List of Ancestral Puebloan dwellings in Colorado facts for kids

The Ancestral Puebloans were ancient people who lived in the southwestern United States. They built amazing homes and villages, often right into the sides of cliffs or on top of mesas. This article is about the different types of homes they built and where you can find some of these ancient sites in Colorado.

The location of the State of Colorado in the United States of America.

Time Periods of the Pueblo People

Archaeologists, who are like history detectives, have divided the time when Pueblo people lived in southwestern Colorado into three main periods:

• Pueblo I Era (750 to 900 AD): During this time, Pueblo buildings were often made of stone. They were usually built facing south and shaped like U's, E's, or L's. These homes were closer together than in earlier times, showing that people were living in bigger communities. People also started building towers, often near special underground rooms called kivas. No one is quite sure why they built these towers – maybe for defense, storage, or ceremonies! Pottery became more common and colorful, with white pots decorated with black designs. People also learned how to manage water better, using reservoirs and dams.

• Pueblo II Era (900 to 1150 AD): The number of people grew a lot during this period, and more than 10,000 new sites were created! Because the land was often dry, people hunted, gathered wild foods, and traded to make sure they had enough to eat. By the end of this period, many homes were made of stone and had multiple stories. Towers were still built, especially in Colorado and Utah. Families and communities also had their own kivas.

• Pueblo III Era (1150 to 1300 AD): This was a time of big changes. People started moving into larger community centers, often built at the ends of canyons or under huge cliff overhangs. The population reached its highest point between 1200 and 1250, with over 20,000 people living in the Mesa Verde region. However, by 1300, most Pueblo people had left the Four Corners area. This was likely because of changes in the climate and not enough food. They probably moved south and east to new villages in Arizona and New Mexico, especially near what are now Santa Fe and Albuquerque.

Kinds of Ancient Buildings

The Pueblo people built unique structures for living, worship, defense, and storing food. Here are some of the main types:

• Pueblo - This word refers to both a style of building and the groups of people themselves. A pueblo building is usually one or more stories tall. It's made from stone or adobe (a mix of mud and straw). Sometimes, they used a style called jacal. These buildings were often covered with adobe plaster inside and out.

• Kiva - These are circular, underground buildings. They were used for ceremonies, preparing for ceremonies, and as warm places for families during cold winters. Kivas might have developed from earlier pit houses. You can find them all over the Ancestral Pueblo area. They usually have a bench around the inside walls, posts to hold up the roof, a fire pit, and a special shaft to bring fresh air to the fire. People entered kivas through a square opening in the roof using a ladder. A family's kiva was often built in front of their living rooms.

• Great houses - These were very large stone buildings covered in adobe plaster. Most archaeologists believe they were used mainly for ceremonies, but some might have also been homes. During the Chacoan period (around 900 to 1150 AD), these buildings had large rooms (about 15 feet square) and were built very big and tall. They often had special kivas built inside them or nearby. Later, in the Pueblo III period (1150-1300 AD), ceremonial buildings looked more like regular homes and often had enclosed plazas.

• Great kivas - These are much larger versions of the regular "family" kivas. They were meant for use by the whole community, especially during Chacoan times. Some great kivas, like Casa Rinconada in Chaco Canyon, were as big as 75 feet across! Their roofs were held up by huge posts set into the floor. In earlier times, some great kivas might not have had roofs.

• Pit houses - In the earliest Pueblo periods, most people lived in pit houses. These were carefully dug rectangular or circular holes in the ground. Their walls were made of branches and mud, supported by strong corner posts. While pit houses were always around, after the Pueblo I period, most people lived in above-ground pueblo rooms, usually with a kiva nearby.

• Cliff dwellings - These are pueblos built under natural overhangs in the sides of cliffs. Cliff dwellings became popular later in Pueblo history (mostly after 1150 AD). Many experts believe they were built partly for defense, as they were hard to reach.

• Trincheras - These unique sites were used by other ancient cultures in the Southwest. Trincheras sites are usually found on steep hillsides. They have terraces and walls that look like steps going up the slope. Early explorers thought these terraces looked like "trincheras," which is Spanish for trenches or fortifications.

