During the Pueblo III period, most people in the Mesa Verde region moved into large villages with many roomblocks and kivas. Some roomblocks were more than one-story tall. There were also great kivas, where many people could gather for important events. Some sites had towers.

Sand Canyon Pueblo in the A.D. 1200s. This is a good example of a village
that was built around a spring at the head of a canyon.

Many villages were built at the heads of canyons. These pueblos usually had at least one spring, which would have been a source of drinking water. Often villages in these locations were enclosed by thick walls. The walls might have been used to protect the village and its water supply.

This picture shows what the large village of Sand Canyon Pueblo looked like about A.D. 1270. The village was built around a spring at the head of a canyon. A wall wrapped around the village.

Inside the pueblo were more than 420 rooms, about 90 kivas, 14 towers, and a great kiva. Archaeologists at the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center excavated parts of Sand Canyon Pueblo in the 1980s and 1990s.

This cliff dwelling at Mesa Verde National Park is called Cliff Palace. It has 23 kivas
and more than 150 rooms.

Other villages were built in natural rock alcoves. These villages are called cliff dwellings.

There was usually a spring in the alcove where people got their drinking water. The alcove provided natural protection for the cliff dwelling and its water supply.

This is a photograph of a cliff dwelling at Mesa Verde National Park, located on Mesa Verde.