Canyon dwellers left ruins but no records

Press, 26 April 1988, Page 17

Canyon dwellers left ruins but no records

TED WALKER

visits the former home of an American

Indian tribe who moved in and moved out under i mysterious circumstances.

My closest contact with resident life at Mesa Verde was with a horned toad. It looked as if it could be the neighbourhood's oldest resident. I

Its enigmatic manner offered no answers to the mystery of the Colorado mesa, in the American South-west.

Whether because (of droughts, marauders or something else (or a combination of things), the area’s resident Anasazi Indians left I their sheltered; cliff homes for parts unknown by the year 1300.

'• Their culture was lost with that; move, and they may have integrated with people in. more hospitable areas. | Spanish explorers of the region in the ,1600 s had passed Mesa Verde -j- now a national park — as they (crossed a rugged plateau and called a flat-topped escarpment rising above them the | “Green | Table.” ’ | They | gave Colorado its name ' because of the region’s dominant red rock. ‘

It was not until 1888 that two cowboys searching for stray cattle came upon'the buildings of the Anasazi. The mesa’s flat table is scored by deep canyons; In the eroded cavities of sandstone walls are the stone houses of Pueblo Indians who lived there. In one area! there are 16 communities within half a kilometre. ( For hundreds of years. Indians had lived on the mesa top. They moved hurriedly into the canyons in about 1200 A.D. Time has nearly eliminated their villages on the tops.j The Sun Temple is still a recognisable structure. Its true significance to the Anasazi has never been understood. Neither is the reason for them moving into the canyons clear. There is no real evidence of marauding tribes forcing them to seek protection] although one area gives some (credence to this theory. ! The Balcony Mouse is virtually

impregnable; and access down the sheer cliff face would have been hazardous.

Today, a narrow path has been cut along the cliff face. A ninemetre ladre rises almost vertically to its large alcove. The exit (originally the only entrance) is through a fissure in the rock which was bricked up to allow a single person through at a time.

From here, a sheer face rose to the mesa , top. Below it was a frightening fall to the canyon floor.

For the benefit of tourists, toeholds have been cut in the rock. A chain handhold is anchored in place, to help climbers get back up! Inside the ( Balcony House is a fine example of machinery used to grind corn. These are pairs of people-powered flat stones, the mano and the metate.

This is the only area where entry is restricted. A park ranger takes peopte in groups of 20. Those with heart conditions, fear

of heights or excessive girth are warned clearly about dangers they could create. The (ranger holds his broad-brimmed hat out to his tjiudience and tells them that it will just pass through the

harrow exit — if anyone! wishes to hold the hat against) themkelves as a check, they are most welcome. I Cliff ((Palace was th J first

circular rooms below ground level with restricted access. They were connected with religious practices of the day which were based upon agricultrual concepts, undoubtedly emphasising rain and fertility.

dwelling discovered, it is also the largest, and best preserved, and perhaps the most (beautiful of them all. The cave is 99 metres

long, 27j metres deep and a little over 18 meters at (the highest point.

The Square Tower is the tallest cliff structure, but why towers were built is another part of the mystery since the elevated dwelling" sites would seem to give adequate visibility’. Spruce Tree House was named for a large tree that grew against the cliff in front of the ruin. It contains 114 rooms and eight kivas, with an estimated population of between 100 and 150.

It had more than (200 rooms, and the! population) s estimated to have been between 200 and 250 people. It had 231 clan kivas.

Water was a major problem.on the mesa. There w’as very little in the way of springs, and the main supply was an average rainfall of 450 mm plus snowfall. This was the minimum moisture requirement for the growing of com, which was so important to the way of life. Rainfall and melting snow seeped into the top layer of sandstone and onto an underlying layer of shale which it followed across to the canyons. It is this seepage which has formed the caves and alcoves in the canyon walls, and which has provided the "en suite" water supply for cliff dwellers who dug

hollows in the shale to hold it. Droughts were a recurring feature of the region, and logs which supported the different floor levels provided researchers with a mine of information. Working back from trees growing on the mesa, the patterns in the annular rings revealed dates of the cliff dwellings and the periods of drought This set the phase of the greater Pueblo period from 1200 to 1300 A.D., with the last 24 of those years a bad drought. In their early, pre-mesa history, the Anasazi were basket weavers and achieved a remarkable level of skill using Yucca fibres. Their baskets were so fine that they ! were used to carry water, and also as vessels in which to “boil” certain foods. This was achieved by taking stones from the fire and dropping them into the water-filled baskets.

Today, that finish has gone, but evidence remains of its use. No evidence of weaving has been found on the mesa, and it seems that this craft deteriorated as pottery skills reached their peak. The people themselves were stockily built, with an average height for women of 152 cm and 160 cm for men. It is known that they suffered dental problems, including attrition caused largely by sandstone grains introduced into the com during the grinding process. They also suffered from arthritis ’ and many of the other ills which still exist today.

Development of the baskets gradually extended to pottery and the Mesa Verde Park museum had some fine examples on display! Pottep’ clay was also used later; to finish the surfaces of the buildings by plastering, then polishing the new surface to a smooth lustre similar to that of the fine pottery of the time.

The clan structure of this society was not unlike that of Scottish clans, with common ancestors and common names. Unlike the masculinely-oriented Scottish clans, however, 1 the Pueblo society was matrilineal. Women owned the home and possessions, and when a man married he lived with his wife’s clan. Only the clan kivas seem to have been the preserve of men, with women being admitted only for special occasions; These days, regular inhabitants of the canyons are' mainly deer and cottontail rabbits,j with grey squirrel and chipmunk the most obvious of the rodents.