Explore the Cliff Palace of the Ancient Puebloans

The Americas are home to a diverse range of cultures that have left behind extraordinary monuments to their lost societies. In the American southwest, the Ancient Pueblo peoples carved out their own civilization that lasted for centuries. After nearly a millennium, the world-renowned Cliff Palace has survived the times, and is now open to the public in the southwestern corner of Colorado in Mesa Verde National Park.

The Ancient Puebloans were one of four cultures that occupied the pre-Columbian Southwest. During what is now called the Pueblo I and II eras, from 700-1130 CE, they experienced an explosion in population thanks to favorable rainfall, increased fertility and migration for neighboring regions. Their society made innovations in agriculture technology, enabling them to spread their culture across the American Southwest. The following years were hard for their people, enduring the 300-year-long Great Drought which forced them to pull back on their civilization and rely on more self-contained communities.

It was at this time, around 1190-1260 CE, that the Cliff Palace was built in response to the harsher climate, housing about 100 people within its walls. The dwelling were carved into the sandstone and constructed out of mortar, wood and hard rock. Within the complex there are 23 kivas, round sunken chambers used for religious ceremonies. The high presence of kivas compared to surrounding Pueblo settlements indicates the Cliff Palace may have acted as a sort of metropolis, where multiple clans with different beliefs inhabited the same dwelling.

Weather conditions eventually forced Ancient Pueblo culture out of existence. There is evidence the religious structures they built were abandoned, even destroyed in the belief they had abused their spiritual power. Although their culture has been described as “vanished,” contemporary scholars believe they simply migrated and integrated with people of the surrounding areas.

Travelers can get to Mesa Verde National Park solely by car. The closest town is Cortez, located nine miles west and containing a small airport with flights to Denver. Thirty-five miles east of the park is Durango, which has a bigger airport with daily flights to Denver, Dallas and Phoenix. A week-long pass to Mesa Verde will cost $15 in the summer, and getting a ranger-led tour will be an additional $3 per person.