Mesa Verde

Wooded cliff in Colorado, with Pueblo dwellings, called the ‘Cliff Palace’, built into its side. Dating from the 13th century, with 200 rooms and 23 circular ceremonial chambers (kivas), it had an estimated population of 400 and was probably a regional centre. This is the biggest of the cliff dwellings which make up about 600 of the 4,000 archaeological sites in the area. People had lived here from aroudn AD 600, mostly in pit houses; the cliff dwellings were built only towards the end of their occupation, which ceased c. 1300. The major ruins were discovered in 1888. Mesa Verde, a national park since 1906, is now a World Heritage Site.