T Shaped Doors at Spruce Tree House

During the winter season at Mesa Verde National Park, Spruce Tree House is the only large alcove ruins site that can be visited. There are three free ranger guided tours per day leaving from the Chapin Mesa Museum at 10:00 AM, 1:00 PM and 3:30 PM.

One of the detail features of Spruce Tree House is the many T shaped doorways that are easily visible. T shaped doorways are particular to and symbolic of the American southwest. They are thought to have first appeared at Chaco Canyon, New Mexico around 1020 AD. The T shapes appear later at Aztec Ruins in Aztec New Mexico and then in the Mesa Verde area.

The left side plaza area behind the two reconstructed kivas has several T shapes visible including a few that appear to have been bricked in afterwards.

There is debate as to whether the T shapes have a practical function or are they symbolic. The wider top might provide a wider space for carrying material inside and places to place your hands if you want to vault into the room. The narrow bottom might help conserve heat.

Some have noticed that the T doorways are only present for habitation rooms and not for storage rooms. This would make the living rooms easier to spot from a distance. Most of the Spruce Tree House T shapes appear to be symmetrical, but this one has uneven shoulders and looks like a larger opening was bricked in later.

Another site in the Mesa Verde area with easy to visit T shaped doors is the Escalante Pueblo at the Anasazi Heritage Center in Dolores, Colorado. This site is thought to have been built originally in 1129 AD, making it older than Spruce Tree House where construction is thought to have occurred from 1200 to 1276 AD.

In this case the T shapes are lined up and lead from one room to the next and are not just on the exterior of the structure. Inside the Anasazi Center Museum there is a mug with a T shaped handle, giving support to the idea that the T shape is symbolic of something.

It looks like there are also places at Spruce Tree House where one T shaped door leads to another interior T shaped door. The winter tour of Spruce Tree House takes about 1:00 hour. On my mid December visit there were only two hikers on the 10:00 AM tour, a much better experience than during the busy summer season.

Mesa Verde Black on White Pottery

Hikers in the more remote areas of the Four Corners will frequently come across pottery shards near the ruins sites. Not many shards are visible at Mesa Verde, but the Chapin Mesa Museum has a good display of several styles including the Mesa Verde Black on White style.

The Anasazi Heritage Center in Dolores, Colorado has some textbook style explanations of different pottery styles and list more types of Black on White than the Mesa Verde Black on White. The definition of the Mesa Verde type given there says more common after 1200 AD. It has heavier designs with more black space, placed either in bands or in all-over patterns divided in halves, thirds, or quarters. Bowls are usually decorated on both surfaces.

The McElmo Black on White style is more common between 1150-1200 AD and often shows bands of triangles, checkerboards, steps, and hatched areas. Bowls were usually painted on the inside surface only.

The Chapin Mesa Museum doesn’t mention the different styles of Black on White but emphasizes the pottery forms. The description for this bowl says it has a ticked rim, a wide design band framed with thick and thin lines.

This water jar has a symmetrical geometric design with narrow spaced hatching. The water jars are also called Ollas. They may have an indentation on the underside to make it comfortable to carry on your head.

This example is labeled as a Kiva Jar as they have been mostly found in kivas. The top is shaped to accept a lid. This kiva jar is considered to be the finest piece in the Mesa Verde collection. The trail guide for the Nordenskiold Ruin No. 16 Trail on Wetherill Mesa says that this jar was found there during the excavations of Jesse Nusbaum in 1928-1929. It has been on display here at the Chapin Mesa Museum since the 1950s.

A miniature of this same jar also seems to appear in the diorama that depicts alcove life after 1200 AD. The dioramas are part of the CCC work of the depression era 1930s. It becomes obvious with experience at Mesa Verde that the dioramas are based on actual locations in the park. The scene that contains the famous pottery example is based on the Spruce Tree House that is right outside the museum.

Sun Point Pueblo on the Mesa Top Tour

The Sun Point Pueblo is the sixth stop on the Mesa Top Pithouse to Pueblo Tour at Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. This area of Chapin Mesa is part of the park that is kept open all winter. The road and short trails to the Ancestral Pueblo ruins sites are kept clear of snow and provide a hard surface for walking when other trails are muddy or snow covered.

