The centerpiece of Mesa Verde National Park, Cliff Palace was discovered in the late 1800s. Park archaeologists noticed a small crack in the masonry and then discovered the north wall was leaning precariously into the structure.
American West Archaeology & Paleontology
Snowmass, Colorado Ice Age fossil site provides scientists with rare climate, vegetative history
DMNS excavation crews arrived at Ziegler Reservoir on Nov. 2 to begin digging for additional fossils and soon uncovered an exceptionally well-preserved Ice Age ecosystem with many Ice Age plants and animals.
Study supports Bering Strait migration, Siberian origin to Native Americans
The study’s findings hint at supporting evidence for scholars who believe early inhabitants followed the coasts to spread south into South America, rather than moving in waves across the interior.
Alaskan Pleistocene gray wolves faced Ice Age extinction
This previously unrecognized type of wolf joined wooly mammoths and saber-toothed cats in the end-Pleistocene extinction 12,000 years ago.
Tracks of ‘swimming dinosaur’ found in Wyoming
A research team identified the tracks of the six-foot-tall, bipedal dinosaur at sites in northern Wyoming, including the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area
Native American petroglyphs found in Colorado
Two separate rock art depictions of armored horses were found on the Purgatoire River in southeast Colorado.
Link between Southwest climate, cultural changes established
Cultural changes during this period, including the earliest evidence for cultivation of corn and cotton, occur concurrently with changes in available moisture.