Mesa Verde National Park Volume 2

Site 117 - Earth Lodge B is a Basket Maker III pithouse constructed around AD 595. Earth Lodge B had a south-side antechamber with a stepped passageway, circular firepit, four holes for roof posts, and a storage cyst built into the sidewall. Try to identify these features in the following photos.

Twin Trees Village is comprised of Sites 101, 103, and 102, whose structures were built on top of each other.
Site 101 was a Basket Maker III pithouse (pithouse #1 in the photos) that was part of a larger village built around AD 700. Pithouse #1 was constructed on the ruins of the antechamber of pithouse #2 in the photos.
Site 103 is part of a Pueblo I village built over the Basket Maker pithouses. It consists of a 4-room segment and a deep square pitroom. Visible in this square pitroom are the ventilator tunnel, wing walls, fire pit, 5 holes marking the position of a post and mud draft deflector, and roof post holes.
Site 102 is an early Pueblo II site consisting of 2 small rooms and a circular kiva built in the mid-900s. This pueblo had the beginnings of stone masonry construction.

Site 16 includes the ruins of structures from 3 separate periods, an early Pueblo II unit pueblo, a late Pueblo II unit pueblo, and a Pueblo III ceremonial structure with 3 towers and a kiva. The early Pueblo II (900s) site consisted of a linear room block and a kiva. The late Pueblo II (1000s) site was a small rectangular room block built on the ruins of the earlier unit pueblo, and a detached kiva. The early Pueblo II kiva was backfilled with dirt removed during the construction of the late Pueblo II kiva. One of the Pueblo III towers was built on top of both of the Pueblo II kivas.

Sun Point Pueblo (probably Pueblo III) was a village of 20 surface rooms. These were built around a tower and kiva that were connected by a tunnel.

Square Tower House is located in an alcove in the west wall of Chapin Mesa. Views presented here are from the Square Tower Overlook. Square Tower House had 7 kin kivas and 70+ rooms. The namesake "square tower" is 4 stories tall, and once had a 3-story building in front of it, and a 2-story building in front of that.

Sun Point View is an overlook located at the edge of Chapin Mesa where Mesa Top Loop Drive turns 180° to follow the south rim of Fewkes Canyon. Visible ruins include Sunset House and Cliff Palace in the east wall of Cliff Canyon, and Sun Temple, Mummy House, and Oak Tree House on the north side of Fewkes Canyon.

Fewkes Canyon joins with Cliff Canyon near Sun Point. Mesa Top Loop Drive runs along the south rim of Fewkes Canyon. Near the head of the canyon there is a junction with a road that follows the north rim to Sun Temple. Ruins in Fewkes Canyon include Mummy House, Oak Tree House, New Fire House, and Fire Temple.

Mummy House was built on the upper and lower ledges of an alcove below Sun Temple. Ten rooms and 2 kivas are located on the lower ledge, and a two story building that contained a well preserved mummy is on the upper ledge.

Oak Tree House had 52+ rooms and 6 kivas. Retaining walls were built in front of the alcove and the space behind them filled to create additional level ground. Several storage rooms were built on a narrow ledge above the main structure.

New Fire House and Fire Temple
New Fire House had 20 rooms and 3 kivas built on two ledges. Fire Temple contained a rectangular great kiva. Features common to great kivas that are visible include a large circular firepit, two rectangular vaults, and a bench around the periphery. Some red and white plaster still remains on the back wall.

Sun Temple construction started in AD 1275 but stopped a year or two after that, and the structure was never really completed. The main part of the structure consists of 2 circular rooms enclosed by two concentric walls in a D-shaped configuration. The space between the walls was partitioned into a series of rooms connected by doorways. A west annex consisting of a room block and two additional circular rooms is surrounded by the outer wall, maintaining the D-shape. There is also a tower to the east of the main structure. Sun Temple is thought to be a ceremonial structure, and possible also an observatory of sorts.

The National Park Service capped the walls with cement, and in my visits as late as 1995 you could walk on top of the walls. Sometime after that the NPS decided that wasn't such a good idea, so there is no more wall walking.

Cliff Palace View Point, located near Sun Temple, is the last stop on our tour. There are some cool views of Cliff Palace and Sunset House from here. There is not much else to see on the way back. Be sure to stop at Spruce Tree Terrace Cafe for a snack and cold beverage at the end of the tour.