I started my hike at the parking area for the third stop Square Tower House and visited the other sites toward the Sun Point View Point area. The sequence of ruins sites on the Mesa Top Loop traces the history of building styles in the Mesa Verde area from 600 to 1300 AD.

 In the winter season, there isn’t much traffic and this is a pleasant walk with thick Pinon Pine and Juniper forest on both sides of the road. The Sun Point Pueblo is partly sheltered in an open sided building.

The key feature of the Sun Point Pueblo is the Tower and Kiva combination in the center of the village. Surrounding the Tower and Kiva are the outlines of 15 rooms. The interpretive sign in the shelter has a diagram showing the entire site.

The Tower and Kiva combination is one of several that can be viewed at Mesa Verde. Cedar Tree Tower and Far View Tower, also on Chapin Mesa are similar. There is also an example on the Badger House Trail on Wetherill Mesa.

Sun Point Pueblo is missing much of its material and it is thought that some of it might have been moved to build the many alcove structures that are visible at the nearby Sun Point overlook. The Sun Point Pueblo is thought to have been occupied for only a short period of time, during the transition to the alcove sites

It is easy to overlook the room block outlines that are on both sides of the shelter building. It is thought that there may have been as many as 30 rooms here with a population of about 50.

On the way off the Mesa Top Loop I saw a coyote also strolling along the road. My hike on the Mesa Top Loop from stops 3 to 7 was on a sunny 40 F degree mid November day. There were patches of snow in shady spots in the forest. My hike took 1:30 hours for about 2 miles.

Square Tower House Guided Hike

The Square Tower House overlook is the third stop on the Mesa Top Pit House to Pueblo Tour at Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. For many years, since the 1930s, the view from the overlook was only way for visitors to see the Square Tower House.

In the Fall season of 2011 from September 1 to October 15, ranger guided hikes into the site are offered on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. These tours start at 8:00 AM and last about 2 hours. There is a $20 charge and reservations have to be made. Each tour is limited to 10 hikers.

The 1 mile round trip hike is advertised as strenuous, but seemed to me to be very easy except that there are two ladders to descend. The transition from the carved steps to the lower ladder looks a little tricky from above, but there are ropes to hold on to.

The short segment of trail from the trailhead to the ladders has a spectacular view across Navajo Canyon with Echo House visible across the canyon. This trail was part of the CCC construction in the 1930s and includes the type of carved steps that are seen on other older trails in the park. The ladders are new for 2011.

The tour crosses in front of the site and begins at the left end. In this left side area a boulder broke loose in recent years and did some damage to some of the walls. The ranger related that there was consultation with current day pueblo people about what to do about the damage, and the result was that the damage was part of the natural process and should be accepted.

The park works to stabilize these structures but not to rebuild them in the current era. At first glance, the eye catching structures are the 28 foot Square Tower and the Crow’s Nest high in a crevice. The left side is the location of the Nordenskiold No. 8 and the John Wetherill JW initials. These historic inscriptions are visible but somewhat small and faint.

Just to the right of the tall tower, there is a kiva with half of the roof still in place. Some of the construction details of the placement of wood beams are visible along with a cross section of the packed mud surface.

From this same view point there are close up views of the Square Tower. This is the tallest structure in Mesa Verde.

Further to the right there is another kiva with part of the roof still intact. The view into the kiva is from a lower angle and some of the cribbing of the log roof is visible.

From the right side there are also the closest views of the Crow’s Nest. This structure isn’t visible from the overlook. We had a discussion of what the Crow’s Nest was for but the exact purpose isn’t known. It could have been a lookout or signaling point. It looks like it might have been possible to enter the site along the crevice and ledges where the Crow’s Nest is located but it looks very tricky. There are some very faint petroglyphs in the sandstone on the right side of the site but they are difficult to see.

An interesting point was made about the two tone plaster that is sometimes seen at these sites. The upper band of plaster is white and the lower band is buff colored.

Turning and looking out at the canyon, the upper sky is bright above a darker buff color of the sandstone cliffs. The interior decoration imitates the natural views outside. The ranger made the point that the people were very in touch with their environment, more than we are today.

