Museum time: Extra Post

Because I have plenty of material for blog posts and have great internet connection here, I'm sneaking in an extra post. It's mostly for the grandkids, but you're welcome to enjoy it, too!

Just a short walk from where we parked. Such an interesting place!

A new spot this year for our Boondockers group was Poverty Flats (or Snowbird Mesa) near Overton, NV (some 60 miles East of Las Vegas). Not sure why it has two names, but it's a great place to boondock or dry camp. The views are gorgeous and there are plenty of places to walk and take pictures all around our rig. The nearby town of Overton boasts a nicely stocked grocery store (Lin's) with a pharmacy. Also, there are two hardware stores, and a community park where we could get water for free. We loaded up our empty water bottles and our water filter and took advantage of that. I also visited their friendly Post Office where I understand they will receive General Delivery. Even though I didn't need that this time, it's good to know for the future.

One little gem there is The Lost City Museum which was built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corp. Into this delightful place they retrieved many artifacts and reconstructed some of the excavation sites that were later covered by Lake Mead (formed when Hoover Dam was built). The museum building had interesting Craftsman touches inside and was not only well built, but it's been very well maintained. I was intrigued by the many models of dwellings of the Pueblo/Anasazi people. The basketry was impressive. And outside they recreated the round dwellings that are indicated by the rock outlines. It was interesting to get a glimpse into their daily life, their living spaces and their skills.

I didn't capture the time line for the many pictures I took, so some of it is by memory. (!) There was a wide range of dates from some time after 1100AD up until the early 1930s with more information than I could absorb. I am no expert on basketry or the Anasazi people, just the bits and pieces I've picked up in various museums around the Southwest, so my captions are somewhat general. I enjoy museums, but don't really attempt to remember all of it! 

A rather sophisticated 3 level dwelling of rock. So cool!

The view from the top looking into it. 

Round rooms or houses was a common theme among the Anasazi, or Ancient Ones. I could live here!

Still life showing how they ground the corn or maize that they grew. So glad I don't have to do this!

This shows a recreation of part of the walls, some containers and corn found. The exposed rock shows how it was built underneath the covering made of local clay.

Beautiful artwork done on this pottery that's over 100 years old. 

These water jugs were first woven, then covered in pitch to make them waterproof. These are really, really old and my favorites of all of the baskets. How did the get the pitch to cover it so well?

Intricate basketry, most dating back 100 - 150 years ago if not later. I'm amazing at how small the weave is! 5 to 7 loops per inch!

Early black and white ware. Found in the excavations and very old.

Recreation of a storage room. It would make sense to store stuff where you have to get in by ladders to keep out vermin, snakes and other threats to the food suppy.

An interesting mostly underground dwelling. I imagine this kept them cooler in the heat and warmer in the cold. The temperature can get extreme, very hot in the day and cold at night.

A large collection of arrowheads of varying sizes and of different kinds of materials. 

Full size replicas outside of their round dwelling places. All the entrances were blocked with grills to keep us nosy people out. Not doubt to preserve it better.

Rustic ladder that I don't think I'd want to try even if I could! Where's the bottom step?

The typical outline left by ruins. The buildings above are what they looked like when used, but in many places all that is left is the outline like this.