NEW DATES FOR MESA VERDE RUINS
by
Paul R. Franke.

A number of articles have appeared in previous issues of Mesa Verde Notes^{1, 2}; describing in detail the method of dating prehistoric ruins developed by Doctor A. E. Douglass. The reader is referred to these articles, or the earlier discussion in the National Geographic Magazine³, for detailed explanations and illustrations on this subject.

Mr. Harry T. Getty, graduate student of the University of Arizona, was employed by the National Park Service during the sumner of 1932. Under the careful guidance of Doctor Douglass and Superintendent Finnan a search was made for readable timbers in an attempt to establish more inclusive dates of habitation for the various Mesa Verde ruins. The success of this search is revealed in the dates secured and verified during the winter of 1932-1933, in the laboratory at Tucson, Arizona.

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1. Franke, Paul R. - Talkative Tree Rings May Reveal Mesa's Secrets, Mesa Verde Notes, Volume II, No. 1, July 1931, pp 9-11.

2. Getty, H. T. - The Tree Rings, Nature's Timekeeper. Mesa Verde Notes, Volume III, No. 2, August 1932. pp 25-26.

3. Douglass, A. E. - The Secret of the Southwest Solved by Talkative Tree Rings, National Geographic Magazine, Vol. LVI, No. 6, December 1929. pp 736-770.

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From available beams Doctor Douglass had established certain dates for some of the major ruins on the mesa. To this are added the data obtained by Mr. Getty this past year and we have the following table:

Of special significance are the following facts: Cliff Palace beams dated 1073 to 1273 give evidence of continuous occupancy for two hundred years. One may better appreciate this time by studying our own period of independency as a nation. Starting with 1776 we must see 1976 before the Republic is two hundred years old. The location of the various beams dated at this time, destroys the theory that certain quarters of it were constructed during different periods. Rather, there seemed to exist a general upbuilding—rooms were added here and there, by various clans, just as they were needed.

The dates established show that Cliff Palace, Balcony House, Spruce Tree House, and many ethers were all occupied and under construction during the same years. No doubt the continuation of this research work will produce dates from timbers in the other Mesa Verde ruins and place them in the same contemporaneous development.

Gradually we draw closer to the great drought, period of 1276 to 1299. This drought, considered the major cause of abandonment of the homesites on this mesa, extended over twenty-three years: None of the newly found dates extend over into this period, so that the theory of the Cliff Dweller deserting these sites previous to 1300 A.D. still holds good. Mr. Getty is with us again this summer and will describe some of his experiences in the next issue.

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