With stops for discussion, it took our group of seven 0:45 minutes to arrive at Square Tower House. We spent 0:50 minutes viewing the site and 0:25 minutes to return to the trailhead. It was a 68 F degree September morning and most of the hike was in shade. I carried 2 liters of water but didn’t drink until the hike was completed.

Megalithic House on the Far View Trail

The Far View Trail is a 0.75 mile loop that visits 6 excavated sites in one of the most populated areas of Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. In the 2011 summer season, there are ranger led hikes on the Far View Trail on Mondays and Fridays at 4:00 PM.

The north end of the loop leads to the unusual Megalithic House. Megalithic House uses large stones as part of the building style. At first, these large stones were the only evidence that something was here. Megalithic House is considered to be the home of one clan. The cluster of structures includes a kiva and several other rooms.

The Far View area is at an elevation of about 7800 feet. This elevation is about the limit for growing corn in this region. The advantage is that there is more moisture at higher elevation but the growing season is shorter and has to be timed carefully to avoid frosts.

What is unusual about Megalithic House is that the stone work in the kiva appears to be very fine while the work on the other buildings appears to be very course. Also, the floor of the kiva penetrates into the bedrock, very difficult to accomplish working by hand. The guided tour of Far View stays on the main trail and doesn’t visit any of the 50 village sites that are unexcavated. The total guided hike lasts about 1:00 hour.

Knife Edge Trail Bird Hike

During the 2011 summer season Mesa Verde National Park is offering bird hikes on the Knife Edge Trail on Sunday and Wednesday at 7:30 AM. The Knife Edge Trail is one of three trails in the Morefield Campground area.

The Knife Edge Trail is a 2 mile round trip along the north rim and historically was a main road in the park, built in 1914. As a regular hike it emphasizes the plants in the area that were available to the Ancestral Pueblo people. There are also wide views of the Montezuma Valley with the regional mountain ranges visible.

The bird hike is different than other hiking in that the walking is slower and the talking is more in whispers. There is more effort at listening and wide angle awareness to spot movement of the birds. If you suffer from Nature-deficit disorder, bird hiking might be for you.

The Mesa Verde checklist of birds includes 186 species with 78 known to breed in the park. The checklist mentions five habitat types including Mesa Tops, Side Canyons, Deep Canyons, Riparian, and North Rim.
 

The Knife Edge Trail is probably the typical North Rim Habitat where the mountain shrubs include Gambel Oak, Utah Serviceberry, Mountain Mahogany, Cliff Fendler Bush, Chokecherry, and shady spots with Douglas Firs.

The highlight possibility on the hike is Peregrine Falcons along the sandstone cliffs. They have been sighted on some of the hikes but we didn’t see any on the day I hiked.

The birds we did see included Rufous-sided and Green-tailed Towhees, Scrub Jay, Raven, Rock Wren and another wren, maybe the Canyon Wren. There were many high flying birds high above on the cliff tops that were either White-throated Swifts or Violet-green Swallows. One bird we thought was a Yellow-rumped Warbler.
 

The hike is advertised as lasting two hours, but since this isn’t an archaeology sensitive area, you can stay longer even if the ranger has to leave. I stayed on the trail for 2:50 hours, finishing by myself. On the return hike I saw a Western Tanager and a circling soaring hawk with broad wings, probably the Red Tailed Hawk.

Oak Tree House on Fewkes Canyon Trail

One of the most eye catching of the several Ancestral Pueblo ruins sites visible from Sun Point is the Oak Tree House. During the summer of 2011, Mesa Verde National Park is offering ranger guided hikes to Oak Tree House and further on to New Fire House and the Fire Temple.

Oak Tree House has about 50 rooms and 6 kivas. The interpretive sign at the Sun Point overlook says that the sloping alcove floor was leveled using retaining walls and fill, and that every available square foot of area was used, including the ledge area above.

The one mile round trip trail begins at the Sun Temple on the Mesa Top Loop. The hike gets off to a fast start with hikers clinging to an installed rope and stepping carefully into carved footholds and descending a ladder to a ledge area. The ledge trail winds around the point under the Sun Temple and Mummy House.
 

