Mesa Verde Voices

In season 6 we'll be talking about... the seasons. We'll be exploring the Mesa Verde landscape as it transforms throughout the year - from how the plants, animals, and weather change, to how the lives of ancestral...

The peoples of the Mesa Verde region and their descendants have found meaning and guidance in the stars for thousands of years. Storytelling is a big part of the descendants’ lives still today. The stars, moon, and sun...

There are as many names for the stars, planets, and constellations as there are languages and cultures on Earth. In this episode we hear some of the Navajo/Diné and Zuni names for some of the most prominent stars and...

Our moon has a consistent and predictable cycle that repeats every month in the same way that it has for billions of years! But this cycle is more than the 29.5-day pattern of lunar phases. In this episode, we’ll hear...

Some of the most well-known celestial alignments within ancestral sites correspond with the annual movement of the sun along the horizon throughout the year - especially on the Solstices and Equinoxes. And one of the...

In 2021, Mesa Verde National Park became the 100th International Dark Sky Park. This designation does more than just preserve the natural beauty of the night sky above the park, it also preserves the cultural bond that...

In this final episode of season four, we look into the myth that first drew explorers, archaeologists, and tourists to these desert canyons just a few centuries ago. Where did the Mesa Verde people go? Why did they move...

The rock art in the Southwest is as iconic to the region as the cliff dwellings themselves. From animal shapes to handprints to intricate spirals, these petroglyphs and pictographs adorn the landscape leaving messages...

Why did the Ancestral Pueblo people build these world-renowned alcove villages? It’s nearly impossible to go a day at Mesa Verde National Park without hearing someone ask some version of this question. And at the same...

The stunning alcove villages - such as Cliff Palace - are what originally captured the attention of the first European descendant folks to move through the canyons of Mesa Verde. However, these were not the largest...

In season 4, we’re digging into some of the most commonly asked questions at Mesa Verde National Park. In this episode, we're talking about how the Ancestral Pueblo people came to be in the Southwest, and how Indigenous...

The fourth season of Mesa Verde Voices begins on April 30th. Learn the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions by park visitors from archeologists and the descendants of the Ancestral Pueblo people who...

Hundreds of years ago, the Ancestral Pueblo people were pouring immense time and energy into weaving intricate items such as clothing and sandals. And while people all across the region seem to have utilized these...

All across the region in the mid-1100s people began to move closer to water. These movements are reflected in the need to travel great distances, to make strong bonds with different cultures, and to bring home special...

For thousands of years, an extensive trade network has bonded the people of Mesoamerica and what is currently the Southwestern United States. Pochtecas - Mesoamerican traders - were responsible for transporting goods...