National Park Service LogoU.S. Department of the InteriorNational Park ServiceNational Park Service
National Park Service:  U.S. Department of the InteriorNational Park Service Arrowhead
Mesa Verde National ParkFour O'Clocks
view map
text size:largestlargernormal
printer friendly
Mesa Verde National Park
People

Ancestral Puebloans of Mesa Verde

About 1,400 years ago, long before Europeans explored North America, a group of people living in the Four Corners region chose Mesa Verde for their home. For more than 700 years they and their descendants lived and flourished here, eventually building elaborate stone communities in the sheltered alcoves of the canyon walls. Then, in the late A.D. 1200s, in the span of a generation or two, they left their homes and moved away. Mesa Verde National Park preserves a spectacular reminder of this ancient culture.

Use the following links to learn more about the Ancestral Puebloans of Mesa Verde. (To get the Free Adobe Reader, which is required to read the pdf fileclick here.)

Mesa top pueblo at Far View Sites Complex  

Did You Know?
Approximately 600 of the over 4700 archeological sites found in Mesa Verde National Park are cliff dwellings. Other sites include mesa top pueblos, farming terraces, towers, reservoirs, and check dams.

Last Updated: April 04, 2009 at 15:50 EST