Drove out to Mesa Verde last month and noticed something wild about the cliff dwellings

I finally made it out to Mesa Verde in Colorado a few weeks back and what really caught my eye was how small the doorways actually are. Like I knew from pictures they'd be low but standing there in person, I had to crouch way down just to peek through one. A ranger told me the openings were built narrow on purpose, partly for keeping warm air inside during winter and partly as a defense thing. I stood there thinking about how people lived up in those cliffs with no running water or electricity and it blew my mind. The masonry work on the walls was super tight too, no mortar gaps bigger than a finger. Has anyone else visited a site where the real scale of something surprised you compared to what photos show?

2 comments

2 Comments

parker5435h ago

Robinson.matthew hit the nail on the head with that comfort vs survival tradeoff. The biggest surprise for me was how small the kivas are when you actually stand inside one. In photos they look spacious, but I practically had to sit on my knees because the ceiling was so low. Makes you think about how every inch of those structures was thought out for a reason, not just because somebody liked the look of it.

robinson.matthew16h ago

Jump right in and think about how almost EVERYTHING in modern life is designed for comfort and convenience. Like the doorways we walk through everyday are like 80 inches tall because nobody wants to duck. But those cliff dwellers had to prioritize heat retention and safety over personal comfort. It makes me look at something as simple as a DOOR differently now. I notice the same thing driving around my city, all the new houses have these huge garage doors but tiny windows, it's all about what people value most at the time. Those ancient builders chose survival first, we choose convenience and showing off our stuff first.