Prehistoric Indians of the Southwest

by H. M. Wormington

There are certain unmistakable differences between the architecture and pottery of Chaco Canyon and of Mesa Verde. As in the case of the Chaco [culture], Mesa Verde traits were not confined to the type locality, but had a far-reaching influence. Numerous ruins with the same basic characteristics, but not necessarily in caves, are found along the Mancos River and for some distance to the east and to the west. After the abandonment of the Mesa Verde proper, the influence became quite important in the south.

At Mesa Verde walls were thinner than in the Chacoan houses. This can probably be traced to the material used, as well as to the fact that the cave ceilings somewhat limited the height of the buildings, and with the reduced strain, thick walls were not needed. Flat tabular stones were not available, and walls were constructed of massive stone which was shaped into large, loaflike, blocks by pecking. Walls were of solid rock with no center fill of rubble or earth, and little mortar was used.

Fig. 31—Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado.

Of the many ruins in Mesa Verde National Park the most famous, and also the largest, is Cliff Palace.[125] With its many rooms and great stone towers it does give the impression of a palace, but this is of course a misnomer. Far from being the palace of a ruler, it was the home of hundreds of farmers and their families. Cliff Palace is a terraced building reaching to four stories in height in some places and containing over two hundred rooms and twenty-three kivas. The rooms were small, often irregularly shaped, and had low ceilings. Not all of them were used as living quarters. Some were used for storage. Storage must have been of great importance, since grain designed for winter food, as well as seed corn, had to be preserved. Also, it is probable that these ancient farmers accumulated large reserves to tide them over years when the crops failed, as do their present-day descendants. Other rooms contained boxlike structures of stone slabs which held metates, and these are thought to have been milling rooms in which the corn was ground. The living rooms, each one occupied by one family, were small and probably none too comfortable.

Some rooms were entered through the roofs but others had doors and windows. Even when doors were present, they were small and high above the floor and were probably reached by ladders. Few of the rooms contained fireplaces. The smoke from a fire in a small room with inadequate ventilation would present a definite problem, but life in the winter in an unheated room in a high canyon would not seem particularly appealing to present-day Americans. The walls of the houses were neatly plastered, sometimes colored and sometimes embellished by well painted designs.

The small size of the rooms has often given rise to a belief that the inhabitants were abnormally small. Actually the people were of normal size, but they probably did not spend much time in the rooms. Much of the life of the great house must have centered about the open courts and terraced roofs. When the men were not working in the fields or hunting on the mesa tops, they must have spent much time in their kivas, which may have served as habitations for the unmarried men and general meeting places, as well as providing a setting for the religious rites. While we cannot be sure what these ceremonies were, it seems certain that they were concerned with the well-being of the crops, which must be the first concern of all farmers, and that their form and content must have been greatly influenced by the ever present need of water which has always dominated life in the Southwest.

Most of the kivas were small circular structures, about thirteen feet in diameter, with the wall set back a foot or more, some three feet above the floor, to form an encircling bench. On this bench were six masonry pilasters which helped to support a cribbed roof. The spaces between pilasters formed recesses. The one to the south was the deepest and contained the ventilator flue. The [deflector], which stood between it and the center fire pit, was usually of masonry, but sometimes of wattle work. In addition to these circular kivas, which were the normal type, there were also circular or rectangular rooms with rounded corners which seem to have had a ceremonial nature, although they lacked the usual [kiva] features and were not subterranean, though surrounded by high walls. For the most part kivas lay in the front of the cave, but there were also some in the rear.

In addition to the various rooms and kivas there were also towers, sometimes incorporated in the building-mass of the great house, and sometimes built separately. They had various shapes, including round, oval, D-shaped, and rectangular. Some were two stories high. There were doorways in the side, but no windows. There are many theories as to the use of these towers, but there are some objections to all of them. One is, that they were designed as observation posts to watch for enemies, or as fortresses. They are usually loop-holed and, when found at a distance from the dwelling, are often on easily defended points which command a good view of the adjoining terrain. This, however, is not invariably the case, for some of the isolated towers are so placed that there would be little visibility, and defense would be extremely difficult. Many are far too small to have served as fortresses. Another theory is that they may have had some ceremonial use, and may have served as solar observatories to obtain calendrical data essential in the planting and harvesting of crops and fixing of dates for religious rites connected with these activities. Some, however, are located in spots not suitable for making such observations.

Across the canyon from Cliff Palace is a remarkable surface-structure known as “Sun Temple”, which some archaeologists consider an elaborate form of tower. This is an unroofed D-shaped building with double walls over twelve feet high. The space between the walls is divided into small rooms, and there are ten other rooms at the west end of the building. There is one [kiva] in this western section and two others in the big center court enclosed by the walls.