Anasazi Kiva

The mesa top ruins at Mesa Verde offers another view of Anasazi (or “Ancient Ones”) lives. Pit houses, which are usually square - and where they lived - had several rooms for the family and added rooms for extended families. Then there are Kivas, which are round and might be used for rug weaving, or gathering places – many times just social – often for ceremonies. Ceremonies might be a healing service, or to pray for crops, or good luck in hunting. Many families had their own Kiva, which was built into the ground. Roofs were beams with wood and dirt. A hole in the middle held a ladder allowing them to climb inside and some had outside entrances. Many had paths leading to the Kivas from the pit houses and even at times a walled and roofed passageway to get from one to the other. Inside you find stone and earthen benches and a small hole in the floor called a sipapu, which was a hole to the “underworld”.
By 1300 A.D. the Anasazi had completely vanished from the area.
When visiting the park, you used to be able to walk “on” the ruins, but fortunately the park is now banning this. You are still allowed to walk through most of the ruins. Due to weather and tourists, they are in a constant state of repair by the park rangers.