Gallery: Images of Mesa Verde | Washington State Magazine

Spruce Tree House: Ancient Pueblo people of the American Southwest had some of the New World’s most sophisticated architecture, climaxing in the cliff dwellings of Colorado’s Mesa Verde. Built in a natural alcove in the 1200s, Spruce Tree House has about 130 rooms.
(Photo Eric Sorensen/Washington State University)

Balcony House is a medium-sized cliff dwelling of about 40 rooms.
(Photo Eric Sorensen/Washington State University)

The Balcony House climb: The steep climb out of Balcony House conveys how difficult it would be for attackers to get into the Mesa Verde cliff dwellings.
(Photo Eric Sorensen/Washington State University)

Square Tower House is the tallest structure in the Mesa Verde cliff dwellings.
(Photo Eric Sorensen/Washington State University)

Far View petroglyph: Part of a spiral petroglyph sits on a stabilized wall at Pipe Shrine House, one of dozens of villages in the densely populated Far View Area of Mesa Verde.
(Photo Eric Sorensen/Washington State University)

Wild turkeys like this seen at Mesa Verde were a central part of ancestral Pueblo life, both practically and symbolically. WSU researchers have documented how Pueblo people domesticated the birds and used them for blankets, food and rituals.
(Photo Eric Sorensen/Washington State University)

Fragments of stone vessels, called sherds or potsherds, are common in the Mesa Verde area, where ancient Pueblo people lived for hundreds of years. Visitors are discouraged from taking them as souvenirs as they can have offer clues to how ancient people lived.
(Photo Eric Sorensen/Washington State University)

Mark Varien: Washington State University anthropologists have been instrumental in running the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, a “living classroom” devoted to researching, teaching, and preserving ancient Pueblo history. One of their frequent collaborators has been Mark Varien, Crow Canyon director of research. (Photo Eric Sorensen/Washington State University)

Kyle Bocinsky: Kyle Bocinsky,’11 MA, ’14 PhD, walks by the remains of a great house in his backyard. He and WSU anthropologist Tim Kohler recently used data from thousands of archaeological sites and tree-ring dates to chart 900 years of climatic and cultural change in the Southwest. (Photo Eric Sorensen/Washington State University)

Petroglyph Point panel: According to a Hopi elder, this petroglyph may tell the story of two clans (the Mountain Sheep Clan and the Eagle Clan) separating from other people and returning to their place of origin. The squared spiral shape likely represents a sipapu—the place where Pueblo people believe they emerged from the earth. Photo National Park Service

Spruce Tree House (Photo National Park Service)