Cliff Palace

  1. Home
  2. Wiki

Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in North America.[1] The structure built by the Ancestral Puebloans is located in Mesa Verde National Park in their former homeland region. The cliff dwelling and park are in Montezuma County, in the southwestern corner of Colorado, Southwestern United States.

History

[edit]

It is believed that Cliff Palace was constructed and lived in from about 1200 A.D. to 1300 A.D.[2] The Ancestral Puebloans who constructed this cliff dwelling and the others like it at Mesa Verde were driven to these defensible positions by "increasing competition amidst changing climatic conditions".[3] Cliff Palace was abandoned by 1300, though debate is ongoing as to the cause. Some contend that a series of megadroughts interrupting food production systems was the main cause. [1]

Cliff Palace was rediscovered in 1888 by Richard Wetherill and Charlie Mason while they were looking for stray cattle.[4][5][6]

Description

[edit]

Construction

[edit]

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.[7] 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 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m), while the average woman was closer to 5 feet (1.5 m).[6]

Rooms

[edit]

Kivas

[edit]

Cliff Palace contains 21 rooms that are kivas, (round sunken rooms of ceremonial importance), and two rooms that contain kiva-like structures.[1] Most kivas at Cliff Palace follow the same basic structure: they all contain six stone pillars, called pilasters, that stand upright and support the roof of the kiva.[1] A firepit sits in the middle of the room on the floor.[1] A ventilation opening and chimney to draw in fresh air are also present in the kiva, in order to air out the smoke from the fires.[1] In addition, most of the kivas have a small hole in the floor, situated between the firepit and wall, called a sipapu.[1] Sipapus are ritual features that are believed to symbolize the entryway for which living souls enter the current world.[1] The two southernmost kivas are connected by an underground tunnel, and experts believe that the purpose of this tunnel was for theatrical disappearances and/or appearances during rituals.[2] Archaeologists believe that Cliff Palace contained more clans than the surrounding Mesa Verde communities. This belief stems from Mesa Verde's 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.[3] This high ratio of kivas to rooms may suggest that Cliff Palace might have been the center of a large polity that included surrounding small communities.[3] Because of this, "it is thought that Cliff Palace was a social, administrative site with high ceremonial usage."[6]

Living Rooms

[edit]

In addition to the kivas, archaeologists found twenty-five rooms that are interpreted as living rooms. They are interpreted as such because of the presence of residential features like hearths. Archeologists believe that each living room was occupied by 3-4 residents, bringing the overall population of residents at Cliff Palace to approximately 100-120 people.[1] The living rooms were quite small, with most of them at this site measuring 6 feet by 8 feet, and the average height being around 6 feet tall.[1] Because of the short ceilings, ventilation was very poor, and the soot and smoke from the fires can still be seen on the ruins of the roofs of the living rooms.[1]

Other Rooms

[edit]

In addition to the kivas and living rooms, archaeologists also discovered nine storage rooms.[1] They are in the upper level of the alcove, and the rooms are interpreted as granaries.[1] Experts suggest that the reason why these nine rooms are so high could be for protection from snow, sun, and other harsh weather that the people may have experienced.[1] The food could be kept safe, and the residents would not starve during the cold winter months.[1] Wooden ladders were used to climb up to these storage rooms.[1]

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 26 feet (7.9 m) tall, with four levels. Slightly differently colored materials were used to show that it was a restoration.[8][9]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Houk, Rose (2012). "Cliff Palace" (PDF). npshistory.com. Retrieved October 27, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ a b Mesa Verde Museum Association. Cliff Palace. Mesa Verde National Park, Colo.: The Association. pp. 1–8. ISBN U184000339344. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
  3. ^ a b c Snow, Dean R. (2010). Archaeology of Native North America. New York: Prentice-Hall. p. 128. ISBN 9780136156864.
  4. ^ Turney, Chris (2008). Ice, Mud & Blood: Lessons of Climates Past. Macmillan. ISBN 9780230553835.
  5. ^ "People". NPS.gov. National Park Service. Retrieved November 11, 2010.
  6. ^ a b c "Cliff Palace". NPS.gov. National Park Service. Archived from the original on October 22, 2007. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
  7. ^ nps.gov [bare URL PDF]
  8. ^ "Preservation". NPS.gov. National Park Service. Retrieved November 11, 2010.
  9. ^ "Square Tower House Description". CyArk.org. Archived from the original on September 22, 2009. Retrieved March 20, 2012.

Bibliography

[edit]
  • 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. ISBN 0-8165-1052-0.
  • Noble, David Grant. "Ancient Ruins of the Southwest", pp. 36–43.Northland Publishing, Flagstaff, Arizona 1995. ISBN 0-87358-530-5.
  • Oppelt, Norman T. "Guide to Prehistoric Ruins of the Southwest", pp. 159–161. Pruett Publishing, Boulder, Colorado, 1989. ISBN 0-87108-783-9.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cliff Palace.

37°10′00″N 108°28′22″W / 37.16667°N 108.47278°W / 37.16667; -108.47278