Balcony House and Long House, Mesa Verde, Colorado

Balcony House

The next Pueblo settlement we toured, Balcony House, was a lot more fun than I expected.  It was a lot like Chimney Rock except with 50% fewer rattlesnakes and 100% fewer death waivers.  Oh yeah, and the entire house was situated 50 feet down the side of a cliff - almost forgot to mention that.  If I had to live in Mesa Verde 1000 years ago (and I couldn’t find something like Top Notch resort) I would want to live in the cliff dwellings.  Not only do they have shady spots, they also have a consistent source of water and are easier to defend if they are being invaded.  Besides, the other option is living above ground in the brutal sun, and the sun was awful in September.  Just imagine how hot it would be in July! The alcoves that these houses were built in were formed by water seeping through the porous sandstone and hitting the harder shale. Then when it drained off, a bit of the 
sandstone was carried with it.  Over millions of years the erosion created the alcoves.  The water leaking down also created seeps in the rock that became the water source for anyone who lived there. 

Long House

Long House was very similar to Balcony House except for a few things.  First off it was longer, hence the name

Long House. Long House also was designed to hold about 120 people whereas Balcony House couldn’t hold much more than 30.  Therefore there were many more houses and kivas.  Long House was built in a less eroded alcove so it was more exposed to the elements than Balcony House.  There was also a central meeting place in Long house just like Balcony House except bigger.  In Long House there were also two foot drums.  Foot drums are basically holes in the ground surrounded by rocks with wooden planks over them, so when the Pueblo ceremonial leaders stomped on the planks it created a loud drum beat.