DISCOVERY OF SUN TEMPLE

NTIL the summer of 1915 no structures had been discovered in the Mesa Verde except those of the cliff-dwelling type. Then the Department of the Interior explored a mound on the top of the mesa opposite Cliff Palace and unearthed Sun Temple. Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, who conducted the exploration, believes that this was built about 1300 A. D. and marks the final stage in Mesa Verde development.

Sun Temple was a most important discovery. It marked a long advance toward civilization. It occupied a commanding position convenient to many large inhabited cliff dwellings. Its masonry showed growth in the art of construction. Its walls were embellished by geometrical figures carved in rock.

A fossil palm leaf, which the Cliff Dwellers supposed to be a divinely carved image of the sun, is embedded in the temple's walls.

CONSTRUCTIVE DETAIL OF SOUTH WALL, SUN TEMPLE

DRAWING SHOWING CONSTRUCTIVE DETAIL OF SUN TEMPLE