Spruce Tree House II
David Noble
Created : 1991
Donated : 1994
Medium : Photography
Dimensions: 21 inx28 in
Located: 3rd Floor, Southeast Hallway
In Spruce Tree House III, Mesa Verde, one of Mesa Verde’s major cliff dwellings is photographed moments after the passing of an early winter snowstorm. The pueblo was inhabited by the Anasazi Indians, ancestors of New Mexico’s Pueblo Indians, in the thirteenth century. The Anasazi left this site and many others in the Four Corners region in the mid- to late 1200s. Some migrated to New Mexico, settling in the northern Rio Grande Valley.
David Grant Noble came to New Mexico in 1971 and became immersed in southwestern prehistory when he was hired as photographer on a major archaeological project near Santa Fe. This experience led to his writing and illustrating Ancient Ruins of the Southwest: An Archaeological Guide and editing a series of other books, including New Light on Chaco Canyon and Santa Fe: History of an Ancient City. In 1994, Noble’s Pueblos, Villages, Forts and Trails: A Guide to New Mexico’s Past was published.
In addition to Noble’s extensive research and work in the Southwest’s cultural history, he has been active as a fine art photographer. His photographs focus on the region’s landscape with its wealth of Indian ruins and rock art. His art can be seen in galleries in New Mexico as well as across the country. Noble’s mission to preserve New Mexico’s ancient monuments and ruins through his art is profoundly expressed in his own words:
“In an age such as our own, when the pace of external change often exceeds our ability to adapt, ancient ruins can have more than a purely scenic or romantic appeal. Ruins are time anchors, giving substance to an elusive past. They are also the headstones, if you will, of deceased cultures. Ruins memorialize the successes and failures of our predecessors and remind us of the mortality of civilization.”
