We had visited this beautiful modern museum in the fall of 2002, during a Colorado thunderstorm, on our way to join the Winnebago tour for the Albuquerque Balloon Festival. We were very glad to have the opportunity to see it again, now with digital cameras in hand.Ten miles north of Cortez in the southwest corner of Colorado, the museum is situated between two pueblo sites; the one family unit, Dominguez at the front entrance and the larger Escalante on top of the hill behind it. A wide, gently graded, paved “nature” path suitable for a wheelchair connects the two sites. Built and maintained by the Bureau of Land Management, the museum specializes in local artifacts, illustrating how the Anasazi, the ancient ones, lived and how the people of today cooperate with archeologists in their study of ancient ruins.
On entering, you are greeted by an Anasazi family with domesticated dog and turkey—full size paperdoll-like models.It was fascinating to see the life-size hologram of an ancient skull as it would look in living flesh.
Hearth in pit houseIn one corner of the spacious building, you can descend to a full scale model of a pit house, an earlier living style for several centuries before cliff dwellings.
There are several examples of sandals and stone sandal lasts.
Yucca fiber sandal
Two bowls and a dipper, Manco ware, step pattern
The most impressive displays in the museum are the large number of pottery pieces. Pottery has been so thoroughly studied that archeologists can determine the approximate century and provenance of a shard by it’s style of manufacture and decoration. These examples are from the 1200–1300 A.D. period.
Water pot
Mugs, Mesa Verde, black on white, dated ca. 1075 to 1300 A.D.
Waiting for Starbucks…
Two small jugs In addition to all the beautiful things to look at, there are hands-on displays to touch and drawers to open. Are you a wanna-be archeologist? Microscopes are ready for your use. Pottery fragments are waiting for you to sort and assemble.
