The Ancestral Puebloan culture is perhaps best known for the stone and earth dwellings its people built along cliff walls, particularly during the Pueblo II and Pueblo III eras, from about 900 to 1350 CE in total. Pueblo Bonito, the largest of the Chacoan Great Houses, stands at the foot of Chaco Canyon's northern rim. The larger rivers were less directly important to the ancient culture, as smaller streams were more easily diverted or controlled for irrigation. Snow also fed the smaller, more predictable tributaries, such as the Chinle, Animas, Jemez, and Taos Rivers. Where sandstone layers overlay shale, snow melt could accumulate and create seeps and springs, which the Ancestral Puebloans used as water sources. Snow melt allowed the germination of seeds, both wild and cultivated, in the spring. While the amount of winter snowfall varied greatly, the Ancestral Puebloans depended on the snow for most of their water. Summer rains could be unreliable and produced destructive thunderstorms. ![]() ![]() The Ancestral Puebloans favored building under such overhangs for shelters and defensive building sites.Īll areas of the Ancestral Puebloan homeland suffered from periods of drought and erosion from wind and water. In areas where resistant strata (sedimentary rock layers), such as sandstone or limestone, overlie more easily eroded strata such as shale, rock overhangs formed. ![]() Wind and water erosion have created steep-walled canyons, and sculpted windows and bridges out of the sandstone landscape. Extensive horizontal mesas are capped by sedimentary formations and support woodlands of junipers, pinon, and ponderosa pines, each favoring different elevations. The plateau regions have high elevations ranging from 4,500 to 8,500 feet (1,400 to 2,600 m). Terrain and resources within this large region vary greatly. Major Ancestral Puebloan sites in the Four Corners area Three UNESCO World Heritage Sites located in the United States are credited to the Pueblos: Mesa Verde National Park, Chaco Culture National Historical Park and Taos Pueblo. Beginning with the earliest explorations and excavations, researchers identified Ancestral Puebloans as the forerunners of contemporary Pueblo peoples. The current agreement, based on terminology defined by the Pecos Classification, suggests their emergence around the 12th century BC, during the archaeologically designated Early Basketmaker II Era. The kiva, a congregational space that was used mostly for ceremonies, was an integral part of the community structure.Īrchaeologists continue to debate when this distinct culture emerged. They held a distinct knowledge of celestial sciences that found form in their architecture. ![]() They had a complex network linking hundreds of communities and population centers across the Colorado Plateau. The Ancestral Puebloans lived in a range of structures that included small family pit houses, larger structures to house clans, grand pueblos, and cliff-sited dwellings for defense. Contemporary Puebloans object to the use of this term, with some viewing it as derogatory. The people and their archaeological culture are often referred to as Anasazi, meaning "ancient enemies", as they were called by Navajo. They are believed to have developed, at least in part, from the Oshara Tradition, which developed from the Picosa culture. The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Anasazi, were an ancient Native American culture that spanned the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southwestern Colorado. Horseshoe Tower in the snow, Hovenweep National Monument
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