At this early date, the people did not make pottery, build houses, or use the bow and arrow. No sites dating from the early Basketmakers have been found within the boundaries of Mesa Verde National Park.

Around the year 400 A.D., people began to make pottery and build roofed dwellings. About 250 years later, around 750 A.D., they started using the bow and arrow. Their culture was gradually changing, and during this “growth” period, archeologists refer to these people as the Modified Basketmakers (400-750 A.D.). Pithouses were built in alcoves and on the mesa tops, and dozens of these have been found on the mesas, two of which have been reconstructed.

Starting about 750 A.D., the people grouped their houses to form compact villages, which were given the name of “pueblo”, a Spanish term meaning village. Many types of house walls were used, including adobe-and-pole, stone slabs topped with adobe, adobe-and-stone, and layered masonry. The houses were joined together to form compact clusters around open courts. In these courts were pithouses, which grew deeper and finally developed into ceremonial rooms now referred to as kivas.

During the last century, some Ancient Puebloan Indians of Mesa Verde left the mesa tops and built their homes in the many alcoves that abound along the canyon walls. This final period marks the apex of Pueblo culture in Mesa Verde and is known as the Classic Pueblo Period (1100-1300 A.D.).

Beginning in A.D. 1276, drought struck the region, and for 23 years, precipitation was scarce. The springs dried up one by one, and the people were in serious trouble. Their only escape was to seek regions with a more reliable water supply. People left village after village. Before the drought ended, these people had left the Mesa Verde area.

The first known mention of Mesa Verde was made in 1859 when Captain J.N. Macomb explored specific territory in what is now the State of Utah. Along with him was Professor J.S. Newberry, who made a geological report of the expedition and described climbing to one of the highest points of Mesa Verde, possibly Park Point, but evidently didn’t make an in-depth exploration, as he made no mention of the cliff dwellings.

The first cliff dwelling known to have been entered by white men was Two-Story Cliff House in Ute Mountain Tribal Park, discovered by William H. Jackson in September 1874. Jackson was a photographer for the U.S. Geological and Geographical Survey, who had heard of the ruins from miners and prospectors. One of these prospectors, John Moss, led Jackson into Mancos Canyon, where the cliff dwelling was discovered. Jackson found other small cliff dwellings in the canyon, but the Two-Story Cliff House was the only one he named.

The following year, the second cliff dwelling was discovered by W.H. Holmes, leader of another government survey party that passed through Mancos Canyon. Holmes named it Sixteen Window House. Over the next several decades, more explorers identified sites named Balcony House, Cliff Palace, Square Tower House, and others.

Today, the continued preservation of both cultural and natural resources is the focus of the park’s research and resource management staff.

Archeological sites of many types are accessible to visitors, ranging from pithouses built in the 500s to cliff dwellings of the 1200s.

The cliff dwellings are the most spectacular, but the mesa top pit houses and pueblos are equally important.

Maximum protection must be afforded to the dwellings to preserve them. One regulation is strictly enforced: visitors may enter cliff dwellings ONLY when accompanied by a Park Ranger. However, there are more than 20 mesa-top sites and viewpoints that may be visited independently. Some sites are closed during the winter.