Anasazi Pueblo Museum

From Capitol Reef we headed south and west toward Bryce Canyon.  This was a stop along the way..

Archaeologists think the Ancestral Anasazi People left the area of present-day Boulder around AD 1175-- only 50 to 75 years after their arrival here.  

It is believed that this site was occupied for about 75 years during the twelfth century.  Over 100 structures have been identified through excavations here, including residential buildings, storage units, below ground pit houses, and at least one ramada.

 

According to some Southwestern Native American oral traditions, homes were designed not only for living space, but also to symbolically represent the Sipapu (the entry for the ancient ancestral spirits.)  

 By placing doorways with ladders through the roof, the people would be reminded of their origins--their emergence through the earth into this world. 

 

This was once a multi-room pueblo or group of houses. 

I noticed how cool these rooms were on an otherwise very warm day.

A mystery surrounds the Anasazi departure.  What drove them out?  

Most of the homes and storage structures were burned at that time, probably intentionally.  Charred remains of the homes are visible throughout the site.

A number of the homes were below the ground level.

The people that lived here made unique varieties of pottery. 

 

   The presence of distinctive artifacts such as turquoise and shell indicates the presence of an extensive trade network with neighboring villages.

Flagstaff Black-on-white bowl

AD 1125-1200

As we walked through this pueblo I went into a sneezing, crying fit.  The air was so full of white pollens it looked like it was snowing.

The cottonwood trees were leaving piles of these white fluffy missiles everywhere and the tiniest puffs of wind would lift these tickling missiles up in swirls and fill the air with allergens.  

Ah, I have solved the mystery of what happened to the Anasazis.  In a crying sneezing mass, they fled to less allergy inducing areas.  

Achoo! You are welcome.