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Mesa Verde National ParkSketch map of site.
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Mesa Verde National Park
Site Survey Data
Two site maps, one with pottery shards and lithic in foreground.
NPS Photo
Site maps, completed in 2006
 


Baseline site survey data is collected at all sites and serves as the backbone of documentation necessary for every archeological site at Mesa Verde National Park. Over 4,700 sites in the park have received this level of documentation since the first survey projects were conducted in the 1930s. Currently, sketch maps, photographs, and a GPS location are part of this documentation package. Our goal is to update the site survey information on all sites documented prior to 1996 when our current methodology was established.

 

 
Archeologist documenting a collapsed pueblo.

NPS Photo

Documenting a rubble mound that represents a pueblo, 2001

 

 


 

Artifacts are photographed and identified in the field. Artifacts can help determine the function of a site during the time period it was occupied.

 

Cliff Palace in the snow  

Did You Know?
Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling at Mesa Verde National Park. It has 150 rooms, plus an additional 75 open areas. Twenty-one of the rooms are kivas, and 25 to 30 rooms have residential features. The number of Ancestral Puebloans living in Cliff Palace at any one time was 100 to 120.

Last Updated: November 04, 2008 at 17:32 EST