HOVENWEEP

HOVENWEEP ANCESTRAL PUEBLOAN VILLAGES

Hovenweep, home of the Ancestral Puebloans, the Anasazi, is in America's four-corners region. The six villages on the Cajon Mesa of the Colorado Plateau have amazing architecture similar to that of Mesa Verde's cliff dwellings. Hovenweep's inhabitants were closely affiliated with cliff-dwellers of Mesa Verde. Hovenweep became a National Monument in 1923.

Originally hunter/gatherers, the Anasazi became a sedentary culture, created villages and irrigation systems that allowed them to grow crops for subsistence. Research indicates more than 380 individual dwellings and small villages exist within a 50-mile radius of Hovenweep's primary village existed since 700 A.D. Hovenweep's stone structures employed tremendous engineering and masonry skills in the construction of pueblos up to 5-stories tall, that have remained considerably stable for almost one-thousand years.

It is believed that a 23-year draught was the primary cause for the inhabitants of Hovenweep and Mesa Verde abandoning their villages and moving south, leaving their homes uninhabited for hundreds of years before their ruins were discovered by explorers, missionaries and ranchers in the1800's. Cortez was perhaps the first outsider.

Hovenweep and Mesa Verde were at the pinnacle of the Ancestral Puebloan civilization between 850 AD through 1320 AD, though there is evidence of mankind inhabiting this region as early as 24,000 years ago. The transformation from hunter/gatherer to a more sedentary agricultural lifestyle is believed to have begun circa 500 AD with the construction of smaller dwellings, The large Chaco Pueblos were abandoned as early as 850 AD.

The University of Utah's Lifelong Learning offers a course on Hovenweep and the Anasazi inhabitants of the four-corners region in March and June of 2024. The course will include an emphasis on the Ancestral Puebloan culture, along with discussion on their disappearance. Come join us.

MORE PHOTOS WILL BE ADDED

Bluff, Ut. Balloon Festival

Cajon Village structures & pictographs. Cave dwellings were possible grain storage facilities. Some of these buildings in Cajon were 2-stories tall.

Photos below are of the Square Tower Village of Hovenweep. Hovenweep's cultural center.

Stronghold House

Eroded Boulder House

Hovenweep Castle

Hovenweep House

Stronghold House

Holly Tower

Stronghold House

Cutthroat Castle

Tilted Tower - Holly Village

Hovenweep Castle

Cajon Village

Cajon Village - 950 CE

Holly House

Isolated Boulder Tower -

Holly Village

Holly Tower

Square Tower

Cool Spring House - Cajon Group

Stronghold House

Square Tower

Tower Point

Edward Abbey defined Hovenweep as "a most weird and magical land" where spirts still abound.

On 10/22/24 I will be teaching a course on Hovenweep at the U of U. To enroll, go to: https://continue.utah.edu/lifelong/class/LLPOT_968_Hovenweep_Villages_of_the_Ancients

See you on 10/22/24 at the U of U. To enroll in the Hovenweep course, go to: https://continue.utah.edu/lifelong/class/LLPOT_968_Hovenweep_Villages_of_the_Ancients