Canyon of the Ancients and travel day

 

Friday, September 26 we are on the road again, saying goodbye to Mesa Verde, with our destination being Moab Utah and Arches National Park.  But first, on the way we stopped at the museum and visitor center for Canyon of the Ancients National Monument. 

It had a great little museum 

And the visitor center also had a well marked short path up to a pueblo and kiva and some spectacular views of the area.  

Bob - again contemplating. 

More information on…Canyons of the Ancients National Monument.  It is in southwest Colorado and protects the highest density of archaeological sites in the United States, preserving over 8,300 ancient sites, including villages, cliff dwellings, and reservoirs built by the Ancestral Puebloans.  This 174,000-acre monument features important cultural and natural resources, offering an "outdoor museum" experience with ancient artifacts, rock art, and ancestral structures for visitors.  Because everything is so spread out, we visited only one site - Lowry Pueblo

 This site was typical of the medium-sized pueblos that once dotted the whole area. Lowry Pueblo had a total of about 40 rooms and 8 kivas at its peak in the early 11th century and was home to approximately 100 people. The pueblo was arranged in a roughly rectangular block, with some portions reaching as high as three stories. A great kiva, ceremonial space was constructed outside the eastern limits of the village, is nearly 50 feet in diameter.  This kiva was a lot larger than anything we saw in Mesa Verde. 

We were able to go down inside part of the Pueblo. The first story was built partially underground. 

The kiva was very large and looked like it could seat 50-75 people.  It is believed these were ceremonial, but also used for community events. 

Afterwards we headed on the road and arrived late afternoon at Arches National Park.  We toured the park a little bit and watched the sunset.  My next blog post will be all of Arches National Park.