Popular tourist attractions Ouro Preto, Brazil

Although Ouro Preto now relies heavily on the tourism industry for part of its economy there are important metallurgic and mining industries located in town such as Novelis formerly Alcan the most important aluminum factory in the country the Companhia Vale do Rio Doce and others. Main economic activities are tourism transformation industries and mineral riches such as deposits of iron bauxite manganese talc and marble. Minerals of note are gold hematite dolomite tourmaline pyrite muscovite topaz and imperial topaz. The imperial topaz is a stone only found in Ouro Preto. Soapstone handicraft items are a popular souvenir among tourists and can be found in many shops in the town centre and street fairs.

Popular tourism Palace in Mesa Verde National Park

Popular Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde National Park. A severe drought from 1130 to 1180 led to rapid depopulation in many parts of the San Juan Basin particularly at Chaco Canyon. As the extensive Chcoan system collapsed people increasingly migrated to Mesa Verde causing major population growth in the area. This led to much larger settlements of six to eight hundred people which reduced mobility for Mesa Vdeans who had in the past frequently relocated their dwellings and fields as part of their agriculture strategy. In order to sustain these larger population they dedicated more and more of their labor to farming. Population increases also led to expanded tree felling that reduced habitt for many wild plant and animal spevies that the Mesa Verdeans had relied on further deepening their dependency on domesticated crops that were susceptible to drought related failure.