The cliff cities

The cliff dwellers constructed their two- or three-story cliff houses on protected ledges or in spaces in cliff walls, using sandstone blocks and mud mortar. They built the small rooms one upon another and placed each story back a short distance from the edge of the one below. As many as 1,500 people could live in some of these dwellings.

The cliff homes had few doors on the ground level. The people used ladders to reach the first roof. In case of attack, they drew up the ladders. Other ladders, steps, or winding paths were cut into the stone. These routes led from the caves and homes up to the tops of the mesas and down to the valleys.

Excerpt adapted from the "Cliff dwellers" article, The World Book Encyclopedia, © 1999