Sometimes visitors to the Mesa Verde find it difficult to see the
Indians who once lived in the cliff dwellings. It is not always easy for
the imagination to carry one back through the centuries to the time when
there was life in the caves. Minds geared to the frantic pace of modern
times are not always able to see the thousands of Indians who once lived
in the cliff dwellings.
In order to make it easier for visitors to see the people, dioramas like
the one pictured are displayed in the museum. The ancient villages have
been reproduced in miniature. In them are not only the people, engaged
in their many activities, but all the things they used in their daily
lives. The diorama pictured below is a reproduction of Spruce Tree
House, one of the largest of the cliff dwellings. One-half of the
thirteenth century village has been reproduced as accurately as
possible. In it 50 people are engaged in the various activities that
occupied the inhabitants of the village seven centuries ago. The adult
human figures are four inches high and all objects are on the same
scale.
As one stands in front of this diorama it is no longer necessary to try
to imagine the life of ancient times. Here in miniature is a cliff
dwelling and its people. Houses and kivas are being built—some of the
men work diligently while others sit on the walls and criticize. Some of
the men are making tools and weapons—one is telling stories to a group
of boys—another has just returned from the hunt with a fat rabbit.
Several old men bask in the sun and talk of bygone times when things
were better. Some of the women are cooking over flickering fires—others
care for tiny babies. Some of the young women are grinding corn while
others are returning from the spring with great jars of water on their
heads. Children are playing in the courts and one youngster is helping a
baby brother take his first toddling steps. Since it is harvest time the
products of the farms are being brought to the village. Brightly colored
ears of corn are being spread out on the roofs to dry and piles of
yellow squashes may be seen in the courts.
Dioramas like this one provide for visitors the most important part of
the Mesa Verde Story, the part that is so often missed. The excavated
cliff dwellings that visitors enter are empty. Seven centuries ago the
Indians themselves walked away, driven to the south by enemies and a
great drouth. Most of their belongings were left behind but the early
explorers and later archeologists removed them.
Because of this a cliff dwelling may seem, at first glance, to be an
empty house. Too often visitors see only the stone walls and fail to see
the people who built them. One must always remember that a cliff
dwelling is the architectural expression of a settled, industrious
agricultural people. For a thousand years they lived in the Mesa Verde
region. From a simple beginning their culture developed steadily and the
cultural peak was reached during the thirteenth century. This was the
century of the cliff dwellings. Because of strong enemy pressure the
people moved to the caves and built the cliff dwellings for which the
Mesa Verde is famous.