After more than a hundred years, when cowboys first discovered the native American dwellings in the cliffs of Mesa Verde National Park, a wildfire that has raged through the area is uncovering even more sites and giving archaeologists a better understanding of the people who used to live there. At least a dozen previously unknown sites have been found as the latest wildfire stripped away vegetation. The blaze doubled in size in 24 hours and had charred 12,000 acres by Sunday evening. It was only 10 percent contained.
Sandstone explodes when it's heated.
No major structural damage to the sites had been reported by Sunday, but the fire had moved to within 3 miles of the ruins known as Cliff Palace, the park's major attraction, and was burning in Morefield Canyon where there are hundreds of known sites. A dozen archaeologists were accompanying firefighters to help identify new sites and protect them if possible. Mesa Verde National Park is the nation's largest archaeological preserve with more than 4,000 identified sites. Nearly 400 of such sites were discovered in a similar fire in 1996. All of the 600 cliff dwellings in the park were built within a 100-year period after 1200 A.D., Nordby said.