Cliff Palace is located on the east wall of Cliff Canyon in Mesa Verde National Park. It is a 150-room cliff dwelling built by Ancestral Puebloans in the 1200s. It was rediscovered by ranchers in 1888. Cliff Palace is the largest and best-known cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde, as well as one of the most photographed structures on earth. Along with the rest of Mesa Verde, Cliff Palace was named a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site in 1978.

Construction and Use

Cliff Palace and the other cliff dwellings were built during the Pueblo III period (1150–1300 CE) of the Ancestral Puebloan tradition. Mesa Verde residents began to move from mesa tops to cliff alcoves, perhaps for greater protection. The site probably had a population of 150 or more. It served as an administrative center for the sixty smaller cliff dwellings nearby. The Mesa Verde site housed an estimated 625 people.

Cliff Palace was built between about 1200 and 1275. Each family built its own kiva and room suite. The site grew to include 150 rooms and twenty-three kivas. Kivas are circular areas excavated into the ground. They were the central residential structures at Cliff Palace, and were used for residences and ritual gatherings. They could also be covered with a flat roof to make a small plaza. Around each kiva were suites of small rooms that made up a courtyard complex shared by an extended family or clan. These courtyard complexes made up more than 75 percent of Cliff Palace. The rest of the site consisted of isolated kivas, rooms without nearby kivas, circular towers, great kivas, and other special-use spaces.

Like the rest of the Mesa Verde region, Cliff Palace was abandoned in the final decades of the 1200s. The Ancestral Puebloans migrated to the south and southwest. 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 rely on traditional strategies for survival.

Rediscovery in 1888

Local rancher Al Wetherill and several others claimed to have seen Cliff Palace early in the 1880s. But credit for discovering it on December 18, 1888, is assigned to Al’s brother Richard and their brother-in-law, Charles Mason. The men were searching for cattle with their Ute guide Acowitz when they saw the structure. They explored it and also discovered other cliff dwellings nearby. Richard Wetherill returned to the area throughout the winter to explore and dig for artifacts. He later sold the artifacts to the Colorado Historical Society (now History Colorado).

In 1891 the Wetherill brothers and Mason showed Mesa Verde to the visiting Swedish scholar Gustaf Nordenskiöld. He spent the summer excavating nearly two dozen cliff dwellings in the area, including Cliff Palace. The many artifacts he removed during his excavations are now housed at the National Museum of Finland.

Gustaf Nordenskiöld published a book, The Cliff Dwellers of Mesa Verde, in 1893. The book  played a crucial role in stimulating interest in the area’s archaeology. Cliff Palace had already deteriorated in the six centuries since it had been abandoned. But the process of decay accelerated rapidly after its rediscovery. The site saw increased visitation from pothunters, amateur archaeologists, and tourists.

In response, a movement developed in early 1900s to make Mesa Verde a National Park. The government also passed the Antiquities Act (1906) to prevent looting and vandalism at prehistoric sites on public land.

Archaeological Work and Preservation Efforts

In 1906 the Mesa Verde area, including Cliff Palace, became a National Park. Most of the structures in the park were still filled with debris and in danger of collapsing. The US Department of the Interior asked Jesse Walter Fewkes of the Bureau of American Ethnology to come to the park and perform excavation, preservation, and repair work.

From 1908 to 1922, Fewkes excavated and stabilized cliff dwellings at the park, including Cliff Palace. His team recovered artifacts, cleared rooms, courts, and terraces of debris, strengthened walls, and built a new trail to make the site more accessible to visitors. Fewkes counted 217 rooms and twenty-three kivas at Cliff Palace, making it what was then believed to be the largest cliff dwelling in the United States.

Since Fewkes’s time, most work at the park has focused on preservation. By the early 1930s, Cliff Palace was settling on its unstable foundations and in desperate need of repair. The Public Works Administration helped fund a program of surveying, mapping, and stabilization. Earl Morris of the Carnegie Institution led the 1934 project at Cliff Palace. The team added concrete retaining walls and repaired a four-story square tower. Morris implemented a new policy of documenting all repairs.  This made it possible to tell the difference between the parts of the site that were original and those that had been restored. The 1934 project was also significant for marking the start of James “Al” Lancaster’s long career at Mesa Verde. He led the park’s stabilization crew for several decades.

