Great Sites: Spruce Tree House

Part 2: Mesa Verde National Park

Of all of the Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi) sites, Mesa Verde National Park is the largest, most dazzling, and affords the greatest access of all.  The contrast between Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon is like night and day.  Chaco Canyon is quiet, mystical, and uncrowded.  Mesa Verde is bustling, noisy, and glamorous.  But, it is SO worth the visit.  There is nothing as beautiful as seeing the magnificent Chaco-style architecture showcased in a majestic sandstone alcove nestled in the side of a daunting canyon.  And at Mesa Verde, you can see the “palaces” from many different angles, experience them with a ranger guided tour, or walk leisurely through them on a self-guided tour with a ranger always nearby for questions.



Chapin Mesa Archeology Museum

The first place I usually visit in the park is the visitor center where I can get information on tours, maps, and purchase trail guides.  I also purchase tickets for special ranger guided tours.  There is also a very nice book and gift shop.  Then it is off to the park on a winding road that affords very scenic views of the canyons and occasional breath-taking panoramas of the surrounding valleys.

The next stop for me, and most visitors, is the Chapin Mesa Archaeological Museum 22 miles from the visitor center and deep in the heart of the many beautiful ruins.  If you can only spend one day in the park, this is your best course of action.  Learn about the remarkable people that lived on the mesa and in the canyon alcoves 800 years ago by touring the great exhibits and watching the park video in the museum.

[view video] For a spectacular view of Spruce Tree House, walk only a few steps from the Chapin

Mesa Archaeological Museum to the canyon rim.  You are free to walk at your own pace down the paved switch-back trail that leads directly into the ruin.  You are on your own to explore the well-preserved great house nestled in a beautiful sandstone alcove with rangers standing by for questions.

[view video] On the path to Spruce Tree House, you pass a spring that was used by its residents.  The geology that creates this spring also created the alcove that the house was built in.  The tan cliffs in the canyons are composed of sandstone which is very porous.  Rain, snow melt and running water seep through the sandstone down to the layer of shale underneath where it emerges as a spring.  Often in winter the water collects in cracks in the sandstone, freezes and breaks off chunks until the alcove is formed.

[view video] Manos sitting on mutates in a small room prompt me to imagine what life was like in these great houses.   Most daily chores were done outside on the plazas in the summer and moved inside in the winter. 

The mud plaster coating still clings to some of the walls that were three or four stories high in some areas.  Many rooms were used to store corn, squash, and beans harvested on the mesas above.  Some doors were “T”-shaped making them handy for carrying armloads into the rooms.  The soot on the walls and ceilings suggest that fires were used inside many of the rooms and some say burned constantly in the rear areas.  Remnants of porches and balconies remain.  There were about 114 rooms here and the average size was 6x8x5 ½ feet.  The average height of a male resident was around 5 feet 4 inches.

There were eight kivas used by kinship groups for ceremonial and communal activities.  A lot of what we know about the kivas comes from descendants of these Ancestral Pueblo people living today and still using kivas.  Unlike the living rooms, kivas were well-designed for using fire and well-ventilated.

 

[view video] Near the center of this great house is a corridor very similar to a main street connecting the front plaza to the back. I don’t think I have seen this before in a great house.  There is also a large circular room that is built like towers found on the mesas above the canyons.  However, it was more likely a storage room than a watch tower.  This tower over looks a typical kiva built under the plaza.

 Stone Pilasters supported log beams that held up the roof using cribbed construction.  A large pit in the center of the floor contained the fire.  Fresh air was drawn in through the ventilator shaft and dispersed by a stone deflector shield.   The small hole in the floor behind the firepit is a “Sipapu” which represents the opening through which man emerged onto the face of the earth.

Smoke from the fire exited through a square hole in the roof which also served as the entrance and exit by ladder.   The banquets look like benches but were more likely used to store ceremonial objects.    There were also small caches built into the walls for special storage.

