We have many questions surrounding the high density of round, square, and D-shaped towers at Hovenweep. One basic question surrounds what these towers were used for and why? Some of the towers are positioned on top of solitary boulders at high vantage points and in association with springs close to heads of canyons. This suggest that maybe the inhabitants were guarding this water source as it would be valuable for agriculture. However, many of the towers are down in the canyon, not at high vantage points. Such spots don't seem ideal for surveying agriculture.

Normal pueblo roomblocks are on top of some of the boulders where one would expect to find habitation, but there is no evidence of hearths. However, pottery, jewelry and clothing have been found in the area as indicated on the National Park Service Guide of the site which suggests to me there's still a possibility these towers were used for habitation purposes. Also, Hovenweep has not been thoroughly excavated so maybe excavation would reveal plan material or other artifacts that might indicate a storage function or some other use.

This Pueblo III habitation area was abandoned in the late 1200's. What forced the people to go to the south to the Rio Grande Valley? While violence or raiding from outside peoples seems like a possibility, there hasn't been any evidence found that would indicate violence such as skeletal remains with broken bones such as bashed skulls. Overuse of resources and a change in climate are more likely explanations for migration.

The McElmo masonry at Hovenweep seems similar to the masonry at Chaco Canyon which bets the question if the people at Hovenweep are in some way connected to the people who inhabited Chaco Canyon. Since we know that people change the locations of their sites over time it seems possible these people were associated with Chaco at some point.

The towers date to 1100-1300 AD and most towers are at least 2 to 4 stories. It is possible that the two shapes of the towers (circular and square) could represent male and female however I am not convinced by this explanation. If there was some ceremonial or religious significance in highlighting the difference of men and women through architecture why, wouldn't each tower type be located in different geographic areas as well to further this separation?

The accumulation of towers could have something to do with a line of sight because although towers like Hovenweep Castle seem to have a random scatter of slits in the walls some of them do have direct lines of sight. However, each tower itself often has a similar vantage point which weakens the line of sight argument. A former CC student [Tony King] suggested the towers were built with the idea of ascending to the next world, however there are some towers at the base of the canyon. His argument would be strengthened if the towers in the canyon were tree-ring dated as being earlier than those above because to me it would suggest a physical migration away from the lower levels of existence and the ascension the student theorized.

The McElmo masonry has elaborate chinking in it-a feature seen in earlier Puebloan sites and it also varies in quality (twin towers) among some of the towers, possibly indicating they were built by different groups or are of different ages. Tree ring dating would clarify the question of dates.

Beneath Hovenweep Castle is a huge rubble pile that seems too large to be a wall fall from the castle as the tower is still a few stories high. This rubble could originally have been a room beneath the building. This would explain the few steps below the entryway of the castle that overlook the cliff face.

After our hike doing the two mile loop trail of Hovenweep (completed around 2:30 p.m.) we watched an eighteen minute video in the visitor's center. The video explained Hovenweep is dominated by harsh desert landscape, Hovenweep meaning desert valley. As far as 10,000 years ago Paleoindians hunted large game in these areas. The video supports the idea the towers were not used in the protection of the springs. This is indicated by the random scatter of the towers-not all of them are located near springs. Case in point; Cutthroat is an unusual Hovenweep village as it is not at a canyon head and there is no spring. Round and oval towers punctuate the landscape and it has a tower kiva complex that functioned as a ceremonial building for 100-200 villagers. It's suggested hundreds of possibly thousands of people lived on this plateau.

Around 2:50 pm we headed out to Hackberry, Horseshoe, and Holly Towers along a .8 mi. trail. Horseshoe seems very unique in its double layer of walls. Perhaps this acted as some sort of insulation, but if so why would the walls be spaced over a foot apart like they are? Why wouldn't other towers have this insulation as they would all experience similar climatic conditions? This unique layering could have been some sort of ceremonial function. This notion might be supported by the fact that there is rubble and a smaller circular structure that appears to be a kiva beneath the cliff face Horseshoe rests on.

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