Collections

Curating a Collection

Mesa Verde National Park’s museum collection consists of objects, archives, and specimens relating to the people, history, and natural resources of the Park. The collection is primarily stored within the state-of-the-art LEED Platinum Visitor and Research Center built in 2012. Curation staff are responsible for the care and management of, as well as access to the museum collection. Care of collections includes maintaining optimal environmental conditions for a wide variety of material types, preservation and conservation work, contamination testing, organization, and proper handling and storage. Collections management ensures accountability through database management, documentation, and inventory. Curation staff also provide access to collections through exhibitions, research appointments, finding aids, and collections photography.

About the Collection

The collection totals approximately 2.5 million items with a wide range of collection types. The largest collection is archives, reports, correspondence, and photographs generated by park personnel and activities, then pre-contact archeological objects from the cliff dwellings and mesa top sites. The park also has an array of scientific specimens obtained via permits, like pressed plants, pinned insects, and geological specimens, and art and ethnology objects from traditionally associated Tribes.

Mesa Verde National Park also houses two high-profile collections. Architect Mary Jane Colter donated her Indigenous jewelry and art to Mesa Verde in 1947. In 2018, the Estate of David Rockefeller donated the Collection of David and Peggy Rockefeller to Mesa Verde, consisting of Indigenous art collected by the Rockefellers during their trips to the Western United States.
These collections tell vital stories about the history of the park and peoples’ ongoing and changing relationship to the land and each other and are an integral piece of our nation’s heritage.

How to View the Collection

Viewing portals at the Visitor and Research Center allow visitors to see into the collections repository and the collections processing room. Interactive screens provide 3D views of select objects for visitors to view and learn about in-depth. Exhibits in the Visitor and Research Center as well as in the Chapin Mesa Museum show a diverse range of items from the collection.

Information for Researchers

Objects and archives are available for researchers to access onsite at the Visitor and Research Center. Onsite research is by appointment only and dependent on staff availability. Appointment hours are 8 am-noon, 1 pm-4 pm, Monday-Friday, mountain time. Curation staff request two weeks’ notice for onsite appointment requests. Researchers are expected to complete a Researcher Registration Form and adhere to all object handling guidelines and instructions provided by curation staff.

For information on the status of accessing the collection for research purposes, please contact Museum Curator/NAGPRA Coordinator Gwenn Gallenstein at Gwenn_Gallenstein@nps.gov or at 970-529-4614. The Mesa Verde Visitor and Research Center is located at 34840 Highway 160, Mancos, CO 81328.