Mapping Cliff Palace

In the late 1990s, Mesa Verde was one of the first recipients of funding from the Save America’s Treasures program. This program was launched by the White House Millennium Council and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The park’s chief archaeologist, Larry Nordby, used part of the money to make the first comprehensive map of Cliff Palace. Nordby’s map showed that Cliff Palace actually had 150 rooms, not the 217 Fewkes had counted. This made it the same size as Long House on nearby Wetherill Mesa.

Nordby’s map and analysis also revealed other new details about life at Cliff Palace. Many of the rooms at the site appear to have been used primarily for storage. This indicated that Cliff Palace might have served as a central warehouse and distribution center for other dwellings in the area. In addition, Nordby discovered a wall running through the center of the site. The wall divided Cliff Palace into two parts, suggesting a social organization based on two distinct groups.

2015 Conservation and Stabilization Project

The 800-year-old Cliff Palace has a variety of structural problems. These are exacerbated by frequent visitation and have required regular stabilization since the middle of the twentieth century. Since the 1950s, visitation to Mesa Verde National Park increased dramatically. Vibrations from foot traffic have caused loose material at the site to settle. To limit the damage, park officials have kept the public away from certain parts of the site and have limited the size of tour groups. They have also performed regular maintenance to repair cracks, stabilize walls, and improve drainage for water seeping through the alcove roof.

Most recently, in 2011 a wall collapse in Kiva F led to a comprehensive investigation of structural conditions at Cliff Palace. Archaeologists found that the northern half of the site was built on firm bedrock, but the southern half sat on loose soil and debris that had fallen from the alcove ceiling. With no real foundation, the southern half of the site was slowly sliding downhill. This was causing cracks, falling walls, and other problems. Park staff developed a plan for a $450,000 preservation effort and performed extensive repairs before Memorial Day and after Labor Day in 2015. The conservation project closed Cliff Palace to the public in spring and fall 2015, but daily tours were conducted as usual during the summer.

Cliff Palace is located on the east wall of Cliff Canyon in Mesa Verde National Park. It is a 150-room cliff dwelling built by Ancestral Puebloans in the 1200s. Rediscovered by ranchers in 1888, it is the largest and best-known cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde. It is also one of the most photographed structures on earth. Along with the rest of Mesa Verde, Cliff Palace was named a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site in 1978.

Construction and Use

Cliff Palace and the other cliff dwellings were built by the Ancestral Puebloans, ancestors of today’s Pueblo people. They were built during the Pueblo III period (1150–1300 CE), when Mesa Verde residents began to move from mesa tops to cliff alcoves. It is believed they moved for greater protection. Cliff Palace had a population of around 150. It served as a center for the sixty smaller cliff dwellings nearby. The Mesa Verde site housed an estimated total of 625 people.

Cliff Palace was built between about 1200 and 1275. Each family constructed its own kiva and room suite. The site grew to include 150 rooms and twenty-three kivas, which are circular pits dug into the ground. Kivas were used for social and spiritual gatherings, and might also be covered with a flat roof to make a small plaza. Around each kiva were suites of small rooms. These made up a courtyard shared by an extended family or clan. Courtyards made up more than 75 percent of Cliff Palace. The rest of the site consisted of isolated kivas, rooms without nearby kivas, circular towers, great kivas, and other special-use spaces.

The Ancestral Puebloans abandoned the Mesa Verde area at the end of the 1200s. They migrated to the south and southwest. The exact reasons for the migration remain unknown. Experts believe that the weather became colder and drier, and there may have been increased conflicts with other groups in the region. These problems made it hard for residents to survive.

Rediscovery in 1888

The Wetherill family were ranchers in the Mesa Verde area. On December 18, 1888, Richard Wetherill, Charles Mason and their Ute guide Acowitz were searching for cattle. They saw Cliff Palace for the first time. They explored it and discovered other cliff dwellings nearby. Richard Wetherill returned to the area during the winter to explore and dig for artifacts. He later sold the artifacts to the Colorado Historical Society.

