Mesa-Verde-Nationalpark

Mesa Verde (Spanish for green table mountain ) is a national park in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Colorado - around 420 kilometers southwest of Denver and about 50 kilometers west of the small tourist center located Durango. The park protects about 4,000 archaeological sites, particularly the studied until the end of the 19th century, complete, well-preserved cliff dwellings pre-Columbian Anasazi tribes.

Mesa Verde is the only national park in the United States, which was established to protect an archaeological site, other cultural and historical objects are designated as a National Monument or other formal lesser category of protected area.

• 5.1 Mummy Lake

Geography

Mesa Verde is a densely forested and rugged Table Mountain, which stands out from the surrounding landscape of southwestern Colorado by more than 600 meters and reaches to its highest points a height of nearly 2600 meters.

History of Research

1888 studied Charlie Mason and Richard Wetherill, both cowboys from Mancos, after stray cattle and discovered the abandoned houses under deep rock shelters. In the following years Wetherill devoted to the exploration of many ruins of the Anasazi and undertook numerous excavations. After Gustaf Nordenskiold, a Swedish researcher had sent some 600 remains to Sweden, which today culturally and historically significant national park in the United States was founded on June 29, 1906 for the protection of the Anasazi settlements. He was inducted in the list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO on September 6, 1978.

Archaeological history

The region of Mesa Verde was settled more since about 600 AD. The people lived in settlements consisting of some pit houses (English pit houses ) on the flat surface of the mesas. Since the settlements of the environment have emerged much earlier, one must assume that the Mesaflächen were attractive only at this time. Unlike today, they offered a regular rain, fertile soil and plenty of wood from the forests. In addition there was plenty of game and permanent sources. To get around the 750 pit houses were increasingly abandoned and the people built houses with superficial Flechtwänden between vertical posts, which were then covered with clay. Since these constructions obviously not proven, they began to bring forward the use of stone material and build the pueblos known as complexes of brick living and storage spaces, which eventually assumed considerable sizes and up to 500 people housed. The traditional semi- subterranean pit houses were as maintained through the roof via a ladder accessible Zeremonialräume, the Kiva.

The use of rock shelters in the steep rock walls of the canyon did not begin until late, against 1200 AD. There is some debate in the research, which is why these changes in settlement practice at all was because it included perhaps half the population of Mesa Verde. Pure defense reasons already divorced from reason.

The Anasazi - the buildings were first discovered around the 16th century by the Navajo and from which they received their now widespread name - reached in this time its cultural peak. Even if, despite decades of excavations and research the entire history of living on Table Mountain Anasazi can no longer be clearly and completely reconstruct, let everyday objects found some conclusions about their daily lives. So the inhabitants of Mesa Verde potters and basket weavers were excellent; among their products alongside pots, drinking vessels and ladles and those items that were probably used for ceremonial purposes. It is assumed that the craft was particularly exercised by women and the skills have been passed down from mother to daughter. The potters certificates were decorated in this heyday with geometric structures. It also found relatively simple examples of rock engravings that depict human forms.

The Anasazi possessed at that time already excellent irrigation systems, which helped them to grow corn, beans and peppers. Example of a reservoir is the Mummy Lake, which forms part of Far View. More food source was the hunting of men who must have been difficult due to the to be overcome height differences through the rugged Mesa Verde.

Soon after the establishment of the Cliff dwellings began a slow depopulation. The reasons are unclear. Perhaps also an increasing drought played a role that reached its peak 1275-1299. They worsened the living conditions as cultivation, logging and hunting, as can be shown on the increasingly critical nutrition. Around 1300 AD the area of Mesa Verde was practically deserted.

Cliff dwellings

The attraction of Mesa Verde are the 600 cliff dwellings, of which only about a dozen were larger settlements and today have a similar reputation as Spruce Tree House, Balcony House and Cliff Palace.

Cliff Palace

The Cliff Palace is one of the largest settlements in the Mesa Verde area. In a widely overhanging Abri were ( according to tree-ring dating) since about 1190 AD from sandstone blocks that were joined with mortar of earth, water and ash. Wooden beams were used for the construction of ceilings and doorways. The construction time is short, essentially 20 years, with lower activity to 1260 AD As early as 1300 AD, Cliff Palace was abandoned. The Cliff Palace comprises 150 rooms and 23 kivas. The number of residents is likely to not have been more than 100.

A remarkable structure is a rectangular tower with four floors of the runs down to the roof of the Abri, he was partially reconstructed. Other tower-like buildings are round and of lesser height.

Builds on the surface of the mesa

Mummy Lake

The so- named construction is a remarkable reservoir diameter of around 27 meters, the sides are partially fixed artificially. The reservoir was filled from a larger catchment area by means of small dams, which eventually led the water to a large, almost one kilometer long dam, from which resulted a small supply channel in the Mummy Lake. But there was no outlet, so that the water was trapped and probably serve only for use by the households living in the immediate vicinity of 200 to 400 residents, but could not be used for irrigation.

Others

The reservoirs and irrigation systems were taken in 2004 by the American Society of Civil Engineers in the List of Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks.