Megalithic House - Mesa Verde National Park, CO
Posted by: 
94RedRover
N 37° 14.331 W 108° 30.535
12S E 720970 N 4124277
One of the oldest structures in the Far View Group of ruins, Megalithic House is protected under a canopy while excavating and research are performed.
Waymark Code: WM5Q2G
Location: Colorado, United States
Date Posted: 02/01/2009
Views: 12
One of the oldest houses in the group is MEGALITHIC HOUSE, 100 yards north of Far View Tower, containing a kiva surrounded by rectangular rooms; the house may have been constructed earlier than the larger pueblos, as sugegsted by pottery findings. Crumbled walls and lack of debris indicate that parts of the house were torn down for use in other buildings. The foundations of some walls were built of stones three feet long and eight to ten inches wide, but the house itself was constructed of smaller stones.
Colorado A Guide to the Highest State, 1941
On the east side of Chapin Mesa, the Far View sites includes five villages and an impressive, mesa-top reservoir. This is a self-guided tour of a one of the most densely populated areas of the mesa, showing inhabitation from AD 750 to 1300. Within a half mile of this site, nearly 50 villages have been identified.
Unlike the cliff dwellings, these structures were open pueblos, some even standing two stories! The elevation here, 7,700 feet is higher than the other areas, which would have affected the growing season, but increased the moisture available to support agriculture.