This site guide does not contain all the pictures from the original at this time.

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Spruce House

The spiny-leafed, cactus-like plants at the bend of the trail are broadleaf yuccas, one of the most versatile products available to the prehistoric Indians. They wove the fibrous leaves into baskets, ropes, mats, sandals and items of clothing. The sharp tips of the leaves served as needles for sewing. In the spring milky flowers made tasty additions to the Anasazi diet, while the fall fruit looked similar to a cucumber but had the flavor of a starchy melon. Even the roots yield a soap which the Indians used to wash their hair.

Behind the yuccas is a large shrub called the Utah serviceberry. Its white spring flowers ripen during the fall into dry berries which could be eaten raw or preserved for flavoring. The wood was available as another construction material. Along the trail ahead of you are many Gambel oak trees, the tangled, shrubby tree with the characteristic oaklike leaves. Oak wood made good digging sticks and bows. The acorns could be gathered, roasted and added to other food.

Please continue down the trail to the next stop but remember that this is not a path the Anasazi would have used. These people climbed up and down the dirt slopes, going around or over the large boulders. At the steep cliff face they carved small notches into the sandstone which were just deep enough to hold the front part of a hand or foot. Using such hand and toe hold trails, they climbed up and down from the alcoves to the mesa tops throughout the year.

The Anasazi living in Spruce Tree House were fortunate to have this spring so close to their dwelling. Even though the spring appears to produce very little water, it had to supply a community of some 100 people. Imagine how carefully these people would have used this water for their daily cooking, drinking and construction needs.

The spring also accounts for the lush vegetation in this area. Since the narrow canyon is shaded most of the day, moisture does not evaporate at the rapid rate that it does on the mesa top. Compare the tall, sturdy, spiraled oak trees behind the benches to the shrubby ones elsewhere along the trail. Not only does a plentiful water supply produce larger plants, it also encourages a wider variety of them to grow. The Anasazi must have made good use of such oases in an otherwise dry environment.

If you walk up to the spring, please be careful to stay on the pathway and avoid trampling the delicate vegetation. Also be cautious of the POISON IVY which grows along the trail. The next stop is at the first courtyard of Spruce Tree House itself.

Spruce Tree House, the third largest cliff dwelling among several hundred within park boundaries (Cliff Palace and Long House are larger), was constructed between A.D. 1200 and 1276 by the Anasazi. The dwelling contains about 114 rooms and eight kivas (kee-vahs), or ceremonial chambers, built into a natural cave measuring 216 feet (66 meters) at greatest width and 89 feet (27 meters) at its greatest depth. It is thought to have been home for about 100 people.

Spruce Tree House was opened for visitation following excavation by Dr. Jesse Walter Fewkes of the Smithsonian Institution. Dr. Fewkes removed the debris of fallen walls and roofs and stabilized the walls approximately as you see them now. Due to the protection of the overhanging cliff, Spruce Tree House had deteriorated very little through the years and has required little supportive maintenance.

The cliff dwelling was first reported in 1888, when two local ranchers chanced upon it while searching for stray cattle. A large tree, which they identified as a Douglas spruce, was found growing from the front of the dwelling to the mesa top. It is said that the men first entered the ruin by climbing down this tree, which was later cut down by another early explorer.

As you enter Spruce Tree House remember that you are walking through someone's home. Look for signs that might indicate what daily life was like here. Imagine what it would be like if you lived here. How would you cope with the cold? Where would you prefer to live? Where would be the best places to work, to sleep, or to gather for ceremonies? Remember, too, that some Pueblo peoples consider Spruce Tree House to be their ancestral home. Please treat it with respect.

Diorama No. 5 Diorama Series, Mesa Verde National Park Museum

Spruce Tree House, of THE GREAT PUEBLO PERIOD -- 1100 to 1300 A.D.

While standing here, notice some of the architectural features that give us an insight into Anasazi life. The large, three-story wall before you fronts about 20 rooms, each approximately 6x8x5½ feet (1.8 x 2.4 x 1.7 meters). Probably one or two people lived in each of these rooms, which were primarily used as bedrooms or as work areas in unpleasant weather. On favorable days, the families lived and worked in the courtyards, on the rooftops and on the balconies which extended from the front of the building. The original wooden supports of a balcony can be seen along the top left section of the back wall.

Entrance to the rooms was gained through the rectangular and T-shaped doorways. Shape was apparently a matter of personal preference, each type having advantages and disadvantages. During cold weather, animal hides or sandstone slabs (such as the one leaning against the wall) were used as doors.

The cave's ceiling and most building walls are covered with a heavy layer of soot. Archaeologists have speculated that fires may have burned in the rear of the cave 24 hours a day during the coldest months of the year (see map at beginning). The Anasazi burned fires in some rooms to keep warm, but since most of the rooms were not adequately ventilated they must have been very smoky.

