Cliff Palace

It is believed that Cliff Palace was constructed and lived in from about 1200 A.D. to 1300 A.D. Cliff Palace was abandoned by 1300, though debate is ongoing as to the cause. Some contend that a series of megadroughts interrupting food production systems was the main cause. Wetherill and Mason also rediscovered Spruce Tree House and Square Tower House, which are also located in Mesa Verde. According to Wetherill and Mason, they "followed the Indian trail down Chapin Mesa, between Cliff and Navajo canyons, and camped at the head of a small branch of the Cliff Palace fork of Cliff Cañon." Wetherill and Mason spent time after finding the dwellings looking at artifacts found within the cliff. According to Mason, they found a stone axe "with the handle still on it" and also observed "parts of several human skeletons scattered about." Wetherill and Mason collected various artifacts from the site over the years, and they kept a detailed record of their discoveries. Wetherill took the first collection of artifacts to Durango, Colorado on March 2, 1889. Preservation Throughout the decade following Cliff Palace's rediscovery, it became a popular destination for tourists and curious explorers. These visitors did not take care of the site as it is taken care of today. This led many of the fragile walls and other structures to crumble. Many of the visitors also took artifacts that they had found, leaving hardly any for future visiting archeologists to find and examine. Richard Wetherill and others became very disturbed by this fact, and they pushed for the establishment of Mesa Verde National Park in order to protect Cliff Palace and other archeological sites in the area. Finally, in 1906, Mesa Verde National Park was established. ==Description==

Construction Cliff Palace was constructed primarily out of sandstone, mortar and wooden beams. Many visitors wonder about the relatively small size of the doorways at Cliff Palace. At the time when Cliff Palace was constructed, the average man was about tall, while the average woman was about tall. Archaeologists believe that Cliff Palace contained more clans than the surrounding Mesa Verde communities. This belief stems from Mesa Verde's higher ratio of rooms to kivas. Cliff Palace has a room-to-kiva ratio of 9 to 1. The average room-to-kiva ratio for a Mesa Verde community is 12 to 1. == Excavation ==

Even though Cliff Palace was rediscovered in 1888, it was not formally excavated by an archeologist until 1906, when Mesa Verde National Park was established. Jesse Walter Fewkes from The Smithsonian Institution was sent to excavate the alcove. This work included digging for artifacts and repairing the crumbling walls of the site. Artifacts Many artifacts were unearthed when the site was formally excavated in 1906, although Fewkes did note that the site had been "'almost completely rifled of its contents'" by the time he arrived at the site. Despite this, he was still able to uncover many objects that helped him and other archeologists gain a deeper understanding of the Puebloan people who inhabited Cliff Palace and Mesa Verde. Fewkes unearthed objects such as pots, yucca sandals, and cloths made from feathers, yucca, and cotton. He also found various weapons and tools like wooden farming tools, a stone ax, arrow points, hatchets, drills, grinding stones, and stone balls, which he believed may have been used as a weapon or in a game. Lastly, Fewkes found food remainders: corn, squash, pumpkin, beans, and gourds. == Visiting Cliff Palace ==

Currently, Cliff Palace is open to the public in Mesa Verde National Park. In the park, there is a six-mile road loop that takes visitors on various stops, including the Cliff Palace overlook. In order to actually go into the site, one must obtain a ticket for a ranger-guided tour. The tour season runs from May through October, and one tour is limited to fifty visitors. The tour typically has a duration of forty-five minutes, and the trail consists of uneven stone steps and four ladders that one must descend. The hike has an elevation change of 100 ft (30 m), and the total distance is 0.25 miles (0.4 km). File:Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde Park, Colorado, US (36).jpg|Cliff Palace File:Mesa Verde NP cliff palace ground plan.jpg|Cliff Palace Ground Plan File:Japanese Boyscouts Visiting Cliff Palace, August 1943.jpg|Japanese Boyscouts Visiting Cliff Palace, August 1941 ==References==