U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIORBUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
|Grand Gulch Information|
Please treat archeological ruins with respect so that future generations can enjoy them.
This area was occupied by Ancestral Puebloan
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIORBUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
|Grand Gulch Information|
Please treat archeological ruins with respect so that future generations can enjoy them.
This area was occupied by Ancestral Puebloan Native Americans between 800 and 2,000 years ago. They grew primarily corn, beans, and squash, and made use of some wild foods as well. They made and used stone tools, pottery, and baskets. They pecked or painted rock art images on some cliff faces. They lived in permanent homes made of stone, wood, and mud. These may have been built on the surface of the ground, dug into the ground, or built in protected areas such as under overhangs and high in the cliffs. Many of the smaller structures in the cliffs are actually granaries where food was stored. More information about the Ancestral Puebloans and other cultural periods is available on Archeology webpage.
These structures are fragile and should never be entered. Please enjoy them from the outside. Let others enjoy the thrill of discovery, as well. Tell them about the area, but let them visit their own special places. Never post the location of a ruin on the internet. This can lead to too many people visiting a specific site, which can cause serious damage.
When you visit archeological sites, please take care not to harm them. Leave all artifacts in place; don’t make piles for pictures or take them home. Artifacts tell an important part of the story that makes these places special. If you visit a ruin with standing walls, please don’t climb on the walls and don’t enter rooms. Standing walls are fragile and can easily be damaged. Stay on the trails. Leave your backpack and your pets outside the site. Never touch or put chalk on rock art figures, and don’t write on the rocks. Take only pictures, and leave only footprints.
Please Stay Out of the Trash. The midden is sometimes thought of as a prehistoric trash mound. It is usually soft, charcoal-stained soil located immediately down slope of an alcove or cliff site. Middens contain valuable evidence of day to day activities revealing changing preferences in pottery, food, tools and even treatment of the dead. Please avoid creating or using trails through midden area, as trailing increases the natural erosion processes which eventually destroy these reservoirs of scientific information.
Would you want someone violating your ancestor's bones? If you come upon human bones, please leave them alone and notify a ranger as soon as it is possible. Keep in mind that burial sites are the remains of ancestors of present day Native Americans and should be treated with respect. Nati