Upper Cliff Dwelling Floor Plan

Numbers refer to locations on map above.

1 - This is the last room to be worked on before the dwelling was abandoned, and was never completed.

2 - The roof and portions of the walls were removed and the room was used as midden (trash) area. Archeologists found sherds, piles of mesquite beans, and lima bean pods. Two burials were also found in this room.

3 - This room was probably never roofed. A small pit next to a boulder, and the floor were blackened.

4 - This room has the most complete roof. Juniper and pinyon posts were set in the walls, the materials above them are split agave and sotol flower stalks, layers of cane and grasses, then a layer of adobe. The doorway into #5 was blocked.

5 - Both ceilings in this two-story section burned and fell. A juniper log was tree-ring dated to AD 1346. The ceiling in the NW corner slopes forward and was repaired to provide level floor for second story.

8 - Small room, no work done.

16 - This two story room was totally excavated. During excavations, archeologists found changes in pollen samples showing some resources were being used up. They also found pottery sherds and several fire pits.

17 - This one story room had burned. The adobe is cracked, probably because it was initially laid on soft fill.

18 - The cistern was used for water storage. The area surrounding it was used for work, school, or community work.

19 - This is the largest room in the dwelling. In 1920, it was still sealed. When it was broken into, the roof was carried away, burned, or destroyed. Archeologists found few artifacts, but some modern day trash.

20 - The floor of Rooms 20 and 21 are 7 feet above that of Room 22. The cave slopes steeply in this area; a high retaining wall was built so that level floors could be laid.

21 - This part of the dwelling appears to have been 3 stories. The west wall is only 2 stories tall, but the east wall is a continuation of the 7' retaining wall of #20, above which the 2-story room was constructed.

22 - This room was exposed to erosion by a small waterfall coming from the top of the cliff during rains. Three baskets were found in the room.

23 - Perhaps this area was used as storage or a midden. Many sherds, basket fragments, some pieces of textiles were found.

24 - Exposed to rains, little remains of this room.

25 - Only two short stubs of the wall remain. Everything else has washed down the hillside.

26 - Lots of fill, but no artifacts found.

30 - No evidence of any roofing materials, little fill on floor.

31 - Room was exposed to rain and received wash from cliffs above. Only one wall partially standing.

32 - Only two short wall stubs remain. Probably most of the room washed down the hillside.