Cliff-dwelling facts for kids

A cliff dwelling built by the Sinagua people at Montezuma Castle in Arizona.

Cavates and pathways carved into soft rock at Tsankawi, New Mexico.

Imagine living in a house built right into the side of a tall cliff! These amazing homes are called cliff dwellings. They are special types of homes created by using natural caves or ledges high up in cliffs. People often added walls or dug out more space to make them bigger and more comfortable.

Archaeologists, who are scientists who study human history through old things, have found many different kinds of cliff dwellings around the world.

Cliff Dwellings

Cliff dwellings are unique homes found in high cliffs. They can be simple caves that people lived in, or they can be complex buildings with many rooms. People often built walls using stone or mud, or they dug out more space from the rock itself.

Types of Cliff Dwellings

Archaeologists usually talk about two main types of cliff dwellings:

• Cliff-houses: These are homes that were actually built on flat ledges or levels within the cliff. Think of them like apartments built into the rock face, often with several stories.
• Cavates: These are homes that were dug out directly from the soft rock of the cliff. People often started with natural openings or small caves and then carved out more rooms inside.

You might also hear about "rock-cut architecture." This usually refers to much larger and grander buildings, like temples or tombs, that were carved into solid rock. For example, the Ajanta Caves in India and the Mogao Caves in China are huge cave systems carved into cliffs. They were used by monks and are incredible examples of ancient rock carving.

Where Can You Find Them?

Some of the most famous cliff dwellings are found in North America. You can see many of them in the canyons of the southwestern United States, especially in states like Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado. You can also find them in Chihuahua, Mexico.

Many of these ancient homes are still standing today. Some are even used by Native American people.

Who Lived in Cliff Dwellings?

For a long time, people wondered who built these incredible cliff dwellings. Modern research shows that they were built by the ancestors of today's Pueblo people. The areas where cliff dwellings are found are the same places where other signs of the Pueblo tribes have been discovered.

The natural niches or caves used for these homes were often very large. They could be in cliffs that were hundreds or even a thousand feet high! People usually reached these homes by climbing rock steps carved into the cliff or by using ladders made from logs.