A special treat is in store for you at Spruce Tree House.  There is a fully restored kiva complete with roof that you are allowed to climb down into and experience.  I was surprised by how roomy it felt and how much natural light made its way inside.

[view video] Another bonus is a sample of how the walls may have been decorated still preserved in the fading plaster.  This design was painted on the wall 800 years ago.

Spruce Tree House is a great introduction to the beautiful Cliff Dwellings in Mesa Verde.

 

 

-- Courtney Miller

 

Great Sites: Bandelier National Monument Part 2: Mini Tour

As I mentioned in last week’s article, Bandelier National Monument is one of my favorite sites partly because of the diversity of dwellings and building techniques used by the ancient residents.  When you leave the visitor center, you start down a lovely, wooded path surrounded by the high canyon walls of Frijoles Canyon.  We are going to take the trail known as the Canyon Loop.  At this point,  there is no clue for what you are about to see.

 

 

[video] I had to stop and admire the tall canyon walls.  The tuff volcanic rock is soft and pock-marked with hundreds of eroded “cavates” (cavities).  It is so peaceful with only birds singing, people talking softly in the distance (and an occasional horn honking in the visitor parking lot).

 

Walking further, I was distracted by the funny looking Abert’s squirrel jumping from tree to tree when I first noticed the great kiva resting quietly among the pinons not far from the stream.  Although not as large and imposing as those at Chaco Canyon or Aztec Ruins, it has the typical features of a great kiva—the vent in the south wall; shield in front of the north entrance; a couple of floor chambers resembling possible foot drums; fire pit; and bench built into the circular walls.  Portions of the Timbers that once held up the flat roof remain in place.

 

Then as we continue down the path distracted by the tall cane cholla cactus with their brilliant hot pink flowers,  the great house, called Tyuonyi (Qu-weh-nee),  appears spread across the clearing.  It appears that only the base of the lower floor still exists of what was originally a two-story structure with over 400 rooms. 

[video] After entering through the narrow opening from the south, I pause to admire an old mano stone resting on a metate.  I can imagine groups of women sitting there grinding corn and talking, laughing, and singing as they worked.  Beyond the plaza of the great house Tyuonyi the remains of the talus houses that were once built next to the canyon in front of the cavates can be seen.  The representative of the cavate, the subterranean kiva, rests quietly in the plaza.

 

[video] As early as 10,000 years ago, nomadic hunters followed game into this canyon and camped in the naturally formed cavates.  The soft volcanic rock pock-marked by millions of years of erosion provided perfect caves where hunters and their families could find shelter.  Around 1150, the Ancestral Pueblo People moved into the canyon and planted corn, beans, and squash and added permanent stone houses to the front of the cavates.

[video] Some of the cavates are quite large.  In many, the floors were leveled and plastered over.  The natural doorways were often reduced and squared with stone and mortar.  The walls were often plastered over and painted after being smoothed and hollowed out.  The soot-covered ceilings testify to the use of fires inside the cavate.  These fires were sometimes placed near vents chiseled into the wall near the door.

 

 [video] Along the face of the canyon wall you can see the remnants of what is today known as the “Long House”.  Originally the Long House was three to four stories high.  The holes where the ceiling timbers were imbedded still remain.  The cavates that continued to be utilized in the back of the rooms still have signs of the paint that was on their walls.

[video]  Typically the rooms in the Long House were built two-deep from the walls and three high along the back.   Note the many smaller holes in the face.  Too small to be for vigas to hold up a ceiling, they were probably for a covered porch.  Petroglyphs are chiseled into the canyon face above the top floors.  Maybe children or adults would sit atop the building and doodle while they rested. 

 
There are 13 groups of talus villages in the Frijoles canyon,  the largest being Hewett's Group D, which has approximately 216 first story rooms. It appears to have been the more accessible of the cliff homes when compared to other cliff sites in the Canyon. The cliff wall still has the viga holes in it delineating a continuous group of houses from one to four stories in height extending along the cliff for 700 feet.

