Fascinating Facts about the ancient ruins of Mesa Verde.
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1400 years ago, the ancestors to modern New Mexico's Pueblo Indians lived and flourished here for over 700 years. These people farmed crops of beans, corn, and squash, but augmented their diets by gathering wild plants and hunting rabbits, squirrels, deer, and other game. They also had domesticated dogs and turkeys.
Mesa Verde did not live in isolation. |
Trade routes criss-crossed much of North America as is evidenced here by the finds of Pacific Coast seashells and turquoise, pottery, and cotton from the south.
These Ancestral Puebloans, as archeologists now refer to them, were accomplished potters and basket weavers. The pots were decorated for the most part with designs that were personal and local. These designs were often handed down through the generations changing slowly through time. These factors prove very helpful to archeologists as they try to learn more about these people.
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Much of the mesa top was originally cleared for the farming of crops, and originally the people lived on the mesa top in pit houses. They only lived in these cliff dwellings for which they are best known for less than 100 years. It is believed that the family clans were matrilineal, meaning passed down through the female descendents, and many generations would live together in the same household. Additional rooms would be added as the family grew. In 1300 AD, Mesa Verde was deserted. The exact reasons for this have been lost in time.
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