PILOT EPISODE 1: REVEALED BY FIRE

Wildfires present both threats and opportunities to archaeological research.

Large wildfires in recent decades threatened to destroy important archaeological sites in Mesa Verde National Park. But they also presented an unparalleled research opportunity, and revealed previously undiscovered treasures.

Wildfires are growing larger and more extreme in the Western U.S. Big, hot fires are a legacy of fire suppression policies on public lands, which allowed forests to grow unnaturally thick. They’re also a symptom of a recent, historic drought, which was not only dry but unusually hot — conditions that prime forests to burn. As the climate changes, hot, dry conditions are expected to become increasingly common in the Southwest. That means big, extreme wildfires may become the rule more than the exception. 

A number of wildfires have lit up the Mesa Verde Region since the late 1980s, and Mesa Verde National Park hasn’t escaped their fury. You’ll see the scars of some of these fires as you drive through the park in places like Chapin Mesa, which is studded with the stick-straight skeletons of thousands of dead trees. 

Wildfires aren't bad, per se. They a natural — and vital — ecological phenomenon in Western forests. Whether people consider them "good" or "bad," "natural" or "unnatural," depends on a lot of factors, including where, when and how they burn. In a place like Mesa Verde National Park, they're a concern because of the threat they pose to archaeological resources. But they're also a learning opportunity. Wildfires burn trees and other vegetation, revealing whatever they’ve grown over and obscured — including previously undiscovered infrastructure built by Ancestral Puebloans. 

You can learn more in the Revealed by Fire episode of Mesa Verde Voices. We hear from Shanna Diederichs of the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, who used to work as a fire archaeologist at Mesa Verde National Park. Diederichs recounts her first experience on the fire lines, and explains the discoveries that were made after the flames burned out. 

Fire Fly By

A plane drops flame retardant on the Long Mesa Fire in 2002 within Mesa Verde National Park. The red material, sometimes referred to as slurry, is composed of a mix of water and organic matter, and works to slow the progress of the fire by coating combustible materials such as trees, grasses, and other vegetation, while firefighters continue to work from the ground.

Fire Camp

The wildland fire crew works in a burned area. While wildfires in the park pose threats to the archaeological sites and other cultural resources, they are also effective at clearing away vegetation and underbrush to reveal more archaeological sites that have been covered for centuries.

A Close Call for Mug House

The Pony Fire in 2002 burned 4,740 acres across Wetherill Mesa and the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation to the west of the park's boundary. Flames came very close to Mug House, a cliff dwelling on Wetherill Mesa, as well as Step House, Long House, and dozens of other cliff dwellings.

Fire Inside

It is common for juniper trees to burn from the inside out when struck by lightning, leaving eerie hollow skeletons of tree trunks across the landscape of the park. Here, the fire is just beginning to hollow the tree out.

A Different Landscape

The view from the ranger kiosk on Wetherill Mesa in Mesa Verde National Park in July 2017. Following the Pony Fire in 2002, the landscape has been changed significantly in this portion of the park, providing for much more open views, skeletal trees, and grasslands.

Sacred Spring

Water may have been a big motivator for the Ancestral Pueblo people to move into the alcoves to construct the cliff dwellings. Most alcoves that house cliff dwellings contain a seep spring in the back, essentially a natural pooling of water as it flows down through the porous sandstone layer and hits a layer of denser shale, which forces the water out. Some sites, such as Long House, contain handmade alterations to the bedrock, allowing for more water to pool, and in ways that are easier for collection, such as this cupule -- the perfect size and shape for scooping out water with a clay dipper or gourd fashioned as a ladle.

Hidden Gardens

Following the Long Mesa Fire in 2002, previously hidden archaeological sites were revealed across the Chapin Mesa area. Pictured here, a series of farming terraces once acted to concentrate water and soils in a natural drainage near the Cedar Tree Tower site. Often referred to as check dams, these strategic masonry walls would have functioned similarly to container gardens today.

Farming Terraces

The farming terraces or check dams near Cedar Tree Tower were revealed by the Long Mesa Fire in 2002, which ultimately burned 2308 acres of Mesa Verde National Park.