Anasazi Indian State Park
Encyclopedia
Anasazi State Park Museum is a state park
and museum
in Southern Utah
, USA, featuring the ruins of an ancient Anasazi
village referred to as the Coombs Village Site.
, a museum
with examples of Anasazi pottery
and other artifacts
, a museum store, an auditorium
, and picnic
areas. There is no camping
. It is located in Boulder, Utah
, at the edge of 11000 feet (3,352.8 m) Boulder Mountain.
The park is focused around the reconstructed ruins
of an ancient Anasazi village
, referred to as the Coombs Village Site, which is located directly behind the museum. There is a self-guided trail
visitors can take through the village with interpretive signs explaining the various features of the village, and the culture
of the people who once lived there.
. The name Anasazi, Navajo
for "Ancient Enemies," or "Enemies of Our Ancestors" describes the Pueblo culture that existed in the Four Corners area from about 1 AD to 1300 AD. This village is believed to have been occupied from 1160 AD to 1235 AD. As many as 250 people lived there.
The village is largely unexcavated, though there was a brief excavation during 1958 and 1959, conducted by the University of Utah
as part of the Glen Canyon Dam
Project. During that excavation, archeologists uncovered thousands of artifacts, and discovered a community of about 90 rooms divided into two separate one-story apartment
complexes. An L-shaped building has been reconstructed and can be entered into by visitors. The cluster featured open shelters for working in the shade, storage pits, and adobe
pit houses large enough for five or six residents. All together, about 100 structures have been found.
Evidence, such as singed structural building supports, suggest that the town was abandoned after a village-wide fire. There was also a serious drought occurring in the region during that time that may have also been a factor.
State park
State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the federated state level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, or recreational...
and museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
in Southern Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, USA, featuring the ruins of an ancient Anasazi
Ancient Pueblo Peoples
Ancient Pueblo People or Ancestral Pueblo peoples were an ancient Native American culture centered on the present-day Four Corners area of the United States, comprising southern Utah, northern Arizona, northwest New Mexico, and southern Colorado...
village referred to as the Coombs Village Site.
Park facilities
Established as a Utah state park in 1960, the 6 acres (2.4 ha) Anasazi State Park Museum is open year-round, and features a visitor centerVisitor center
A visitor center or centre , visitor information center, tourist information center, is a physical location that provides tourist information to the visitors who tour the place or area locally...
, a museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
with examples of Anasazi pottery
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
and other artifacts
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
, a museum store, an auditorium
Auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances at venues such as theatres. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens.- Etymology :...
, and picnic
Picnic
In contemporary usage, a picnic can be defined simply as a pleasure excursion at which a meal is eaten outdoors , ideally taking place in a beautiful landscape such as a park, beside a lake or with an interesting view and possibly at a public event such as before an open air theatre performance,...
areas. There is no camping
Camping
Camping is an outdoor recreational activity. The participants leave urban areas, their home region, or civilization and enjoy nature while spending one or several nights outdoors, usually at a campsite. Camping may involve the use of a tent, caravan, motorhome, cabin, a primitive structure, or no...
. It is located in Boulder, Utah
Boulder, Utah
Boulder is a town in Garfield County, Utah, United States, 27 miles northeast of Escalante on Utah Scenic Byway 12 at its intersection with the Burr Trail...
, at the edge of 11000 feet (3,352.8 m) Boulder Mountain.
The park is focused around the reconstructed ruins
Ruins
Ruins are the remains of human-made architecture: structures that were once complete, as time went by, have fallen into a state of partial or complete disrepair, due to lack of maintenance or deliberate acts of destruction...
of an ancient Anasazi village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
, referred to as the Coombs Village Site, which is located directly behind the museum. There is a self-guided trail
Trail
A trail is a path with a rough beaten or dirt/stone surface used for travel. Trails may be for use only by walkers and in some places are the main access route to remote settlements...
visitors can take through the village with interpretive signs explaining the various features of the village, and the culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
of the people who once lived there.
Archaeological Coombs Site
The Coombs Site is the site of one of the largest Anasazi communities known to have existed west of the Colorado RiverColorado River
The Colorado River , is a river in the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The watershed of the Colorado River covers in parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states...
. The name Anasazi, Navajo
Navajo language
Navajo or Navaho is an Athabaskan language spoken in the southwestern United States. It is geographically and linguistically one of the Southern Athabaskan languages .Navajo has more speakers than any other Native American language north of the...
for "Ancient Enemies," or "Enemies of Our Ancestors" describes the Pueblo culture that existed in the Four Corners area from about 1 AD to 1300 AD. This village is believed to have been occupied from 1160 AD to 1235 AD. As many as 250 people lived there.
The village is largely unexcavated, though there was a brief excavation during 1958 and 1959, conducted by the University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
as part of the Glen Canyon Dam
Glen Canyon Dam
Glen Canyon Dam is a concrete arch dam on the Colorado River in northern Arizona in the United States, just north of Page. The dam was built to provide hydroelectricity and flow regulation from the upper Colorado River Basin to the lower. Its reservoir is called Lake Powell, and is the second...
Project. During that excavation, archeologists uncovered thousands of artifacts, and discovered a community of about 90 rooms divided into two separate one-story apartment
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
complexes. An L-shaped building has been reconstructed and can be entered into by visitors. The cluster featured open shelters for working in the shade, storage pits, and adobe
Adobe
Adobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material , which the builders shape into bricks using frames and dry in the sun. Adobe buildings are similar to cob and mudbrick buildings. Adobe structures are extremely durable, and account for...
pit houses large enough for five or six residents. All together, about 100 structures have been found.
Evidence, such as singed structural building supports, suggest that the town was abandoned after a village-wide fire. There was also a serious drought occurring in the region during that time that may have also been a factor.