Cliff Dwelling Architecture and Mesa Verde National Park – Larry V. Nordby

Larry V. Nordby

Field Director, Archaeological Site Conversion Program

National Parks Service (Retired)

This presentation will focus on cliff dwelling research done from the late 1990s up until the present.  Much of the work was done at Mesa Verde National Park, but work was also done at many other sites, such as the upper and lower cliff dwellings at Tonto National Monument, Inscription House at Navajo National Monument, at White House and Mummy Cave in Canyon de Chally. Activities entailed condition assessment, site stabilization, and intensive documentation, generally in support of two research models: the social dimensions and scale of the architecture, and the construction methods used to convert alcoves into homes.