Remember that when you leave this Earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received, only what you have given, a full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage. -St. Francis of Assisi

Friday, May 4, 2012

Anasazi Heritage Center in Dolores, Colorado

This center has been operated by the BLM since 1988.
It is the starting point for visits to the
Canyons of the Ancients National Monument


ANASAZI:  Ancestral Pueblo peoples
The word Anasazi is Navajo for "Ancient Ones"

Chuska Puma by Charles Bruce
Pumas on Parade
a Public Art for Public Lands Project


painted white ware  AD 975-1150
Pueblo II period
from Mockingbird Mesa



Can you see....two baskets?....corn cobs and kernels?

"This section of a "pithouse floor" was removed intact from Grand Mesa Village during the Dolores Archaeological Project in order to save delicate, charred artifacts on its surface. Burned material survives for centuries because it has nothing for insects or bacteria to eat.  Wood fragments showed tree rings dating to AD 867.  The fire preserved one moment of Anasazi domestic life."

At this site, there is a steep, paved 1/2 mile trail that winds through the trees and shrubs along several switchbacks to reach a Pueblo at the top.
This sign was at the beginning of the trail...
I walked alone, I did not talk to myself loudly



"Escalante Pueblo was a compact village on a hilltop overlooking the Dolores River.
Archaeologists believe it was occupied three different times, based on tree-ring dating of the wood used in its construction. Ancestral Pueblo people built the main complex in AD 1129 and lived there for at least nine years. The Spanish explorers Escalante and Dominguez made note of this site in 1776 during their trek across the Southwest."

From this hilltop one can view the six directions significant to Native Americans - north, south, east, west, zenith(above) and nadir (below). It is a place to watch the sun during its yearly journey along the horizon, a place to gaze at the stars in the night sky, a place to observe and appreciate the diversity of the landscape that surrounds you.



7 comments:

  1. Teri, that sure stirred some memories, I visited there three years ago in August and spent a month in Dolores. Lots of interesting stuff to see in the area.

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  2. That center is an amazing place. And that hilltop will be a great place to watch the perigee Supermoon rise Saturday night.

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  3. I have been there..it was interesting...

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  4. This is a lovely post Teri. What a beautiful and spritual place. It sounds wonderful to have experienced it alone. Thanks for sharing it with me. I've put it on my must see list.

    Sherry
    www.directionofourdreams.blogspot.com

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  5. Great Post Teri, Thanks I love history of old.

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Hi, I welcome your thoughts and comments.

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