Wonder · Ancient Architecture
Cities Within the Cliffs
The cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde
The question
Who built the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde?
- Ancestral Pueblo people(correct answer)
- Roman explorers
- Viking settlers
The answer: Ancestral Pueblo people
For centuries, Ancestral Pueblo people farmed on and around Mesa Verde in what is now Colorado. From about 1180 to 1300 CE, many families built stone homes in sheltered alcoves beneath the cliff tops. From the mid-1200s they gradually moved south — today's Pueblo and Hopi people are their direct descendants.
- Civilization
- Ancestral Pueblo
- Region
- North America
- Period
- Cliff dwellings c. 1180–1300 CE
- Location
- Mesa Verde, Colorado, United States
- Featured in
- Daily Discovery #002 · 3 November 2026
Image: Charles Nadeau, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped) (image source, opens in a new tab)
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