• Jacal - This is a type of wall used in Pueblo buildings. It's made by weaving reeds and sticks together and then covering them with adobe. Thin, closely placed poles were tied together and then filled in with mud, clay, and grass.

Places to Explore

Archuleta County

Site name	Nearest town	Type	What makes it special	Photo
Chimney Rock	Chimney Rock	Great house	This site was home to about 200 rooms around 1,000 years ago. People lived, worked, and held ceremonies here. You can take guided tours between May and September.	Great Kiva at Chimney Rock, Colorado

Dolores County

La Plata County

Montezuma County

Anasazi Heritage Center

Site name	Nearest town	Type	What makes it special	Photo
Escalante	Dolores	Great house	Escalante Pueblo was built around 1120-1130 AD. It has stone-walled rooms for families and communities, including kivas. Its style is similar to the famous Chaco Canyon in New Mexico.	Escalante Pueblo at the Anasazi Heritage Center
Dominguez	Dolores	Great house	Dominguez Pueblo shows how independent family homes looked outside the main pueblo. Archaeologists found many interesting items here, like turquoise beads, shell pendants, and ceramic pots.	Dominguez Pueblo at the Anasazi Heritage Center

Canyons of the Ancients

Site name	Nearest town	Type	What makes it special	Photo
Sand Canyon	Dolores		This was one of the largest pueblos in the 13th century, built between 1250 and 1280. It had at least 420 rooms, 90 kivas, and 14 towers. A spring ran through the middle of this walled village, which could hold up to 725 people. People started leaving by 1280, and the pueblo was empty by 1290.
Castle Rock Pueblo	Dolores	Great house	This pueblo was lived in from 1250 to 1275 AD. It had Great Houses, at least 16 kivas, 40 surface rooms, and nine possible towers.
Lowry Pueblo	Pleasant View		Lowry Pueblo was active from 1080 to 1150 AD. It had Great Houses, Great kivas, and roads. It includes 8 kivas, a large community kiva, and 40 rooms, some as tall as three stories. The underground great kiva had murals painted on its walls. It's thought Lowry Pueblo was a local center for religious gatherings.	Lowry Pueblo

Hawkins Preserve

Hovenweep National Monument

The Hovenweep National Monument is a special place with many ancient ruins.

Site name	Nearest town	Type	What makes it special	Photo
Cajon Group	Between Cortez, CO and Blanding, UT		This group of buildings is at the head of Allen Canyon. It includes homes and the remains of a tower, which might have housed 80-100 people. There are also kiva depressions and signs of ancient farming terraces.
Cutthroat Castle Group	Between Cortez, CO and Blanding, UT		Cutthroat Castle is the largest ruin in this group. It's unique because it doesn't have a spring nearby, and many of its buildings are below the canyon rim.
Goodman Point	Between Cortez, CO and Blanding, UT		Goodman Point is the largest and easternmost village at Hovenweep. It has many pueblo buildings, some partly underground. It was most populated between 1150-1300 AD.
Hackberry and Horseshoe group	Between Cortez, CO and Blanding, UT		Hackberry was a medium-sized village, possibly home to 250-350 people. Nearby, the Horseshoe group has four pueblo buildings shaped like a U. Horseshoe Ruin had a dam to create a water reservoir. The buildings were built with "precisely fit" stones.
Holly Group	Between Cortez, CO and Blanding, UT		The Holly group is famous for a rock art panel that seems to mark the summer solstice (the longest day of the year). The site has five named buildings: Curved Wall House, Great House, Holly Tower, Isolated Boulder House, and Tilted Tower.
Hovenweep Castle	Between Cortez, CO and Blanding, UT			Hovenweep Castle
Hovenweep House	Between Cortez, CO and Blanding, UT
Rim Rock House	Between Cortez, CO and Blanding, UT
Stronghold House	Between Cortez, CO and Blanding, UT
Square Tower	Between Cortez, CO and Blanding, UT		The Square Tower group is the largest collection of buildings at Hovenweep, with up to 500 people living there. Towers here came in many shapes (D-shapes, squares, ovals, circles) and were used for different things, like work areas, kivas, homes, and storage. The slots and doors of Hovenweep Castle in this group act like a solar calendar, letting light shine through openings in special patterns during the solstices and equinoxes.	Square Tower at Hovenweep
Twin Towers	Between Cortez, CO and Blanding, UT

McElmo Drainage Unit

This area has many ancient sites, including tributaries of McElmo Creek, north of Mesa Verde.

