On the theory that this building was erected by people from several
neighboring cliff dwellings for ceremonies held in common, we may
suppose that the builders came daily from their dwellings in Cliff
Palace and other houses and returned at night, after they had finished
work, to their homes. The trails down the sides of the cliffs which
the workmen used are still to be seen. The place was frequented by
many people, but there is no evidence that any one clan dwelt near
this mysterious building during its construction.
The argument that cliff dwellers in the neighborhood built Sun Temple
and that incoming aliens had nothing to do with its construction seems
very strong. The architectural differences between it and Cliff Palace
are not objections, for the architectural form of Sun Temple may be
regarded as a repetition, in the open, of a form of building that
developed in a cliff house; the rounded north wall conforms with the
rear of a cave and the straight south wall reproduces the front of a
cliff dwelling. The recess midway in the south wall of Sun Temple
could be likened without forcing the comparison to a similar recess
which occurs at the main entrance into Cliff Palace.
Sun Temple was not built by an alien people, but by the cliff dwellers
as a specialized building mainly for religious purposes, and, so far
as known, is the first of its type recognized in the Mesa Verde area.