Cliff Palace

Once down we listened to the ranger fill us in on the history and story of the native people. They believe that these people were matra-lineal. And the current descendents are the Hopi and Ute Indians. The theory is that the people farmed on top of the mesa and lived below in the city under the alcove. The topmost buildings were often very low, mostly big enough to crawl through. This is where they stored their grain. The cool cave like temperatures helped preserve the food for later use.

They tossed their trash over the edge down the canyon. This is where archaeologists have gathered most of their information about daily life here. They ate a variety of animals and vegetables. Turkeys happened to be the one source of protein, it seems that they were kept like chickens, left wondering around the village.