Hovenweep National Monument is perhaps best known for Hovenweep Castle—a multi-story stone masonry structure constructed by Ancestral Puebloans. Information presented at the Hovenweep Visitor Center states that most of the stone masonry structures at Hovenweep were probably constructed between AD 1200 and 1300 and at its peak the area may have supported as many as 2500 people in the area, but perhaps only about 300 people in the immediate vicinity of upper Little Ruin Canyon. Most of the remaining masonry structures that are still standing were constructed from A.D. 1230 to 1275, about the time that similar construction was taking place at Mesa Verde (Houk and others, 2005). Archeological evidence suggests that humans utilized the Cajon Mesa region as far back as 10,000 years. Groups of early hunting and gathering peoples first followed large game in the region. Later peoples adapted to a more agricultural life styles, utilizing the variety of natural plant resources in the region. Nearly 2,000 years ago, hunter-gatherers began growing crops in the region and became increasingly sedentary, first occupying shelters in natural shallow caves, then constructing pithouses in many of the region's canyons or mesa tops where water resources were nearby. With gradual advances in agricultural methods, more varieties of crops, basketry, pottery, and eventually trade networks. By the late 1200s, overuse of resources, climatic changes, possibly conflict, and perhaps forces of pressure from outside the region forced the Ancestral Puebloans to abandon their homes and leave the region (Thompson, 2004; NPS, 2006).

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