Mesa Verde

Mesa Verde National Park is a very famous place to see Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings.

Site name	Nearest town	Type	What makes it special	Photo
Balcony House	Cortez	Great house	This ruin is on a high ledge. It has 45 rooms and 2 kivas. To enter, visitors climb a 32-foot ladder and crawl through a 12-foot tunnel. This made it easy to defend! One log found here was dated to 1278 AD, meaning it was built just before people left the area. You can visit Balcony House with a park ranger.	A Navajo man at a T-shaped doorway at Balcony House (1929)
Cliff Palace	Cortez		This is the largest and most famous cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde. It's built inside a huge cave and faces south, which helped keep it warm in winter. It had 217 rooms, including storage areas, open courtyards, and 23 kivas. Many rooms were brightly painted.	Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde
Fire Temple	Cortez			Fire Temple and New Fire House at Mesa Verde National Park
Long House	Cortez	Cliff dwellings	Located on Wetherill Mesa, Long House is the second largest village, home to about 150 people. It has 150 rooms, but they are not as neatly clustered as other cliff dwellings. A spring is nearby, and water seeps into the back of the village.	Long House cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde
Mesa Verde Reservoirs	Cortez		These ancient reservoirs, built by the Ancestral Puebloans, are recognized as a National Civil Engineering Historic Landmark.	Far View Reservoir at Mesa Verde
Mug House	Cortez		This ruin on Wetherill Mesa was explored by archaeologist Arthur Rohn. It has 94 rooms on four levels, including a large kiva. This kiva has a special keyhole shape, which is a common feature of the Mesa Verde style.
Oak Tree House	Cortez		You can visit Oak Tree House and the nearby Fire Temple on a ranger-guided hike.	Oak Tree House at Mesa Verde
Spruce Tree House	Cortez		Spruce Tree House is the third largest village, with 130 rooms and 8 kivas. It's very well preserved because of its protected location. A short trail from the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum leads to it.	Spruce Tree House at Mesa Verde National Park
Square Tower House	Cortez		The Square Tower House is a stop on the Mesa Top Loop Road tour. The tower that gives this site its name is the tallest structure in Mesa Verde. People lived in this cliff dwelling between 1200 and 1300 AD.	Square Tower House at Mesa Verde

Towaoc area

Site name	Nearest town	Type	What makes it special	Photo
Cowboy Wash	Towaoc		This site dates from about 1150 to 1175 AD and is on the south slopes of Ute Mountain. Some archaeologists think people from Chaco Canyon might have settled here.
Ute Mountain Ute Tribe	Towaoc		The Ute Mountain Ute Mancos Canyon Historic District is on the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe reservation. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.	Eagle's Nest Pueblo
Yucca House	Towaoc	Pueblo village	Yucca House was lived in during two periods: 1080-1150 AD and 1225-1275 AD. It had Great kivas and Great Houses. The Western Complex was a huge pueblo with up to 600 rooms and 100 kivas. A spring runs through it. The Lower House is an L-shaped pueblo with a plaza, 8 rooms, and a large kiva.	Yucca House National Monument

Other Sites

These sites are sorted by the nearest town.

Montrose County

Images for kids

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  Map of Ancient Pueblo People (Anasazi) regions, including the northern Mesa Verde region and the southern Chaco Canyon region.

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  A jacal in Big Bend National Park.

See also

• Bibliography of Colorado
• Geography of Colorado
• History of Colorado
• Index of Colorado-related articles
• List of Colorado-related lists
  • List of prehistoric sites in Colorado
• Outline of Colorado
  • Outline of Colorado prehistory
• Trail of the Ancients