Tour of the U.S. Southwest

Mesa Verde, Colorado

September 15, 2009

Mesa Verde is Spanish for Green Table. As the name implies, the mesa is lush with vegetation relative to the sparse country surrounding it. Because of the favorable climate and soil, Ancestral Puebloans, also know as the Anasazi, inhabited the mesa for about 700 years. Today archeologists are studying the over 4700 sites on the mesa.

Mesa Verde Ranger Lee helped us understand a few of the archeological sites on Mesa Verde.
Mesa Verde Kiva: an underground or partially underground chamber used for ceremonies or councils.
Mesa Verde
Mesa Verde

Spruce Tree house

A small group of us, under Ranger Lee's guidance, hiked down to one of the Anasazi dwellings.

Mesa Verde
Mesa Verde
Mesa Verde
Mesa Verde
Mesa Verde