Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum Liora Sarfati Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum. Curated by Liz Bauer. Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado. Open daily 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Entering Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum one reads the words written by Lucy Peabody in 1916: "By the creation of Mesa Verde, the wonderful ruins of the ancient cliff dwellings are not only to be preserved for the future but it is hoped that some of the secrets of the past may be unlocked." Indeed, ancient cliff dwellings have intrigued American and European explorers in the Colorado and New Mexico region since their initial discovery in the late 1800s. While various details have been retrieved thanks to the accumulated efforts of scholars, many questions remain unanswered. Along the sheer walls dropping from high points in the desolate area, an agricultural culture prospered from AD 600 through AD 1300, in spite of the region's harsh weather conditions. The people, who are called today the Puebloans, Anasazi, or Hisatsinom, lived in pit houses in small communities throughout the area. The elaborate stone villages, which they built in sheltered alcoves around AD 1200, were abandoned after only a few generations of use. It seems that the main reason for the inhabitants' migration south was a twenty-three-year drought that began in AD 1276. [End Page 97] In arid southern Colorado, among serene cliffs revealing beautiful rock formations with little vegetation cover, a dominant feature in the landscape appears about thirty-five miles west of Durango. This is a flat top table mountain called Mesa Verde, meaning "green table" in Spanish. Probably the best-known Puebloan site in America, it has been declared a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO. The archeological museum inside the national park is located twenty miles from the main gate. The free museum focuses on the culture that prevailed when the sites were occupied. Visitors are allowed to walk inside and around the eight-hundred-year-old Spruce Tree House cliff dwellings, some of which have been reconstructed. The museum presents findings from excavations of various sites and provides interpretations of the ancient Puebloans' life and culture. The Chapin Mesa Museum is described in an informational Web site (http://www.mesa.verde.national-park.com/cal.htm) as a venue "to show the chronology of Ancestral Puebloan culture." One would expect to see simple displays of findings from Mesa Verde excavation sites. However, most of the museum space is dedicated to vivid interpretations of the findings in an attempt to show the sources of livelihood, the arts, and the belief systems of the people who lived there. Attention is also given to contemporary Native American cultures and arts. The park is celebrating its centennial in 2006, and announcements of related events decorate the walls of the entrance hall. In this space there are also panels that show the potential hazards of fire in the region and the damage caused by past fire incidents. A ranger near the reception desk provides pamphlets and special activities for children, who can receive a junior ranger badge upon completing a few work sheets during their visit to the exhibit. A wide doorway leads from the entrance space to a narrow hall with dioramas of Ancient Puebloan life showcased in glass cases along a dark wall. Each diorama represents a specific period. The time span covered by all five dioramas is between 13,000 BC and AD 1200. In the lit boxes, small figures made of claylike material show what seem to be frozen moments in the lives of these ancient people. A lot of effort was put into presenting a lively interpretation of the day-to-day life of the era. In the dioramas one can see a man teaching a young boy how to shoot an arrow, men hiding during a bison hunt, men carrying a slaughtered deer, a woman carrying water from the well, corn fields, and buildings in the process of construction, among other scenes. Although the figures are small, their features are graceful, and the scenes they compose are varied and interesting. During my visit, many visitors stayed for a long time to observe the abundance of...