Pueblo III Period
| Ancestral Puebloan periods |
|---|
 |
|
Archaic–Early Basketmaker Era 7000–1500 BCE |
|
Early Basketmaker II Era 1500 BCE–50 CE |
|
Late Basketmaker II Era 50–500 |
|
Basketmaker III Era 500–750 |
|
Pueblo I Period 750–900 |
|
Pueblo II Period 900–1150 |
|
Pueblo III Period 1150–1350 |
|
Pueblo IV Period 1350–1600 |
|
Pueblo V Period 1600–present |
.jpg)
The Pueblo III Period (AD 1150 to AD 1350) was the third period, also called the "Great Pueblo period" when
The Pueblo III Period (Pecos Classification) is roughly the same as the "Great Pueblo Period" and "Classic Pueblo Period" (AD 1100 to AD 1300). It is preceded by the Pueblo II Period, and is followed by the Pueblo IV Period.
Architecture
During the Pueblo III Period most people lived in communities with large multi-storied dwellings. Some moved into community centers at pueblos canyon heads, such as
- Plazas in front of the dwellings were used by women to grind corn, make baskets and clothing and prepare food. Men made their tools and children played there.[6]
- Surface masonry buildings. Not all of the people in the region lived in cliff dwellings; many colonized the canyon rims and slopes in multi-family structures that grew to unprecedented size as the population swelled.[3]
- Talus houses were built at the bottom of a cliff, often in front of "cavates" (cave rooms), and were about 5 feet, 8 inches high and 6 by 9 feet in surface area. The rooms were prepared by scooping soft tuff out of the cavity. Cavates is a term classified by archaeologist Edgar Lee Hewett.[7][8]
-
Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde National Park -
![Puerco Pueblo walls of up to 125 rooms at the Petrified Forest National Park[9]](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/39/Walls_at_the_Puerco_Pueblo.jpg/119px-Walls_at_the_Puerco_Pueblo.jpg)
Puerco Pueblo walls of up to 125 rooms at the Petrified Forest National Park[9] -
Bandelier National Monument Talus House -
Bandelier National Monument Cavates
![Puerco Pueblo walls of up to 125 rooms at the Petrified Forest National Park[9]](/File:Walls_at_the_Puerco_Pueblo.jpg)
Communities
Three major regional centers with cliff dwellings and community centers were Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico, Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado and Betatakin and Keet Seel area (Navajo National Monument) in Arizona.[10]
- Bandelier cliff alcoves and caves contained soft volcanic tuff which was scooped out to enlarge the area for masonry dwellings. Logs of juniper and pinyon trees were used to create frames for willow sticks, grass, bark and earth for ceilings and upper floors.[11]
- Mesa Verde Region in Colorado.[1]
- Ancient Pueblo People's history. Since it is such a rare occurrence, it is difficult to postulate the reasons for the violence. The attacks could have resulted from starvation during a period of drought or because Chuskans were seen as outsiders to the area.[13]
Culture and religion
- The People. The ancient people were short in stature, men were an average of about 5 feet and 4 inches tall and women were a few inches shorter. Women often died between the ages of 20 and 25. Men generally lived to 31 or 35 years old. By the age of 29, many people had degenerative arthritis. People rarely lived more than 40 years.[15]
Based upon the similarities between the
During the Pueblo III period some people were buried with personal objects, indicating both a level of prestige and evolved religious beliefs. To have earned a higher status within the community infers that the settlements developed hierarchical political and social systems.[4]
- Religious devotion. The number of individual family and "great" Hopi people, specifically the "New Fire" rituals.[17]
It is likely that public ceremonial dances were performed for bountiful harvests, health, hunting and rain, like the Hopi Snake Dance. Whatever the ceremonial observance, each person had a role which increased in responsibility and status over time.[18]
- Wall art. Carved Anasazi Heritage Center.[13]
Agriculture
As a means to improve agricultural yield, the Pueblo III period saw advancements in
Pottery
Corrugated gray ware and decorated black-on-white pottery were prevalent in the beginning of the Period. Gray pottery vessels were used for cooking and storage. Designs, primarily geometric designs and symbols of people, animals and birds, were painted on the exterior of black-on-white pottery and the interior of bowls. The pottery made included cooking vessels, jars, mugs, bowls, pitchers, and ladles.[23][24] Pottery making became an art form for individuals who specialized in distinctive styles made for trade. Polychrome (multiple colored) pottery painted in white, orange, red and black was made at the end of the Pueblo III period.[4]
Due to the considerable refinements during this period, pottery from Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon are considered "some of the world's finest ceramic art, ancient or modern."[10]
Other material goods
Some of the material goods from this period are:
- Stone tools. Men gathered hard stone from mountains, river beds or nearby boulders for stone tools:
- axes for cutting down trees
- hammerstones for shaping sandstone blocks
- projectile points for bow and arrow hunting
- knives to cut plants and animal hides
- manos and metates for grinding corn, plants, nuts and seeds.[25]
- Bone tools. Deer, sheep, rabbit and other animal bones were also shaped for tools, such as stitching awls for making clothing, working hides and weaving. Bones were also used for scrapers and fleshers.[25]
- Yucca, a regionally bountiful, drought-resistant plant, was used to make many household goods. Its fibers were used for sewing, cordage and woven into blankets, clothing, sandals and baskets. Sharp barbs were used as needles or made into paint brushes. It was also used as soap and a source of food.[26]
- Cotton cloth. Cotton was obtained through trading, dyed and woven into material by men for clothing.[20]
- Stone and shell ornaments. Jewellery and other ornaments were made from bartered shells and stones from the coasts of
- Other items obtained through trade. Aside from cotton, shell and stones, the people of the third Pueblo period could also barter for cloth, salt, and pottery.[27]
Great migration
By 1300,
There are other theories about why people forever abandoned the northern pueblo regions. Soil nutrients may have become depleted due to many years of farming. Or there may have been wars with other regional tribes.[29]
Cultural groups and periods
The cultural groups of this period include:[30]
- Ancestral Puebloans – southern Utah, southern Colorado, northern Arizona and northern and central New Mexico.