When Spruce Tree House was occupied, the courtyard before you was filled with activity. Here women ground corn into flour, made pottery, wove baskets and prepared food. Men made stone tools, turkey feather or cotton blankets, or prepared for summer planting. Older people sat in the sun and talked, while children, domesticated turkeys and barking dogs scurried about the plaza. The ladders in the courtyard protrude from two kivas whose roofs have been restored by the National Park Service. The purpose of the kivas will be explained at Stop 6. Virtually all kivas in Mesa Verde lost their roofs through weathering, and only a few have been reconstructed.

To the right of the design, part of a balcony is still in place. This balcony once extended completely across the back wall of the courtyard. Just above the balcony a filled-in doorway can be seen. The residents often remodeled their homes to satisfy their changing needs.

You are now standing in front of the deepest portion of the cave. From here it extends about 60 feet (18 meters) to the back wall. Beyond the roofless kiva in the foreground, there are three rows of rooms and a large trash area in the rear. Apparently refuse was disposed of both in front and in back of the living quarters. The path on which you are standing rests on one of these trash mounds which was also used as a burial area. This was not disrespectful but merely a matter of practicality. The trash areas were the easiest places to dig in during the winter months. Occasionally burials are also uncovered in sealed rooms in the back of the caves. Although numerous remains have been found, they do not account for the number of people who would have died during the period that Spruce Tree House was occupied. This is one of the many unsolved mysteries that archaeologists encounter.

When inside, notice the cribbed construction of the roof and the way the roof rests on six pillars around the kiva periphery. ,P. This kiva is a religious structure and is still sacred to Pueblo people. Please enter it with respect.

In contrast to the living rooms, the kivas had an efficient ventilation system. The large pit in the center of the floor was a fireplace. Fresh air was drawn in through the ventilator shaft at your feet, hit the deflector wall between the ventilator outlet and the firepit and circulated evenly through the kiva. Smoke rose vertically through the entryway. Beyond the firepit in the center of the floor is a small hole. This hole, called a sipapu (see-pah-poo), represents the opening through which man emerged onto the face of the earth and was important in certain ceremonies. Sipapus are still found in some modern kivas. Small openings are often found in the walls of the kivas, as is the case here. These openings, called niches, held special ceremonial objects such as turquoise, shell beads and prayer sticks. There are six pillars, known as pilasters, built upon a bench, or banquette. The bench was used for storage of many ceremonial objects; the pilasters supported the beams of the roof.

To the rear and left of the kiva is a large boulder. Look at it closely. Can you see shallow grooves where people ground and sharpened tools?

The cylindrical room above the boulder, one of many in Mesa Verde, remains a mystery to archaeologists. On the mesa top round structures are often connected to a kiva by a tunnel perhaps indicating some kind of ceremonial use. These buildings are also found on canyon over-looks, suggesting that they served as lookout towers. Here, however, the room is not connected to the kiva, nor does it command a good view of the canyon.

In the front left corner of the courtyard are grinding bins. Here women knelt with their heels against the back wall and used the mano (mah-no), or hand stone, to grind corn, nuts, berries and roots on the large flat stone, or metate (meh-tah-tay). As they ground the food, the soft sandstone grit was also mixed with the food. This abrasive mixture ground down the Anasazi's teeth and must have caused them great pain.

Along the top of the wall to the right of the kiva is a series of stones which seem to be randomly placed there. At first glance you might think that this was done recently, yet these stones represent a dry wall constructed by the Anasazi. Whether a mortared wall collapsed and the stones were stacked as temporary repair work or if the wall was built deliberately in this fashion, we will never know. The fact is that the stones have remained in this condition for hundreds of years and have not required stabilization to this day. At the far right end of the dwelling are two small rooms nestled against the face of the cliff. These are storage rooms where the Anasazi placed corn, beans, squash or other food after it was harvested and dried. The rooms were sealed shut with a sandstone slab to prevent rats and mice from invading the food supplies. Rooms such as these are typical in all cliff dwellings. As you came down the trail, you may have noticed other small rooms high in the cliff face near the spring area. These were also storage rooms associated with Spruce Tree House. Imagine how important it must have been for the Anasazi to store up enough food to last them during the long, cold winter months.

Now that you have examined Spruce Tree House, you may be wondering why people moved into such a place or, for that matter, why they left after having gone to such an effort to build it. The reason (or reasons) behind the Anasazi move into the caves are difficult to determine. It was once thought that they may have moved down from the mesa tops for defensive purposes, but no evidence of hostile neighbors or warfare has yet been found. It is also suggested that they may have moved into the caves to better protect themselves from the elements. We just don't know. The reasons for their departure are more certain. The Anasazi had lived on the Mesa Verde for well over seven hundred years by the time they began constructing the cliff dwellings. During this time the population was growing rapidly.

Years of farming had depleted the land. Timber was probably becoming scarce. The forage for game may have diminished, forcing hunters farther afield. And, added to these problems, tree ring studies have shown that the area suffered through a prolonged drought from about A.D. 1276 to 1299. There may have been other complicating factors too; at any rate, the Anasazi had had enough and began migrating south during the late 13th and early 14th centuries. Today, the descendants of these people -- the Hopi and other Pueblo dwellers -- live in northern New Mexico and Arizona. Utes, Navajos and Apaches now occupy much of their domain.