Gezicht op de westelijke delen van Long House in Mesa Verde National Park before 1893

This is a photograph of the Long House in Mesa Verde National Park taken by Gustaf Nordenskiöld. It was included in his 1893 publication "The Cliff Dwellers of Mesa Verde, Southwestern Colorado, their Pottery and Implements." Here we see the cliff dwellings of the ancestral Pueblo people, who inhabited this region of southwestern Colorado between the 6th and 13th centuries. Nordenskiöld's publication documents his expedition to the Mesa Verde ruins in 1891. As photography was becoming more widespread, it was commonly used by archaeologists and anthropologists to document sites and artifacts for research purposes. The book presents the area as a relic of the past, but it also reflects the contemporary attitudes towards indigenous cultures. It's important to consider the context in which this image was made, and how it may have shaped our understanding of the ancestral Pueblo people. Examining Nordenskiöld's writings, as well as other historical accounts, can help us gain a deeper understanding of the social and institutional forces that shaped the study of the ancestral Pueblo people and their culture.