In any case, Mesa Verde became a National Park in 1906 in order to protect its cultural and architectural integrity. Good thing. It is now a World Cultural Site. One Ranger told me that in the late 1800s white ladies of the area would organize "jewellery hunting" parties. They would go out and look for indentations in the soil and dig up the skeletons of the Ancient Peoples and take their burial jewellry. Grave robbing, essentially. Yikes, I hope we've gotten past that kind of behavior. However those kinds of crimes live long in the memories of indigenous peoples. I can understand the distrust.
It was a harsh environment and a hard life in these cliff dwellings. The Ranger also told me their lfe expectancy was age 35, and the infant mortality rate was about 50%. This was in stark contrast to the figures in the dioramas at the visitors' center. They looked mighty pinkish-white, sleek, plump or at least well fed, and tall. In reality they must have been short, wiry and probably undernourished. They were all pictured wearing only loincloths, but its cold up there! I seriously doubt they all ran around in loincloths all the time. We need more realistic dioramas.
Despite some obvious restoration, the dwellings had an unmistakeable air of the ancient and unknowable. I think the Native American descendants of these cliff dwellers have a connection to the ancient ones, but it is almost impossible for a white person to grasp.
The skill and labor involved in building these structures is remarkable. They must have been very patiet people.
This photo gives a good idea of how deep into the overhanging cliff the dwelling village is built.
Other peoples of another time. I wonder what they'll say when they excavate our McMansion ruins?
That's one place I would really like to see
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