A continuation of the previous period, this stage of the Ancestral Puebloan Culture saw even wider use of farming plants. Hunting and gathering remained culturally important, but the staple diet from this time consisted of mostly crops, especially maize
Pit-house complexes became more complex as population grew and agriculture flourished. Basket-weaving developed further. Advances in hunting also took place with the adoption of the bow and arrow. This was far more efficient than the older atlatl spear-thrower
Around c.550 CE, Ancestral Puebloan farmers moved into the Mesa Verde region, after thousands of years of seemingly no presence. [NPS Archives] While the population was small here, the nearby large ruins at Pleasant View, Colorado show evidence of defensive walls
The transition from the Basketmaker Period to the Pueblo Period was marked by two major shifts: the growing importance of pottery over basketmaking, and the evolution of pueblo houses from earlier pit-houses
In the mid-800s, the settlement at Chaco Canyon underwent a large construction boom; monumental architecture was built at a scale never before seen in the Southwest. This has been attributed to the start of the Medieval Warm Period, which made dry areas around the world wetter. This made agriculture easier
Atlatl Cave in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico was inhabited around this time. The residents were farmers, based on remains of squash, corn, beans, and maize found at the site. In future centuries, Chaco Canyon would become home to the largest and most extensive Puebloan settlements.
As Chaco Canyon rapidly grew towards the end of the Pueblo I period, it attracted migrants from the whole Puebloan cultural area. Mesa Verde was once again more or less abandoned. [NPS Archives]
Bolstered by the wetter climate, Puebloan society became even more centralized. Monumental “great houses” served as political centers, while outlying farmsteads were smaller collections of pueblos. This period is also the “Chacoan Period” because Chaco Canyon was the cultural hub for the entire region
Around 1000 CE, people once again enter the archeological record at Mesa Verde. This population were the direct ancestors of those who made Mug (1200s).
Also called the “Great Pueblo Period”, the time between c. 1150 and c. 1350 CE was a time of great change. The early part of the period was the most impressive period of Puebloan construction
Signs that indicated the climate was changing included a 50 year mega-drought in the Southwest. Farming became impossible in many places, and Chaco Canyon, the once-central hub of the Ancestral Puebloans, was abandoned. Some may have migrated to other settlements, including those at Mesa Verde.
The population at Mesa Verde survived the drought and, no longer on the brink of starvation, began to construct massive cliff-dwellings, marking a unique monumental tradition. While not the only settlement in the area (we don’t know which one Mug (1200s) came from), the so-called Cliff Palace is the most famous
Mug (1200s) was made in the 1200s in the Mesa Valley area. For information on what this object is, see the rest of the presentation!
The “Medieval Warm-Period” ended around 1250 CE, and conditions in the Southwest began to dry. This culminated In 1276 with the start of yet another mega-drought, this one being 23 year-long. Even the advanced canal network of the Ancestral Puebloans failed to keep the crops feeding Mesa Verde from drying up
The drought had caused the remaining population centers to decline, with many (such as Mesa Verde) being abandoned completely. Most Puebloans in the Four Corners region moved south into Arizona and New Mexico, eventually becoming the modern Puebloan peoples like the Zuni and Hopi
At the start of this period, maize agriculture was brought to the Southwest from Mesoamerica along trade routes. The transition to dependence on farming was gradual, taking around a thousand years. Pit-houses became the norm as people settled down. The oldest pit-house near Mesa Verde dates from c
“Archaic-Early Basketmaker Period.” National Parks Service, February 24, 2015. https://www.nps.gov/chcu/learn/historyculture/archaic-early-basketmaker-period.htm.
Around nine thousand years ago, the hunter-gatherer peoples of the American Southwest began to follow seasonal crops and established semi-sedentary settlements. [Chaco Culture] The shift is thought to have occured because of the extinction of America’s Ice Age megafauna (large animals like Woolly Mammoths)