Along the way there are views from below toward Mummy House and across Cliff Canyon toward Cliff Palace and Sunset House. Near the tip of the point there is a small seep spring that one of the water sources for this relatively highly populated canyon area.

The trail to Oak Tree House was mostly constructed in 1915 and was improved in the 1930s but has not been used much since then. There were a few hikes here in the 2006 Mesa Verde Centennial year. In the 2010-11 summer seasons some of these rarely used trails have been re-opened on a trial basis to public visits.

The kiva at the right end of the site appears to have been modified into a grain grinding room. Another Mesa Verde site where I’ve noticed an indoor grinding room is Coyote Village on the Far View Trail.
 

There is a lot of soot visible at Oak Tree House. The square opening on the upper left appears to be a well framed window. Most of the small openings that we think are windows are actually doorways, but this one appears to actually be a window.

Oak Tree House is being monitored for structural changes with small monitors that are visible. This device provides data for deciding if any action needs to be taken to stabilize the fragile walls.
 

On the left side of the site, a T shaped doorway is visible near other rectangular doorways. The building dates for Oak Tree House appear to be earlier than many of the other cliff dwelling sites. The dates here are 1184 AD to a construction stop in 1209 AD.
 

From Oak Tree House the hike continues a short distance to New Fire House and Fire Temple (see separate post for Fire Temple). After visiting there we retrace back to the trailhead. The hike is advertised as two hours but is a better experience if it lasts close to three hours.

Fire Temple on Fewkes Canyon Trail

One of the special hikes at Mesa Verde National Park in 2011 visits the Fire Temple and New Fire House in Fewkes Canyon. These side by side sites are visible from Sun Point on the Mesa Top Loop but have not been visited by the public since the 1930s.

The one mile round trip hike begins at the Sun Temple and winds around the point past Oak Tree House and below Mummy House. The hike I was on started hiking at about 8:20 AM and arrived at New Fire House at about 9:45 AM.

New Fire House is a two level structure. The lower level has seven rooms and three kivas. From the trail level, New Fire House is hard to view because the trail is a little below the floor level of the site. From the right side, there is an open area in the back of the alcove with some moisture and plants growing similar to Balcony House and Long House.

One of the possible interpretations of New Fire House is that it was the residence of the persons who were responsible for the ceremonies held at the adjacent Fire Temple. The trail stays along the front and doesn’t enter the site. There weren’t any good views into the kivas.

The upper level has 13 rooms. The overlook interpretive sign says there are foot and toe holds leading to the upper level and that ladders were probably used. There is a good view of the structure to the right of the upper level from below.

The main section of the Fire Temple resembles the floor a great kiva with two rectangular structures and a central circular structure that we usually think is a fire pit. The rectangular structures are often described as foot drums associated with dancing. The large outdoor plaza at Long House on Wetherill Mesa has similar features.

The great kivas at Chaco Canyon have these features as does the great kiva at Aztec Ruins. Early investigator J.W. Fewkes thought that the central fire pit may have been an “eternal flame” due to the large quantity of ashes that were found here. Fewkes saw a connection between this site and current “New Fire” rites practiced by the Hopis that he had spent much time with.

There is a lot of white plaster still intact here. Our group spent some time scanning the plaster for small images. There are two vertical zig zag snake like designs in the plaster but you have to look carefully to see them.

We noticed a large alcove directly across the canyon from the Fire Temple area but couldn’t see any structures. The possible explanation for non use is that this site doesn’t catch as much winter sun, but it is known as a Basketmaker, or early era site.
 

On the left side of the Fire Temple is a room with some pictographs on the wall. The images to the right are unusual and resemble Prickly Pear Cactus with flower buds. There are also some mountain sheep images. An early picture of these images also included some Kokopelli images that are now missing.

We had a discussion of how early visitors to these sites left historic inscriptions, but many of these were later considered to be graffiti and have been removed. It was speculated that the Kokopellis might have been removed for their phallic features.
 

The total hike to Oak Tree House and the Fire Temple took 2:50 hours. The tour is advertised as a two hour hike but the more leisurely 2:50 hour pace was appreciated by our group. In 2011 this hike is being offered May 29 to September 5 on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturdays for a cost of $20.