HOVENWEEP

HOVENWEEP ANCETRAL PUEBLOAN VILLAGES

Home of the Ancestral Puebloans, the Anasazi, in Americas four-corner region. Hovenweep became a National Monument in 1923. The six villages on the Cajon Mesa of the Colorado Plateau have amazing architecture similar to that of Mesa Verde's cliff dwelling structures, and was closely affiliated with cliff-dwellers of Mesa Verde.

Originally hunter/gatherers, the Anasazi became a sedentary agricultural culture, building villages, created irrigation systems and growing crops for their subsistence. Research indicates more than 180 individual dwellings and small groups within a 50 mile radius of Hovenweep since A.D. 700. Hovenweep's stone structures employed tremendous engineering and masonry skills in the construction of the stone structures found at Hovenweep, structures that have remained considerably stable for almost one-thousand years.

It is believed that the 23-year draught was the primary cause for the inhabitants of Hovenweep and Mesa Verde abandoning their villages and moving south, leaving their dwellings and homes uninhabited for hundreds of years before being discovered by white explorers, missionaries and ranchers in the late-1600's.

Hovenweep and Mesa Verde were at the pinnacle of the Ancestral Puebloan civilization between A.D. 1050 through A.D. 1320. There is evidence of mankind inhabiting this region as early as 9000 years ago. The transformation from hunter/gatherer to an agriculture prevalent lifestyle is believed to have begun circa A.D. 500 with a massive village in Chaco Canyon.

The University of Utah's Lifelong Learning offers lectures on Hovenweep and on the Anasazi inhabitants of the four-corners region in September, 2023 and March 2023. There will also be an emphasis on the Anasazi, Ancestral Puebloan culture during these courses. Come join us.