Picture of the week

The Doll House

The lesser known and more remote Anasazi ruin known as the Doll House.  Traveled here a month ago with some of my friends (Don and Cliff) who were able to find this on a previous visit after a bit of detective work. This particular ruin is in remarkably good condition, including the wood beams in the ceiling.  The brick work is still all intact, with little signs of erosion.  The remote and more hidden location combined with a large overhang could have contributed to the excellent condition of this house?  

But after examining this structure and the surrounding area, something still strikes me odd about this place.  It almost seems too perfect, being centered in a larger alcove and with no other signs of other structures from the past.  Based on my experiences of exploring about two dozen other Anasazi ruin locations, they all tend to have other remains nearby, with other signs of their former occupation such as pictograms on nearby walls, old corn cobs, blackened walls, or piles of rocks and other debris left over by pot hunters and other scavengers.  For the Doll House, I saw no such other evidence.  It is also odd that this particular structure is divided into two separate chambers with an interior wall with each having a window in the front, but the openings seemed on the small side to be used as doorways compared to other ruins.  If these chambers were used as granaries, then there should have been a protruding ledge on the window thresholds for a leaning a covering stone to protect the interior contents from rodents and other animals.  Perhaps there was some more recent reconstruction that did not get it right, or some previous ledge at the front that has since been removed? 

You can explore more of these Anasazi ruins found in southern Utah as documented on a previous set of trips here.

All content and images are property of Stephen Fischer Photography, copyright 2014.  Last updated: 6/1/2014   ()