Ancient Pueblo Peoples

Carved into the sides of cliffs in Mesa Verde National Park are what has come to be known as Cliff Dwellings. However, a more appropriate name would be cliff houses in a cliff village. The rooms range from small storage areas to entire communities of intertwined living spaces sometimes carved into the sides of cliffs. The Cliff Dwellings are believed to have been built by the Ancestral Puebloans (“Cliff Dwellings”), aka Anasazi and Pueblo Indians. This shift in the name of these people represents a changing discourse, one that used to view Native Americans as savages, but now recognizes these Native Americans as a collection of hundreds of separate communities with distinct languages and cultures. The name “Indian” came from Christopher…

However, during the Arcaic period two archaic groups likely converged near Mesa Verde where each brought their own languages, farming techniques and craft goods such as pottery. During the basket maker period there was a shift in need for a more sustainable source of food. Once nomads they begin to settle in the area and focus more on raising crops and building permanent housing. During the Pueblo period many farmsteads came together and started a large community. Housing was built together and…

In the Mesa Verde region in the South Western corner of Colorado, existed a group of people known as the Anasazi, or Puebloans. Mesa Verde was occupied by farmers who lived in cliff dwellings. Due to its high elevation, it was believed that when the surrounding areas were experiencing bad conditions, people would move to Mesa Verde. The Anasazi existed in this region from about 600 AD to 1300 A.D. Between 700 and 850 AD, the population in this region doubled in size. However, just a few hundred…

Under harsh environments and geological challenges, many people couldn't survive under this condition, but two groups of people, managed to adapt, and worked around their surrounding and make the most out of it. These people are the Puebloans cliff dwellers from Mesa Verde, and the Incas from Machu Picchu. The Puebloans from Mesa Verde adapted to their surrounding and lived within cliffs. They build large cliff dwellings called 'The Alcove' which the biggest of them contains 150 rooms and 23…

cracks, freezing, thawing, and eventually expanding the rock apart. Going into more detail, the water is absorbed into the pores within the sandstone. Once the water reaches the layer of shale, which does not absorb water that well, the water is pushed back to the cliff face (Geology of Mesa Verde, p. 2). According to the National Park Service, seep springs are then found where the water emerges from the cliff face. The Ancestral Puebloans would use these alcoves as part of their homes. The…

The culture of the Pueblo Indians differentiated itself from all of the different cultures that surrounded it in the Americas. The Pueblo Indians lived upholding the values of sobriety and inoffensiveness and their culture was centered around a complex ceremonial life. Benedict in this chapter tells us that the Pueblo Indian’s rituals and ceremonies were more important than any other activity to the Pueblo. All members of the Pueblo community would partake in the rituals and tremendous time…

Furthermore, the way the Indians were treated by the European settlers was wrong and inhumane. The Europeans wanted control and land and cared little for the natives taking what is rightly theirs from them. When the Europeans first landed and had a first-hand look at the natives already living here, they saw them to be not modern people but seen as one with nature. The…

Introduction: Chaco Canyon is home a diverse collection of the most fascinating archeological sites from ancient North America, and among these sites is the well-known Pueblo Bonito. This great house is undoubtedly the most famous of all Chaco Canyon great houses, with well over 350 ground rooms, 32 kivas, and thousands of significant artefacts relating to Anasazi culture. The buildings of Pueblo Bonito were occupied over a variety of years, spanning from ca. 850 until the early portion of the…

Baring their Teeth: The Anasazi Legacy The culture of the Ancient Puebloans, or Anasazi, is mostly left to mere guesswork. Their written language is a dead to today 's linguists. The only thing left to understand about their lives is found in what they left behind; which was much more than a few pieces of gorgeous pottery. For 2,000 years the anasazi ruled Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, and Kayenta, spanning most of the southwest United States writes Kathy Weiser. From 1200 B.C. to 1300 A.D. The…

The Anasazi as they are now known were an advanced Native American culture found in the Southwestern United States. The word Anasazi Is derived from a Navajo Indian term which roughly translates into two separate terms the first of which speaks to a very likely adversarial relationship with neighboring tribes “The ancient Enemy” the second of which is a great deal less ominous and is merely “The ancient Ones”. Both are fitting names as Anasazi culture is thought to date as far back as far as…