• View of Spruce Tree House from overlook

    Mesa Verde

    National Park Colorado

Site Survey Data

Two site maps, one with pottery shards and lithic in foreground.
Site maps, completed in 2006
NPS Photo
 


Baseline site survey data is collected at all sites and serves as the backbone of documentation necessary for every archeological site at Mesa Verde National Park. Over 4,700 sites in the park have received this level of documentation since the first survey projects were conducted in the 1930s. Currently, sketch maps, photographs, and a GPS location are part of this documentation package. Our goal is to update the site survey information on all sites documented prior to 1996 when our current methodology was established.

 
Archeologist documenting a collapsed pueblo.

Documenting a rubble mound that represents a pueblo, 2001

NPS Photo


Artifacts are photographed and identified in the field. Artifacts can help determine the function of a site during the time period it was occupied.

Did You Know?

Kiva courtyard at Spruce Tree House

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.