o appear and there was a risinglevel of craftsmanship in masonry work, pottery, weaving, jewelry and even toolmaking, the stone walls of the large pueblos are regarded as the finest ever builtin Mesa Verde, they are made of carefully shaped stones laid up in straightcourses. Baskets show evidence of decline in workmanship but this may be due tothe widespread use of pottery and consequent less attention to the craft. About1200 there was another major population shift. The Anasazi began to move backinto the cliff alcoves that had sheltered their ancestors long centuries before. We dont know why they made this move. Perhaps it was for defense; perhaps thecaves offered better protection from the elements; perhaps there were religiousor psychological reasons. Whatever the reason or combination of reasons, it gaverise to the cliff dwellings for which Mesa Verde is famous.Most of the cliff dwellings were built in the middle decades of the 1200s. They range in size from one room houses to villages of over 200 rooms. Architecturally there is no standard ground plan. The builders fitted theirstructures to the available space. Most walls were single courses of stone perhapsbecause the alcove roofs limited heights and also protected them from erosion bythe weather. The masonry work varied in quality; rough construction can be foundalongside walls with well-shaped stones.Many rooms were plastered on the inside and decorated with painteddesigns.The Anasazi lived in the cliff houses for less than a hundred years. By 1300Mesa Verde was deserted. Here is another mystery. We know that the lastquarter of the century was a time of drought and crop failures. Maybe afterhundreds of years of intensive use the land and its resources -- the soil the forestthe animals -- were depleted.When the Ansazi left they may have traveled south into New Mexico andArizona, perhaps settling among their kind already there. Whatever happened itseems likely that so...
