Life in the cliff cities

The cliff dwellers farmed on the plains at the foot of their cliff homes or on the flat-topped hills, called mesas, above their dwellings. They grew beans, corn, cotton, squash, and tobacco and raised turkeys. They hunted deer and mountain sheep with arrows that had points of flaked stone. The people ate from pottery dishes and bowls that they painted with red or black designs. In summer, both men and women wore skirts woven from cotton, milkweed, and yucca fibers. In winter, the cliff dwellers wore fur robes and blankets made of cords wrapped with turkey feathers or rabbit skin.

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