All That Remains
Cedar Mesa, Utah
2023
It’s pretty amazing that the only thing left of this granary is the more fragile (compared to the rock walls) mud doorway.
All That Remains
Cedar Mesa, Utah
2023
It’s pretty amazing that the only thing left of this granary is the more fragile (compared to the rock walls) mud doorway.
Curious to know the setting (not location) and extent of the granary. When I visited the Dollhouse ruins in the Maze district of Canyonlands the archy (archeologist) I was with explained that the granary often functioned as storage for both food and storage for the next seasons maize crop. As such, it was located close to a rather broad confluences of washes coming down into the main branch of the Colorado river. He theorized that the people that used those granaries were migrating up from the south seasonally and planted their crops in the flood plain below the granaries and cliff dwellings or cave shelter. They stayed long enough in the area to eat their stores and may have stayed past the planting time depending on the size of last years crop and storage. They either stayed there or returned at harvest time to the area in a migration cycle returning south for the winter. Does this granary have a perennial stream and flood plain associated with it?
That area is replete with granaries and other structures. There were nine more or less in a row along the shelf/overhang where this one was and others across the canyon that we visited as well. There was a watercourse at the bottom of the canyon where these were (not running in October) but my best guess is that these folks were dryland farmers, climbing up to the mesa top (not far) above the granaries. I’m making that guess based on reading this article, which you may find interesting as well:
https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/wp-content/uploads/arch-sw-v28-no3no4_sm-1.pdf
I’m jealous of your visit to the Maze area. I’ve wanted to go there ever since reading about Ed Abbey’s visit there years ago. The drive in to access it is very daunting, even today and we missed a chance to go in from river level when we floated the Green some 20 years ago or so. We just didn’t schedule the time to make that jaunt. I imagine now it’s one of those items on my bucket list that is still there when I kick the bucket.