In 1891 the Wetherill brothers and Mason showed Mesa Verde to a Swedish scholar, Gustaf Nordenskiöld. Nordenskiöld spent the summer excavating cliff dwellings in the area, including Cliff Palace. The many artifacts he removed during his excavations are now housed at the National Museum of Finland.

Gustaf Nordenskiöld published a book, The Cliff Dwellers of Mesa Verde, in 1893. The book interested others in the area’s archaeology. The site saw increased visits from pothunters, amateur archaeologists, and tourists. With so much activity at the site, walls began to crack, buildings began to crumble, and artifacts were broken or stolen.

In response, a movement developed in the early 1900s to make Mesa Verde a National Park. The government also passed the Antiquities Act (1906) to prevent looting and vandalism at prehistoric sites on public land.

Archaeological Work and Preservation Efforts

In 1906 the Mesa Verde area, including Cliff Palace, became a National Park. Most of the structures in the park were filled with debris. The site was in danger of collapsing. The National Park Service hired Jesse Walter Fewkes of the Bureau of American Ethnology to perform excavation, preservation, and repair work.

From 1908 to 1922, Fewkes excavated and stabilized cliff dwellings at the park, including Cliff Palace. His team recovered artifacts, cleared rooms, courts, and terraces of debris, and strengthened walls. They built a new trail to make the site more accessible to visitors. Fewkes counted 217 rooms and twenty-three kivas at Cliff Palace. He believed it was the largest cliff dwelling in the United States.

Since Fewkes’s time, most work at the park has focused on preservation. By the early 1930s, Cliff Palace was settling on its unstable foundations. It was in desperate need of repair. The Public Works Administration helped fund a program of surveying, mapping, and stabilization.

Earl Morris of the Carnegie Institution led a 1934 project at Cliff Palace. The team added concrete retaining walls and repaired a four-story square tower. Morris started a new policy of documenting all repairs. This made it possible to tell the difference between parts that were original and parts that had been restored.

Mapping Cliff Palace

In the late 1990s, Mesa Verde received funding from the Save America’s Treasures program. The park’s chief archaeologist, Larry Nordby, made the first comprehensive map of Cliff Palace. Nordby’s map showed that Cliff Palace actually had 150 rooms, not the 217 Fewkes had counted. This made it the same size as Long House on nearby Wetherill Mesa.

Nordby’s map and analysis showed other new details about life at Cliff Palace. Many of the rooms at the site were used primarily for storage. This indicated that Cliff Palace might have served as a central warehouse for other dwellings in the area. In addition, Nordby discovered a wall running through the center of the site. The wall divided Cliff Palace into two parts, suggesting a social organization based on two distinct groups.

2015 Conservation and Stabilization Project

The 800-year-old Cliff Palace has a variety of structural problems. Cliff House needs regular stabilization. Since the 1950s, visits to Mesa Verde National Park increased dramatically. Vibrations from foot traffic have caused the site to settle. To limit the damage, park officials have closed parts of the site and limited the size of tour groups. Park service staff performs regular maintenance to repair cracks and stabilize walls. Drainage for water seeping through the alcove roof has been improved.

In 2011 a wall collapsed in one of the kivas (Kiva F). This led to an investigation of structural conditions at Cliff Palace. Archaeologists found that the north half of the site was built on firm bedrock. However, the south half sat on loose soil and debris that had fallen from the cliff wall. With no real foundation, the southern half of the site was slowly sliding downhill. This was causing cracks, falling walls, and other problems. Park staff developed a plan for a $450,000 preservation effort.  Extensive repairs were performed in 2015. The conservation project closed Cliff Palace to the public in spring and fall 2015. It remained opened for tour groups that summer.

Cliff Palace is a group of 150 rooms carved into the cliffs of Mesa Verde. It was built 800 years ago by Ancestral Puebloans. Ranchers rediscovered Cliff Palace in 1888. Mesa Verde became one of the first National Parks. Cliff Palace is the largest and best-known cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde. It is one of the most photographed places in the world.

Mesa Verde got a special honor in 1978. It was named a United Nations (UNESCO) World Heritage Site.