[video]  It was a natural progression for the agrarian occupants to eventually build a great house

down in the valley.  The talus houses may have remained the primary residences with the great house providing a community center and storage facility.  Traders may have stayed in the great house when they came to exchange goods.

 

Once you come back down into the valley and cross the creek along the Main Loop Trail, there is a trail branching off  to “The Alcove House”.  It is a nice, cool walk along the stream for about a half mile (one way).   [video] Formerly known as Ceremonial Cave, Alcove House is located 140 feet above the canyon floor and requires you to climb 4 wooden ladders and a number of stone stairs to reach the site.  In Alcove House, there is a reconstructed kiva and the viga holes and niches of former homes where about 25 people could have lived.   It reminds me of the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde, Colorado, on a much smaller scale.  Right after our visit, Alcove House was closed so that reconstruction work could be done on the kiva. 

It would have provided residents with a panoramic view and safety, but what a climb to have to make every day!

 

 

 

After the tour, it is great to sit at one of the streamside tables and have a nice, relaxing picnic while you watch the birds and squirrels play and listen to the soothing sound of the babbling stream.  You should put this site in your plans.

-- Courtney Miller

 

 

Great Sites: Bandelier National Monument, Part 1: The Monument

Courtney and Lin Miller
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Bandelier National Monument

Bandelier National Monument is one of my favorite sites to visit.  Not because of the quality of the ruins but because of the diversity of construction by the ancient inhabitants and the beauty of the setting.  It is also convenient from Santa Fe, New Mexico, a fun place to stay.  The Monument is about an hour’s drive from Santa Fe and is nestled in the southern end of the Pajarito Plateau:

1. --Take Saint Francis Drive (HWY 84/285) north toward Los Alamos.
2. --After passing Pojoaque, merge right onto New Mexico 502 to Los Alamos.
3. --Continue up 502 toward Los Alamos. Bear right and exit onto New Mexico 4 towards White Rock. Continue for 12 miles, passing White Rock.

Note: from May 24th through mid October, the Atomic City Transit offers bus service from White Rock visitor center to Bandelier.

 

 

The visitor center hours are 9 AM - 430 PM daily, year-round, except for December 25 and JanuaryCheck the website for special rates.

1.   It only costs $12 for a 7-day vehicle permit, $6 single entry, and both Senior and National Parks Pass are accepted. 

There are a lot of activities available besides the ruins including hiking, cross-country skiing, bird watching, and camping.  But, of course, the ruins are the focus of my interest.

When you first enter Bandelier National Monument, there is a pullout featuring a scenic overlook [see video].  Down in the center of the canyon, a small creek flows year-round nourishing the trees and vegetation which help make parts of the walk through the ruins shady and pleasant.  If you look closely, you can see the visitor center and the area where the ruins reside.

[video] As you drive down into the canyon you can see Cerro Grande peak to the north rising to 10,199 feet.  The canyon sits at 5,340 feet, almost a mile lower.  The Pajarito Plateau is the result of two volcanic eruptions 1.6 and 1.4 million years ago.  This elevation difference creates a unique diversity of habitats specific to Northern New Mexico. The diversity of habitats and quick access to water supported a relatively large population of Ancestral Pueblo people.

As you approach the visitor center you are greeted by a row of residences exhibiting that unique southwestern architecture so common around Santa Fe.  They were built between 1925 and 1941 when Evelyn Frey and her husband, George, took over and built the visitor center, the lodge, the road into Frijoles canyon and miles for trails.  At one point, Manhattan Project scientists and military personnel were housed here.  The visitor center hosts a museum, a documentary film, and a nice gift shop.

 

There are seasonal restrictions as well as advantages.  For instance, in the summer access is by shuttle only.  In the winter, you can expect snow and restricted access to some trails.  But all seasons are beautiful in their own way and Bandelier National Monument should be on your list of “sites” to see.

 

 

 

 

Next week we'll take a mini tour of Bandelier National Monument.

 

 

 

 

-- Courtney Miller