Lewis Lodge Ruins

[jonmessina]

Seems annually I get down to Cedar Mesa and check out a few more sites each time. This past fall I went to the Lewis Lodge ruins.

While it was really cool, and the location was awesome, I was struck by how sterile the location was. Usually there is pottery sherds, metate and mano stones, rock art and even smoke damage on the cliff faces above the dwelling quarters (easy way to tell a granary from a house). I can understand a lot of it being picked clean by the researchers (the U did a real big study on it in the 50's), but where is the rock art and the smoke damage. Not too much you can do about those.

I wondered if anyone actually lived there, or if it was a place of last resort. Would be a formidable fortress, but a terrible place to raise a family.

I exchanged emails with an anthropologist at the Utah Natural History Museum when I got back and they referred me to the Edge of the Cedars State Park. When I called down there, they assured me it was inhabited but I remain unconvinced.

Anyone have any thoughts, or a good book on this? I was hoping to find some of the research that was conducted when it was first discovered, but have come up empty.

Thoughts?

 

[Bob]

Easy access to ruins leads to no pottery shards.

Check out my resource for Fable Valley. There are still corn cobs and tons of shards all around (in the sage flats) ....... If you know what is down there!

 

[DAA]

I'm quite sure it was inhabited. The evidence still visible strongly supports that. But the actual digging and artifact retreival proves it. I don't think it is even debatable.

But I definitely agree it is a pretty sterile site in terms of rock art and some of the other things often associated with similar sites. My own take is simply that it wasn't occupied for very long - which is basically true for most of the "cliff dwelling" sites. But perhaps particularly so for this one? Dunno...

Fable Valley is one I have somehow managed not to explore much yet. I've been all around the edges, even down the valley floor and hiked up Gypsum, but never spent time in Fable proper. It's on my short list though. Hoping within the next few months!

- DAA