Saturday, July 5, 2008

Hovenweep National Monument




Hovenweep Nat’l Monument
Archeological studies across the 4 corners region have produced vast information about past cultures inhabiting this part of the Southwest. These people eventually to be known as the ancestral Pueblo people were initially mobile, taking temporary shelter beneath canyon overhangs and in shallow alcoves as they traveled in search of food. About 200 A.D. they built pit houses and began to cultivate crops in valleys and on mesa tops. The Hovenweep area was still relatively uninhabited until the year 700 A.D.
There are 3 national monuments in the southwest corner of Colorado being the Hovenweep National Monument; Yucca House and Canyons of the Ancients National Monument which all contain the remains of the buildings and villages of the ancestral Puebloans. Hovenweep is the only one that has been where the archeologists have reclaimed the area of the ruins where they are visible. The other 2 have had sites identified but not yet reclaimed. There are thousands of sites in this area.

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