Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but all human beings have the ability to appreciate beautiful things. That is why we wear certain clothes and jewelry, why we paint our houses and cars particular colors, and why we decorate everything from cookies to skateboards. The ancient Pueblo people were no different. They painted their houses, wove designs into their clothing, and decorated their pottery.

The Hopi artist, educator, and poet Ramson Lomatewama expresses his appreciation for natural beauty in many of his poems.

Click on Ramson's photograph to read his poem "After the Rains."

The desire to live in a beautiful place might have inspired the Pueblo people to build their villages in dramatic locations. Most pueblos in the Mesa Verde region are in places that have great views. The author Ian Thompson often wrote about the settings of ancient Pueblo sites.

Click on Ian's photograph to read some of his words.

Did the ancestral Pueblo people choose to live on the edge of Woods Canyon because it was such a beautiful place?

Explore all five theories, then select which theory you think best explains why Pueblo people lived at Woods Canyon Pueblo.