ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Cliff dwelling

Okay kiddo, so imagine you're on a big mountain and you see these houses built right into the side of the cliff. Those are cliff dwellings! People used to live in them a long time ago, around 700 years ago.

Now, building a house on a cliff might seem scary, but these were very smart people. They found places where the cliff was level enough to build on and where there was enough shelter from the wind and rain. They also built walls to protect themselves from animals and enemies.

Inside the cliff dwellings, there were rooms for sleeping, storing food, cooking, and even for ceremonies and gatherings. They made the walls out of clay and made beautiful decorations with symbols that were important to them.

The people who lived in cliff dwellings were called Ancestral Puebloans or Anasazi. They lived in the southwestern part of the United States, in places like Arizona and New Mexico. They were very skilled at farming and grew things like corn, beans, and squash. They also hunted animals like deer and rabbits for food.

Over time, the Ancestral Puebloans left their cliff dwellings and moved on to other places to live. Today, we can still visit their amazing homes and learn about how they lived. It's like stepping back in time!
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