Mesa Verde kicked off its 100th birthday celebration, July 24, 2006, featuring four days of public events.
Ancestral Puebloans moved into the Mesa Verde area, located in southern Colorado, about 550 AD. The Ancestral Puebloans (village dwellers) were also called Anasazi, a Navajo word meaning ancient. Pictured here is a multi story cliff dwelling called Square Tower House. It features well made double-coursed stone walls, constructed around 1100 AD. This 200 year period from 1100 to 1300 AD. reflected advanced building techniques and farming practices. The population of this area may have reached several thousand and created a fair amount of trash that ended up at the base of the cliff. What we know today of these early resisdents are the clues found in this garbage heap. To preserve these artifacts, congress established Mesa Verde National Park in 1906.