Located at the upper end of Fewkes Canyon, along the Mesa Top Loop the Fire Temple site is thought to have served a ceremonial function and contains several walls with pictographs. In 1906 52,073 acres (81 sq mi) of a mesa top and its canyons were designated the Mesa Verde National Park. In 1976 the site became a designated wilderness preserve, and in 1978 it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park was formed to protect and preserve the more than 700 years of Native American history located within its boundaries which are represented by over 4,000 archaeological sites. These Native Americans, known as the Anasazi by the Navajo and the Ancestral Puebloans to the National Park Service, are most famous for their cliff dwellings. 
