CANYONS OF THE ANCIENTS, Hovenweep National Monument Ancestral Pueblo Anasazi Colorado Utah Music

CANYONS OF THE
ANCIENTS
and
Hovenweep National Monument,
Colorado, Utah USA

Canyons of the Ancients National
Monument encompasses 176,000 acres
of federal land administered
by the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM).

The Monument is located
in the Four Corners region
of southwestern Colorado,
about 50 miles west of Durango,
10 miles west of Cortez
and 12 miles west of
Mesa Verde National Park.

The Monument was
designated on June 9, 2000
by Presidential Proclamation
to protect cultural and natural
resources on a landscape scale.

The Monument contains the
highest known archaeological
site density in the United States,
with rich, well-preserved evidence
of native cultures.

The archeological record etched
into this landscape is
much more than isolated
islands of architecture.

This cultural landscape contains
more than 6,355 recorded sites
reflect all the physical components
of past human life: villages,
field houses, check dams, reservoirs,
great kivas, cliff dwellings,
shrines, sacred springs,
agricultural fields,
petroglyphs and sweat lodges.

Some areas have more than
100 sites per square mile.
The number of sites is
estimated to be up to 30,000.

The Monument has been
used or inhabited by humans,
including the Northern
Ancestral Puebloan culture
(or Anasazi), for 10,000 years,
and continues to be a
landscape used by humans today.
Historic uses of the Monument
include recreation, hunting,
livestock grazing and
energy development.

Hovenweep
Masonry that has stood for centuries

Once home to over 2,500 people,
Hovenweep includes six prehistoric
villages built between A.D. 1200 and 1300.

Explore a variety of structures,
including multistory towers perched
on canyon rims and
balanced on boulders.

The construction and attention to
detail will leave you marveling at
the skill and motivation of the builders.

Human Prehistory

Human habitation at Hovenweep
dates to over 10,000 years ago
when nomadic Paleoindians visited
the Cajon Mesa to gather
food and hunt game.

These people used the area
for centuries, following the seasonal
weather patterns. By about A.D. 900,
people started to settle at Hovenweep
year-round, planting and harvesting
crops in the rich soil
of the mesa top.

By the late 1200s, the Hovenweep
area was home to over 2,500 people.

Ancestral Puebloans
The towers of Hovenweep were
built by ancestral Puebloans,
a sedentary farming culture that
occupied the Four Corners area
from about A.D. 500 to A.D. 1300.

Similarities in architecture, masonry
and pottery styles indicate that the
inhabitants of Hovenweep were closely
associated with groups living at
Mesa Verde and other nearby sites.

The ancestral Puebloans prepared their
land for cultivation much
like farmers do today.

They created terraces on hillsides,
formed catch basins to hold storm
run-off, and built check dams to retain
topsoil that would otherwise wash away.

Storage granaries under the
canyon rims protected
harvests of corn, beans
and squash for later use.

Most of the structures at
Hovenweep were built between
A.D. 1200 and 1300.

There is quite a variety of shapes
and sizes, including square and
circular towers, D-shaped
dwellings and many kivas
(Puebloan ceremonial structures,
usually circular).

The masonry at Hovenweep is as
skillful as it is beautiful.

Even the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde
rarely exhibit such careful construction
and attention to detail.

Some structures built on
irregular boulders remain
standing after more than 700 years.

Many theories attempt to explain
the use of the buildings at Hovenweep.

The striking towers might have been
celestial observatories, defensive
structures, storage facilities,
civil buildings, homes or any
combination of the above.

While archeologists have found that
most towers were associated
with kivas, their actual
function remains a mystery.

Credit NPS

CONTACT THE PARK

Canyons of the Ancients National
Monument
Monument Manager:
Marietta Eaton
Anasazi Heritage Center
970-882-5600
Center

Lowry Pueblo

Hovenweep National Monument
McElmo Route
Cortez, CO 81321

By Phone

Visitor Information
(970) 562-4282 ext. 10

By Fax
(970) 562-4283

Sand Canyon
Trailhead

Thank You
America for our
National Park
Service

credit
NPS
National Park
Service
credit NPS photos
State of Colorado, Utah USA
BLM, BOR
U.S. Department of the Interior
The Bureau of Land Management


Music By

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Artist Scandinavianz
Song Wings of Norway
soundcloud.com/scandinavianz

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Artist NOWË
Song Undefeated
soundcloud.com/nowemusic

trac 3
Artist Ikson
Song Sahara Tropical
soundcloud.com/ikson

trac 4
Artist NOWE
Song Semeru
soundcloud.com/nowemusict

trac 5
Artist LiQWYD
Song Elevate
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trac 6
Artist LiQWYD
Song You & me
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trac 7
Artist Ikson
Song Coral Chill Beat
soundcloud.com/ikson

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