368px |
Current: 200px x 300px |
Other sizes: Small • M • L • O |
Share photo: links, forums, blogs |
Keywords: tree house spruce
Gallery pages:  1  2  >  
< 6 of 15 >

Comments

| hide gallery comments |

New comment: Requires approval

Name: Email: Link:
Connect  Connect with Facebook


Comment on: | Rating: stars
To foil spammers, enter this code: copy this text in this box: Code unreadable?

Add Comment Cancel

News | Browse | Keywords | Communities | Forum | Wiki | ClubSmug | Prints & Gifts | Shopping Cart | Login
Terms | Privacy | About Us | Contact SmugMug | Blogs | API | Affiliates | © 2010 SmugMug, Inc.
Show FeedsAvailable Feeds | What are feeds?
Gallery Photos:
Atom FeedAtom | RSS FeedRSS | Google Earth