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Colorado » The Colorado » Montezuma County » Mesa Verde National Park » Cliff Palace

Cliff Palace

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c. 1209–1270s
  • Cliff Palace (Colorado Historical Society)
  • (Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress)

With 217 rooms and 23 kivas that perhaps accommodated 300 residents, Cliff Palace is the largest North American cliff dwelling—80 feet high, 80 feet deep, and 200 feet long. Fourteen connected storage rooms built into the roof of the cave kept food and other materials cool, dry, and out of the reach of children, dogs, and domesticated turkeys. To reach such remote parts of the cliff dwellings, the Mesa Verdeans used log ladders and toeholds and handholds carved into the rock. Vigas extending through the masonry walls and murals in zigzag motifs are also notable. Here it is possible to see the small chinking stones fitted into the mortar in the hammered sandstone masonry, traces of the original pinkish-brown plaster, and painted Anasazi wall designs.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Thomas J. Noel
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Data

What's Nearby

Sun Temple
Balcony House
Square Tower House
Spruce Tree House
Post Office

Citation

Thomas J. Noel, "Cliff Palace", [, Colorado], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/CO-01-MT28.

Print Source

Buildings of Colorado, Thomas J. Noel. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997, 603-603.

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