<\/p>\n
It is estimated that nearly 32 million people have visited Mesa Verde National Park since it was created by presidential proclamation in 1908.<\/p>\n
And for over 100 years nearly every one of those visitors have flocked to the park\u2019s crown jewel \u2013 Cliff Palace, the largest cliff dwelling in North America.<\/p>\n
But on Thursday, the park\u2019s jewel was closed off, visible only from an overlook as archaeologists started to work on preserving the site, repairing extensive cracks discovered a few years ago.<\/p>\n
Heavy foot traffic and gravity itself \u2013 and the fact that the dwelling is built on the side of a steep alcove \u2013 have all taken their toll over the years.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything is slowly moving downward,\u201d said Gary W. Ethridge, a preservation archaeologist with Mesa Verde National Park said, as he pointed to a heavily traveled path on the edge of an alcove.<\/p>\n
Cliff Palace was first discovered in 1888 when ranchers Richard Wetherill and Charlie Mason combed the canyons for their cattle. It boasts 150 rooms and 23 kivas.<\/p>\n
Since its discovery, the cliff dwelling has attracted many in awe of the construction and lives of the ancestral Puebloans who occupied the area an estimated 700 to 800 years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of the frontal architecture is not very well supported,\u201d said Ethridge. \u201cIn addition, this site is heavily visited. There is a picture of the site in the \u201970s, where there is so many people standing on the site, there is not a spot anyone else could stand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Archaeologists plan to address that path and retaining wall first, because if it slides, the rest of the site can be in jeopardy, because everything is built in tiers.<\/p>\n
Up inside the site, Ethridge pointed to a well masoned kiva below us \u2013 Kiva F. The round ceremonial room currently has large cracks running down the side of the wall, and one wall is bowing inward. Currently, the kiva is supported by a makeshift support constructed with two-by-fours \u2013 hardly authentic.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe no longer let folks walk around Kiva F,\u201d Ethridge said. \u201cWe did the best we could to support that wall, but we need to do better.\u201d<\/p>\n
During preservation, Kiva F will likely undergo some reconstruction, and it may also be a candidate to be filled.<\/p>\n
Filling the structure with dirt up to a certain point will give the structure support in some areas, yet allow visitors to see part of the kiva structure.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe won\u2019t likely fill it up all the way. Plus, there are other, very well preserved kivas here,\u201d Ethridge said.<\/p>\n
Currently, archaeologists are doing test excavations under the lower trail so that they can eventually put supports under the trail.<\/p>\n
A crew of about 10 plan to work on repairing cracks throughout the 800-plus-year old structures.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything is settling and slowly moving and cracking inward,\u201d Ethridge said.<\/p>\n
The crew will use a mobile hoist to drop down supplies over he alcove\u2019s lip from the top parking lot.<\/p>\n
Crews also plan to do some preservation work at the very top of the alcove, where rooms seem to hang on a precarious ledge, that is actually an arch inside the alcove.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose rooms are remarkable,\u201d Ethridge said. \u201cThey are all original construction.\u201d<\/p>\n
But preservationists need to work on some of them to ensure they stay on the ledge.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just want to do a bit of stabilization and need to keep people from walking under it,\u201d Ethridge said.<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t the first time archaeologists have battled to preserve Cliff Palace.<\/p>\n
Building the parking lot above the site\u2019s alcove cause unique problems with water drainage and impacted the natural filtering the sandstone has and also cause water to runoff and damage other areas that water historically didn\u2019t run off into.<\/p>\n
To combat moisture problems, a tunnel was built in the \u201960s to keep water out of the site and in 2012 water runoff from the parking lot was piped out and away from the site, Ethridge said.<\/p>\n
Archaeologists also plan repair damage caused by a 1995 water line break that flooded some of the site.<\/p>\n
This spring and fall, tourists who come to see Cliff Palace will have to visit other sites in the park as park archaeologists and preservationists work on the site. Cliff Palace will still be visible from the overlook.<\/p>\n
Preservation will halt on the Thursday before Memorial Day, May 25, and the site will reopen to limited tours for the busy tourist season and close again for more preservation work after Labor Day. Archaeologists will plan to use a unique masonry mixture to do most of the work. Preservation started in December.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are really just fighting the forces of nature,\u201d Ethridge said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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