Brian Vauter > Panoramic, Sun Point View, Mesa Verde National Park, CO
In this somewhat overexposed view, you are looking up two canyons. With the original-sized image, you can make out a number of cliff dwellings. The dwelling to the center right of the image is Cliff Palace, the largest of the dwellings in the park. Notice the people standing in the sunny part of the upper cliff for scale. Directly in the center, and on top of the ridge, is Sun Temple.
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 > 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.
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 > Mesa Verde National Park 2006 photo
Brian Vauter > Mesa Verde National Park 2006 photo
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, 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 > Spruce Tree House details, Mesa Verde National Park, CO
Panoramic, Sun Point View, Mesa Verde National Park, CO
In this somewhat overexposed view, you are looking up two canyons. With the original-sized image, you can make out a number of cliff dwellings. The dwelling to the center right of the image is Cliff Palace, the largest of the dwellings in the park. Notice the people standing in the sunny part of the upper cliff for scale. Directly in the center, and on top of the ridge, is Sun Temple.
Brian Vauter > Panoramic, Sun Point View, Mesa Verde National Park, CO
In this somewhat overexposed view, you are looking up two canyons. With the original-sized image, you can make out a number of cliff dwellings. The dwelling to the center right of the image is Cliff Palace, the largest of the dwellings in the park. Notice the people standing in the sunny part of the upper cliff for scale. Directly in the center, and on top of the ridge, is Sun Temple.
Panoramic, Sun Point View, Mesa Verde National Park, CO
In this somewhat overexposed view, you are looking up two canyons. With the original-sized image, you can make out a number of cliff dwellings. The dwelling to the center right of the image is Cliff Palace, the largest of the dwellings in the park. Notice the people standing in the sunny part of the upper cliff for scale. Directly in the center, and on top of the ridge, is Sun Temple.
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