Ancient and Original Twin Towers Stand at Hovenweep National Monument, Utah
In May 2008, I traveled the 121 miles from Moab to Hovenweep National Monument. After my two and one half hour trip, I arrived at Hovenweep National Monument, in Southeastern Utah. On my afternoon journey from Aztec, New Mexico, it had rained intermittently and clouds now hid the setting sun.
With the visitor center already closed, I proceeded
to the small but orderly campground about a quarter mile away. Since
that Friday marked the start of Memorial Day Weekend, I hoped that there
would be at least one RV-sized campsite available. To my surprise,
there were two, including one that had no neighboring site and featured
an unbroken view to the southeast.
After
some four-wheel-drive action in the mud, I was able to situate my
nineteen-foot Pioneer travel trailer to take advantage of that
spectacular view. As if on cue from an unseen source, the cold rains
came in earnest just as I finished my chores. Cozy and contented, I
settled in and listened to the rain as it refreshed the healthy Pinion
Pine and Juniper forest around me.
In the morning, I walked to the visitor center, paid
my user fees and returned to my campsite. From there, I began my
1.5-mile hike into and around Little Ruin Canyon. Before I departed, I
observed the fresh rainwater in the nearby slickrock potholes and the red bloom of a nearby cactus.
Since almost all Hovenweep
visitors start at the visitor center and walk counterclockwise around
the canyon, I started out in the opposite direction, hoping for some
quiet time before the weekend tourists crowded these spectacular ruins.
Apparently having done something inexplicably right in a former life, I
received my reward – I neither saw nor heard another living soul for
the first half of my hike.
Ancestral Puebloan Indians
built the characteristic tower ruins of Hovenweep in the period just
before their final and complete withdrawal or disappearance from the Colorado Plateau and the Four Corners Region.
The zenith of their construction here was between 1230 and 1275 CE. At
that time, an elder of their tribe could have witnessed or participated
in the planning and building of all the ruins visible in Little Ruin
Canyon. Uniquely, these ruins include circular, square and D-shaped
freestanding towers, all within shouting (and in some cases), whispering
distance of each other.
Conventional wisdom, supported by relevant archeological facts indicates that Hovenweep, along with Mesa Verde
in Colorado were among the final redoubts of this far-reaching
culture. Supposedly, chaos reined, as drought, overpopulation,
deforestation and internecine warfare gripped their culture. To me,
that sounds like hogwash. If the culture was in collapse and marauders
roamed the land, how did the residents of Hovenweep have time to shape
and radius stones for the exterior of their unique freestanding “Round Tower” and flat-faced stones for their unique freestanding “Square Tower”?
My belief, supported only by my observations and the
feel of the place is that Hovenweep represented the ancestral
Puebloan’s high point of both architecture and civilization. These
towers stood out as their rock-solid achievements and their gift to
those of us who come to visit this place over seven hundred years
later.
At the peak of Pharaonic Egypt, the high priests and elite of their culture endeavored to reach immortality, exemplified by their process of mummification,
but also through their funerary architecture, masks and vessels. After
personally viewing several Egyptian museum road shows in my current
lifetime, I would say that they “made it” to eternal life, or at least
thus far.
I believe that the ancestral Puebloan of Hovenweep,
who built a pantheon of sturdy, yet highly aesthetic granaries,
ceremonial kivas and everyday houses, had something similar in mind.
Not having technology beyond what we call “stone age”, the ancestral
Puebloan focused much of their energy on creating architecture that
would outlive them and send those of us who follow a clear message.
The
message that they left for us was, “Judge us not by anything other than
by what you see here. Walk with us past our gardens; enjoy with us the
solid nature of our former existence. Then ask yourselves, did we
abandon this place and travel south in search of water and peace? Or
did we simply do all that we could do in our many lifetimes here, then
withdraw to be with Spirit, to rest, relax and plan our return, long
after you, the current visitor are gone from this place? If you stand
quietly and stare at what your culture calls ruins, you may indeed see
one or more of our spirits still inhabiting the temples in this canyon.”
By James McGillis at 06:52 PM | Travel | Comments (0) | Link
No comments:
Post a Comment