jonmessina
Member
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2012
- Messages
- 61
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?
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?