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Cliff Palace was once a village of over 200 people and 23 kivas (ceremonial spaces), Mesa Verde, Montezuma County, Colorado
Up there in their eyrie
where the winds swirl
eagles afloat on thermals
the people knew what the face of nature
is there to conceal
beneath the infinite horizon
Very much here when they were here
when gone very
much gone
Part of Cliff Palace, an ancient Indian village built between 1100 and 1300 A.D., Mesa Verde, Montezuma County, Colorado
Cliff Palace is the largest remaining village of the pre-Columbian Indians. They lived in the Mesa Verde area until drought drove them out at the end of the 13th century
Eroded sandstone, part of Indian ruins dating from 1100 to 1300 A.D., Hovenweep National Monument, Colorado
Shiprock in smog, seen from Mesa Verde, Montezuma County, Colorado
Four-storey-high square tower house, built about 800 years ago, Mesa Verde, Montezuma County, Colorado
Photos by Boyd Nortonfor the Environmental Protection Agency's Documerica project, May 1972 (US National Archives)