The Palace tour

We took the 11am tour to the palace dwellings. This site is being called the Cliff Palace because compared to the rest of the dwellings in the area this site appears to have been serving as a central city. It shows that there were numerous people living here, the population decide was so much greater than the other sites. To take this hour long tour you gather at the top of the mesa and wait for the ranger to arrive and guide you down the narrow, steep, winding path. The access point to the path is locked and protected by a tall chain-linked fence. The park service is serious about protecting this site from looters and other people. So much damaged occurred prior to the site being declared a national park that it is uncertain how many of the buildings were actually still standing. Archaeologists are likely peeved that people ransacked the site just to sell all the pottery and other signs of a society. Those missing pieces are the key to understanding the people.