USA ~ Spruce Tree House - Mesa Verde National Park - UNESCO ~

... Great view of the third largest cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde National Park... it contains the highest percentage of original material and is the best preserved of any of the cliff dwellings at the park... excavated by archeologists in 1908, it was the first site in the park to be studied... the dwelling contains about 114 rooms and 8 kivas, or ceremonial chambers, built into a natural alcove... all rooms are covered by a huge overhanging rock... it is thought to have been home for about 60 to 80 people... Mesa Verde NP  reflects more than 700 years of human history... located near park headquarters, Spruce Tree House received many visitors before rock falls forced its closure in 2016... Thanks a lot Denise!❀◕ ‿ ◕❀

Photo: Tom Till Mesa Verde NP protects some of the best-preserved Ancestral Puebloan archaeological sites in the US and was established as a national park in 1906. Nearly 5,000 archeological sites have been located on the mesa tops, cliffs, and canyons. At least 600 of these are cliff dwellings located in Montezuma County, Colorado.

Spruce Tree House was constructed between A.D. 1211 and 1278 by the ancestors of the Pueblo peoples of the Southwest. Like the rest of the Mesa Verde region, Spruce Tree House was evacuated in the final decades of the 1200s, when the Ancestral Puebloans migrated to the south and southwest. Although the exact reasons for the migration remain unknown, there is evidence that colder and drier weather, combined with increased conflict in the region, made it harder for residents to survive.

The name “Spruce Treehouse” was derived by the fact that a large tree, which the ranchers identified as a Douglas Spruce, was found growing from the front of the dwelling to the top of the mesa.

Mesa Verde National Park was designated a UNESCO WHS site in 1978, one of the first World Heritage locations in the US.

Stamps:

Skilled Hands for Independence
(Issued 04-07-1977)

Christmas - Sparkling Santas
(Issued 11-10-2018)

Christmas - Florentine Madonna and Child Holiday
(Issued 18-10-2016)