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Mesa Verde National ParkSpruce Tree House lit up with lantern and luminaria during December Open House.
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Mesa Verde National Park
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Ancestral Puebloans of Mesa Verde

About 1,400 years ago, long before Europeans explored North America, a group of people living in the Four Corners region chose Mesa Verde for their home. For more than 700 years they and their descendants lived and flourished here, eventually building elaborate stone communities in the sheltered alcoves of the canyon walls. Then, in the late A.D. 1200s, in the span of a generation or two, they left their homes and moved away. Mesa Verde National Park preserves a spectacular reminder of this ancient culture.

Use the following links to learn more about the Ancestral Puebloans of Mesa Verde. (To get the Free Adobe Reader, which is required to read the pdf fileclick here.)

Kiva courtyard at Spruce Tree House  

Did You Know?
A subterranean kiva remained 50 degrees Fahrenheit all year round. So for the Ancestral Puebloans, it stayed cool in the summer, and only a small fire was needed to keep it warm in the winter.

Last Updated: April 04, 2009 at 15:50 EST