Mesa Verde - Part 1

Mesa Verde in southwestern Colorado is one of the few National Parks whose main attractions are man-made.  The park features numerous structures built by the Ancestral Pueblo people, also known as the Anasazi, specifically the cultural branch or "province" known as the Northern San Juan or Mesa Verde.  The name "Mesa Verde" means "green table" in Spanish, and also refers to the land itself, which comprises steep canyons and relatively flat mesas above and between them.  The canyon walls include overhangs, the spaces beneath them forming alcoves, in which many of the pueblos within the park were built.  The park's arguably most famous settlement is Cliff Palace, built in an alcove above Cliff Canyon.  There are also pueblos on the mesas, most of which are thought to have been built earlier than those in the canyon alcoves.

When you drive into the park, the first prominent feature you see is this butte.

The Montezuma Valley toward the northwest can be seen from an overlook along the road.

The rock formation casting the shadow in the next picture is called the Knife Edge.

Along the road leading southward toward the Cliff Palace is a group of pueblos called Far View.  One of these is called Far View Tower House, because it includes a round above-ground building.  Next to it are two kivas, which include an outer notch called a "keyhole".  This style is fairly common for kivas in Mesa Verdean sites, but has also been found in a few Chacoan sites, indicating either some degree of cultural influence or perhaps Mesa Verdean occupation of sites previously vacated by Chacoans.

On the side of the round building away from the kivas are these rectangular rooms.

Far View House is the largest of the Far View sites.

Next to Far View House is Pipe Shrine House.  In this shot, Pipe Shrine House is in front of and slightly below Far View House.  I think that the next word on the modern sign, after "DO NOT", is "ENTER".