Construction and Use

Cliff dwellings were built by the Ancestral Puebloans, who were ancestors of the Pueblo Native American tribe. The cliff dwellings were built from 1200–75. The people had lived on flat ground around Mesa Verde. To keep their community safe, they started to build homes in the cliffs. Cliff Palace was home to 125-150 people. There were sixty smaller cliff dwellings nearby. About 625 people lived in the Mesa Verde area.

Each family built its own kiva and rooms. Soon there were 150 rooms and twenty-three kivas. Kivas are round rooms dug into the ground. Kivas were used for religious and social gatherings. They could be covered with a flat roof to make a small plaza. Around each kiva were small rooms. These made up a courtyard that was shared by a family or clan. Courtyards made up most of Cliff Palace. There were also kivas without courtyards and rooms without kivas. The Ancestral Puebloans also built circular towers, great kivas, and other spaces.

The Ancestral Puebloans left the Mesa Verde area at the end of the 1200s. They moved to land in the south. No one knows why they left Mesa Verde. Experts think that the weather became colder and dryer. There might have been conflicts with other groups in the area. These things made it hard to live at Mesa Verde.

Rediscovery in 1888

The Wetherills were ranchers near Mesa Verde. On December 18, 1888, Richard Wetherill, Charles Mason, and their Ute guide Acowitz were searching for cattle. They saw Cliff Palace for the first time. They explored it, and then they discovered other cliff dwellings. Richard Wetherill returned to the area all winter. He explored more and dug for artifacts.

In 1891 the Wetherills showed Mesa Verde to a Swedish scholar, Gustaf Nordenskiöld. Nordenskiöld spent the summer studying the cliff dwellings, including Cliff Palace. He took many things he discovered in Mesa Verde to Finland. Some of Mesa Verde’s treasures are in the National Museum of Finland.

Gustaf Nordenskiöld published a book called The Cliff Dwellers of Mesa Verde in 1893.

People who read the book became interested in Mesa Verde and the Ancestral Puebloans.

Many people visited Mesa Verde. They included pothunters, archaeologists, and tourists. Cliff Palace was being destroyed by so many visitors. They took items from the site and damaged the area.

Archaeological Work and Preservation Efforts

People who cared about Mesa Verde wanted to make it a National Park to protect it. They helped to pass a law that people could not take items from the site.

In 1906 Mesa Verde became a National Park. Many of the structures were in danger. They were falling and filled with rubble. Jesse Walter Fewkes, who worked for the US Government, came to Mesa Verde. His team did excavation, preservation, and repair work. From 1908 to 1922, they worked on cliff dwellings in the park. His team found artifacts, cleared rooms and kivas, and strengthened walls. They built a trail for visitors.

In the 1930s, Cliff Palace was in desperate need of more repairs. The US government and private institutions funded programs to help fix it up. Earl Morris of the Carnegie Institution led a project at Cliff Palace in 1934. His team added concrete walls and repaired a four-story square tower. They made sure that any repairs they made were known. They wanted to be able to tell the difference between parts of the site that were original and those that had been restored.

Mapping Cliff Palace

In 1990 Mesa Verde was part of the “Save America’s Treasures” program. Larry Nordby, the site archeologist, made a new map of Cliff Palace. He discovered some interesting things. His map showed that Cliff Palace had only 150 rooms. An older map showed it had 217 rooms. He found that many of the rooms at Cliff Palace were used for storage. This showed that Cliff Palace might have been a warehouse. Nordby discovered a wall running through the center of Cliff Palace. It divided it into two parts. He believed that two different groups of people once lived there.

2015 Conservation and Stabilization Project

The 800-year-old Cliff Palace is unstable. It needs help to stay standing. Park officials keep people away from parts of Cliff Palace. They have limited the size of tour groups. They perform regular work to repair cracks and stabilize walls.

In 2011 a wall collapsed in a kiva at Cliff Palace. Archaeologists found that the north half of Cliff Palace was built on firm rock. But, the south half sat on loose soil. The south half was slowly sliding downhill. This was causing cracks, falling walls, and other problems. Park staff performed repairs in 2015.