Pithouse — Attraction in Cortez

This is our first Mesa Top Sites (nps) in the park, after bathroom break at Far View Terrace Cafe, and also pick up our park guide.

Pithouse, A.D. 600; nps

These underground houses were ways for the Pueblo farmers to deal with the four seasons: keeping cool in the summer and warm in the snowy winter. The nomadic people lived in the area for thousands of years, permanent homes began to appear on the mesa around 550.

The park info panel reads:

"Experimental Archaeology

Pitstructure

How did the Anasazi build their houses? How much time and energy did it take? A DAP archaeologist decided to find out. Using only wooden digging sticks, stone axes and local materials- logs, poles, brush, mud, yucca fiber ropes and sandstone slabs - he built an Anasazi-type house. He discovered that it took over 8000 strokes with a stone ax to fell a single tree 11½ inches in diameter!

When the house was completed, the researcher tried living in it. What do you think it would be like to live in a house dug into the ground, covered with brush and mud? The only way in or out was through a hole in the roof that also served as the smokehole for the fire pit. Would you like living as the Anasazi did?

实验考古学

坑式结构

阿纳萨齐人是如何建造房屋的?耗费了多少时间和精力?一位民主行动党(DAP)考古学家决定一探究竟.他仅使用木制挖掘棒、石斧以及当地材料——原木、木杆、灌木、泥土、丝兰纤维绳和砂岩板——建造了一座阿纳萨齐式房屋.他发现,要砍倒一棵直径11.5英寸的树,石斧需要砍伐8000多次!

房屋建成后,这位研究人员尝试在里面居住.你觉得住在一座挖在地下、覆盖着灌木和泥土的房子里会是什么感觉?唯一的出入通道是通过屋顶上的一个洞,这个洞同时也是火坑的烟囱.你想像阿纳萨齐人那样生活吗?"

... another panel:

"A New Way of Life

This is the site of a pithouse, one of the earliest permanent dwellings on Mesa Verde. The family that lived here was not isolated, but was part of a community. Their neighbors lived in at least seven pithouses nearby, and small fields or gardens were probably located close to the homes, wherever growing conditions were good. They raised corn, beans, and squash, hunted animals, and gathered an impressive array of wild plants.

新的生活方式

这里是一座地穴屋的遗址,它是梅萨维德地区最早的永久性住所之一.居住于此的家庭并非与世隔绝,而是社区的一部分....

Interesting from a historical standpoint and the exhibit does a good job of describing what you're seeing and how it fits into the historical habitation of the area. That said, not overwhelming in terms of what remains of the...

Not as stunning as the cliff dwellings, but the interpretive exhibits are very informative and you can get a very up-close understanding of the operation of such pit...