Subscribe now for full access and no adverts
Since 2011, a team of Polish archaeologists from the Jagiellonian University in Kraków has been conducting archaeological investigations in three canyons in south-western Colorado, USA. The research area, which is part of the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument (CANM), sits within the heart of the Mesa Verde region, one of the most valuable archaeological places in North America and, arguably, the world. The most visible evidence of pre-Columbian cultures here is the sandstone architecture built by Ancestral Puebloan people, farmers who lived in the region from at least c.500 BC. Traces can also be found of historic nomad Ute and Navajo tribes, in the form of rock images: petroglyphs and paintings left on canyon walls and boulders. These rock-art galleries are, along with architecture, pottery, and lithics, one of the most important sources for learning about the archeology of this region.
The final stage of Ancestral Pueblo occupation of Mesa Verde
Our research is focused on one of the 60 communities of the Pueblo culture from the 13th century. This community consisted of more than 40 settlements, the largest being Castle Rock Pueblo (the community centre), while smaller ‘satellite’ sites are mostly cliff dwellings located in hard-to-reach rock shelters. We are trying to answer questions about how the community responded to the unfavourable environment and climate changes, including periodic droughts (the most severe in 1276-1299) and intensification of conflicts and violence. Ultimately, these factors led to the complete emigration of the Pueblo people from this region in the late 13th century, although the reasons for this are still not fully understood.
We inventoried all sites in the Castle Rock community, including cliff dwellings and stone towers. Our investigations show that these towers were situated at specific points in the terrain, where they were each able to see four to eight cliff dwellings that otherwise could not see each other. This intervisibility could have played an essential role in sending information between settlements using fire or smoke for quick communication in the case of a threat, but also for monitoring farmlands and calling for ceremonies. It was probably of great importance for the survival of dispersed communities living in a time of growing conflicts across a relatively large area, with difficult terrain. Shrines (stone circles) could also have been used for visual communication and religious purposes; ethnographic sources describe similar structures as places for praying and as boundaries of historic Pueblo settlements.
Thanks to earlier research by the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, we know that the Castle Rock pueblo was inhabited between the 1250s and 1270s/1280s. In cooperation with American researchers, we obtained dendrochronological dates for several small settlements in the community. Interestingly, some of these are very late, as in the case of the Sunny Alcove (AD 1271). Later, all Pueblo communities throughout the Mesa Verde region migrated south and south-east into what is now northern and central Arizona and into New Mexico (mainly to the Rio Grande Valley and farther west). Today, 20 different Pueblo groups live there.
Digitisation and cooperation with indigenous communities
In addition to test excavations, we use non-invasive methods on a large scale and digitise indigenous heritage using photogrammetry and terrestrial and airborne 3D laser-scanning. Some of the results are available online: https://e-sandcanyon.org. Digital photography, including photogrammetry and RTI, plays an important role in identifying details of rock art that has faded over time. In turn, geophysics has helped to determine the number of buildings in the settlements, revealing that in some sites the number of rooms could be as much as twice as large as indicated by the architecture standing on the modern ground surface.
We cooperate closely with indigenous communities including the Hopi from Arizona, who have provided us with a lot of valuable information about the function of architecture, as well as the meaning of rock-art iconography, and the relationship between landscapes and settlements; they shared their knowledge, too, of local plants and shrubs still used in traditional medicine and rituals. This information comes from oral traditions, passed down from generation to generation, which also relates to sites their ancestors built 700 and 800 years ago in Mesa Verde.
The end of research or a new beginning?
Last year, we believed that we had learned as much about the Castle Rock settlement complex as we could. However, thanks to suggestions from CANM archaeologists Vince MacMillan and Ross and Maiya Gralia, and other hints, in September-October 2023, we explored the higher, hard-to-reach parts of the canyons for final surveys. This led us to the unexpected findings of several important rock-art panels and partially preserved sandstone architecture. Though only a few hundred metres from the areas where people were living and working, these panels were secluded by the rugged, dangerous terrain. They contain various symbols, including concentric circles and spirals (the largest 1m in diameter), which in the Pueblo world may symbolise the sun, water, or migration. There are also engraved sandals, human hand- and footprints, bird tracks, anthropomorphs, and most likely even symbolically depicted buildings and other motifs. The iconography of rock art and fragments of painted pottery found at some panels show that at least some of these sites could have been contemporary with cliff dwellings from lower parts of the canyons.
Ultimately, it seems that the overall picture of the Castle Rock settlement complex, which we (and previously, our American colleagues) tried to reconstruct, needs to be rethought and verified, in terms of demography, among other things: it looks like there were probably more people living there than we initially assumed. Religious life was more rich and complex; it seems a large part of the rituals and ceremonial life were carried out in these higher parts of the canyons, near some of the petroglyphs and paintings. This is in contrast with our previous belief that conflicts and social pressure forced Ancestral Puebloans to function only near the cliff dwellings. We can try to reconstruct the specific knowledge of the Pueblo population at that time as well: some panels, such as large spirals carved on the canyon walls, could have served as ‘calendars’, which we have previously confirmed for two cliff dwellings. It is clear that the exploration of the Castle Rock settlement complex has not ended but is entering a new stage. We are currently making plans for on-site visits and collaborative analysis with experts from descendant Puebloan communities in Arizona and New Mexico to further our understanding of these important cultural resources.
The research was funded by the National Science Center, Poland (UMO-2017/26/E/HS3/01174) and US Bureau of Land Management.
