Southwest Colorado’s Mesa Verde has been inhabited for thousands of years. Following what archaeologists call the Archaic era, the so-called Basketmaker culture emerged in the region around 1000 BC.
Named for their elaborate weaved baskets, the Basketmakers were indeed direct ancestors of the Puebloans who’d start building in the area around 750 AD. Nevertheless, archaeologists still consider the Puebloan period, which started in the 8th century and lasted until the site’s eventual abandonment, as a distinct historical era.
But who were the Puebloans? For hundreds of years, this group, also known as the Anasazi, would build countless impressive structures throughout the Four Corners region of the American Southwest.
Notable sites include Chaco Canyon, the Aztec Ruins National Monument, Hovenweep, and of course, Mesa Verde.
As ‘Anasazi’ is actually a Navajo term which roughly translates to ‘ancient enemies,’ their modern descendants aren’t a big fan of the label. As such, many archaeologists now refer to the builders of Mesa Verde as ‘Ancestral Puebloans.’
Before the establishment of the stunning cliff dwellings for which the site is now known, the Puebloans first inhabited the mesa tops, where they farmed corn, squash and beans. They also ate various animals – especially turkeys, which they domesticated.
Surprisingly, the cliff dwellings weren’t constructed until the late 12th century. While the Puebloans would continue to farm and hunt atop the mesas, the reason for the sudden shift remains a big mystery, especially considering how hard the cliff dwellings must’ve been to build.
One theory for the change is that the Puebloans wanted to free up more space for farming atop the mesas. Other archaeologists, meanwhile, theorize that it could’ve been for security.
What’s also puzzling is that the elaborate cliff dwellings were inhabited for less than a couple of centuries. We still don’t know if the entire community left at once or if it gradually happened family by family. In any case, by around the year 1300, the Mesa Verde region had been abandoned entirely.
Interestingly, this was just several decades after the total abandonment of Chaco Canyon. The Puebloans, however, never disappeared. They’d resettle at other sites like Aztec, New Mexico. And in modern times, their descendants make up tribes like the Hopi, Zuni and Acoma.
In more recent times, many of Mesa Verde’s ruins were rediscovered in the late 19th century, and it quickly attracted archaeologists from around the country.
Mesa Verde was then declared a national park in 1906, occupying 52,485 acres which are home to thousands of individual ruins. Today, many consider it among the finest archaeological sites in North America.