Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
In archaeology, cliff dwellings are dwellings formed by using niches or caves in high cliffs, and sometimes with excavation or additions in the way of masonry. Two special types of cliff dwelling are distinguished by archaeologists: the cliff-house , which is actually built on levels in the cliff, and the cavate , which is dug out, by using ...
The dwellings were built around a central ceremonial plaza likely used for rituals and public gatherings, as has been found at similar locations. Posts for the house frames were placed either in individual holes, or in a trench dug slightly narrower than the posts. The walls were completed with wattle and daub, a plaster mixture of grass and clay.
The cliff dwellings were built to take advantage of solar energy. The angle of the sun in winter warmed the masonry of the cliff dwellings, warm breezes blew from the valley, and the air was 10 to 20 °F (5-10 °C) warmer in the canyon alcoves than on the top of the mesa.
Contrary to popular belief, the dwellings were not erected over water, but on nearby marshy land. They were set on piles to protect against occasional flooding. Because the lakes have grown in size over time, many of the original piles are now under water, giving modern observers the false impression that they have always been this way. [3]
Cliff dwellings were built in shallow caves and under rock overhangs along canyon walls. In Mesa Verde, the structures within the alcoves were mostly made of sandstone blocks and adobe mortar . At Bandelier, the dwellings were carved directly into the soft ashy rock formations that make up the cliff faces of the finger mesas (the Bandelier Tuff ).
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument is a U.S. National Monument created to protect Mogollon cliff dwellings in the Gila Wilderness on the headwaters of the Gila River in southwest New Mexico. The 533-acre (2.16 km 2 ) national monument was established by President Theodore Roosevelt through executive proclamation on November 16, 1907. [ 3 ]
Articles about Cliff dwellings, from ancient to present day dwellings and settlements set in cliffs around the world. The main article for this category is Cliff dwelling . For other Puebloan dwellings in the Southwestern United States , see: Category:Dwellings of the Pueblo peoples ;
Gallo Cliff Dwelling is a pair of Ancestral Puebloan room blocks that lie under a cliff in Gallo Canyon, New Mexico, United States.Located adjacent to the National Park Service campground, the site includes a central room that features a multi-storied wall and a five-room structure with kiva that was probably occupied during the early 12th century by Mesa Veredans, who built in a distinctive ...