Mesa Verde in Colorado is known for its ancient Puebloan cliff dwellings built in alcoves and overhangs of the sandstone cliffs. The ruins were discovered in the 1880s and the area was made a national park in 1906. The cliff dwellings and other structures were built by the Ancient Puebloan people between the 12th and 14th centuries from sandstone and other local rock. The park landscape and ruins provide insight into the geology, environment, and culture of the Ancient Puebloans who lived there hundreds of years ago.

1. Mesa Verde: More Than Just Cliff Dwellings

2. Mesa Verde: Mesa Verde Ruins Found 1880’s National Park Status in 1906 Major Rock Type: Sandstone Who Built the Ruins: Ancient Puebloans

3. Park Layout

4. Landscape & Ruins

5. Startographic Layers Silt sandstone ______________________________ __ ____________ Shale

6. Geologic Time Not Exposed in Park Dakota Sandstone Slope-former; deep-water deposits, muds, silts, fine sands Mancos Shale Cliff-former; massive, fine, cross-bedded sands Point Lookout Sandstone Backshore and lagoonal deposits; silts, muds, sand, coal beds Menefee Cliff former; Thick accumulations of fine cross-bedded sand ans thin shale beds ob oscillating shoreline Barker Dome Tongue & Lower Member Cliff House Sandstone Mesa Verde Upper Creataceous Mesozoic Tertiaty Weathering of alcoves in cliff walls Headward erosion of canyons Uplift and tilting; isolation of Mesa Verde cuesta by erosion Developmetn of pediment Uplift of La Plata and San Juan Mountains Uplift of Colorado Plateaus during Laramide orogeny Stream deposits, talus loess soil Pediment gravels, cobbles Quaternary Cenozoic Geological Events Member Formation Group Period Era

7. Balcony House

8. Spruce Tree House

9. Cliff Palace