Introduction

People have lived in the Mesa Verde region of the American Southwest for thousands of years. For the vast majority of that time, the inhabitants were American Indians—hunters, foragers, and farmers who thrived in the canyon-and-mesa country of what today encompasses portions of southwestern Colorado, southeastern Utah, and northwestern New Mexico. Only in the last approximately 250 years have other people—mostly Europeans and Americans of European descent—moved into the area.

The Mesa Verde archaeological region. (See enlarged map.)

Pinyon, juniper, and sagebrush dot a landscape deeply dissected by sandstone canyons. (See enlarged photograph.)

As defined here, the Mesa Verde archaeological region is an area of just under 10,000 square miles bounded by the Colorado, Piedra, and San Juan rivers. The land is one of spectacular contrasts, where deep sandstone canyons dissect sage-covered plains, all against the distant backdrop of the Rocky Mountains. Cold, snowy winters give way to hot, dry summers, and periods of relatively abundant moisture are punctuated by sporadic—but sometimes prolonged—periods of drought. Living off the land has always been, and continues to be, a challenge, but one that peoples through the ages have met with extraordinary ingenuity and resilience.

Sleeping Ute Mountain overlooks the sage-covered plain near Cortez, Colorado. (See enlarged photograph.)

From the arrival of big-game hunters more than 10,000 years ago, to the introduction of agriculture about 1000 B.C., to the massive population movements that eventually bring us to the modern era, the story of how people have adapted to, and flourished in, this beautiful but rugged land is one of the most fascinating stories in human history. And it is a story that is still unfolding, as archaeologists continue to make discoveries that shed new light on the ancient past—and as the people who live in the region today continue to forge their own histories.