- Hohokam – southern Arizona.
- Mogollon – southeastern Arizona, southern New Mexico and northern Mexico.
- Patayan – western Arizona, California and Baja California.
Pueblo III sites
Gallery
-
White House ruins in Canyon de Chelly National Monument -
Keet Seel cliff dwellings at Navajo National Monument -
Overhead view of Square Tower House at Mesa Verde National Park -
Nankoweap ruins, Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona -
Cliffs at Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico -
Houses at Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico -
Interior of cliff dwellings at Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument -
Monarch Cave Ruin at Comb Ridge, Utah -
Lowry Pueblo in southwestern Colorado -
Hovenweep Castle at Hovenweep National Monument -
Moon House on Cedar Mesa in Utah -
![Large square map of northwestern New Mexico and neighboring parts of, clockwise from left, western Arizona, southeastern Utah, and southwestern Colorado. The map region has a green and blocky rectangular-crescent area at its center labeled "Chaco Culture National Historical Park". Radiating from the green region are seven segmented gold lines: "[p]rehistoric roads", each several dozen kilometers in length when measured according to the map scale factor. Roughly seventy red dots mark the location of "Great House[s]"; they are widely spread across the map, many of them far from the green area, near the extremes of the map, more than one hundred kilometers from the green area. Two proceed roughly south, one southwest, one northwest, one straight north, and the last to the southeast. Yellow dots mark the location of modern settlements: "Shiprock", "Cortez", "Farmington", and "Aztec" to the northwest and north; "Nageezi", "Cuba", and "Pueblo Pintado" to the northeast and east; "Grants", "Crownpoint", and "Gallup" to the south and southwest. They are connected by a network of gray lines marking various interstate and state highways. A fan of thin blue lines along the northern margins of the map depict the San Juan River and its communicants.](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Prehistoric-Roads.jpg/149px-Prehistoric-Roads.jpg)
Prehistoric roads and Great Houses in the San Juan Basin, superimposed on a map showing modern roads and settlements.
![Large square map of northwestern New Mexico and neighboring parts of, clockwise from left, western Arizona, southeastern Utah, and southwestern Colorado. The map region has a green and blocky rectangular-crescent area at its center labeled "Chaco Culture National Historical Park". Radiating from the green region are seven segmented gold lines: "[p]rehistoric roads", each several dozen kilometers in length when measured according to the map scale factor. Roughly seventy red dots mark the location of "Great House[s]"; they are widely spread across the map, many of them far from the green area, near the extremes of the map, more than one hundred kilometers from the green area. Two proceed roughly south, one southwest, one northwest, one straight north, and the last to the southeast. Yellow dots mark the location of modern settlements: "Shiprock", "Cortez", "Farmington", and "Aztec" to the northwest and north; "Nageezi", "Cuba", and "Pueblo Pintado" to the northeast and east; "Grants", "Crownpoint", and "Gallup" to the south and southwest. They are connected by a network of gray lines marking various interstate and state highways. A fan of thin blue lines along the northern margins of the map depict the San Juan River and its communicants.](/File:Prehistoric-Roads.jpg)
References
- ^ a b c Pueblo III – Overview. Crow Canyon Archaeological Center. 2011. Retrieved 10-11-2011.
- ^ Kayenta Region. Archived 2011-10-27 at the Wayback Machine Manitou Cliff Dwellings Museum. Retrieved 10-13-2011.
- ^ a b c Kantner, John (2004). "Ancient Puebloan Southwest", pp. 161–66
- ^ a b c d e Ancestral Pueblo – Pueblo III. Anthropology Laboratories of the Northern Arizona University. Retrieved 10-12-2011.
- ^ Lekson, pp. 158, 175–80.
- ISBN 0-937062-15-4.
- ^ Talus House. Bandelier National Monument, National Park Service. Retrieved 10-15-2011.
- ^ Main Loop Trail Stop 11. Bandelier National Monument, National Park Service. Retrieved 10-15-2011.
- ^ Puerco Pueblo. Petrified Forest National Park. Retrieved 10-11-2011.
- ^ a b c d Great Pueblo Period. Bandelier National Monument, National Park Service. Retrieved 10-14-2011.
- ^ Life of the Early People at Bandelier: Shelter. Bandelier National Monument, National Park Service. Retrieved 10-15-2011.
- ISBN 0-937062-15-4.
- ^ a b c Hurley, Warren F. X. (2000). A Retrospective on the Four Corners Archeological Program. Archived 2011-10-15 at the Wayback Machine National Park Service. Page 3. Retrieved 10-15-2011.
- ISBN 978-0-19-517043-6.
- ISBN 0-937062-15-4.
- ISBN 0-937062-15-4.
- ISBN 0-937062-15-4.
- ^ Life of the Early People at Bandelier: Religion. Bandelier National Monument, National Park Service. Retrieved 10-15-2011.
- ISBN 0-937062-15-4.
- ^ a b Ancestral Puebloan Chronology (teaching aid). Mesa Verde National Park, National Park Service. Retrieved 10-16-2011.
- ISBN 0-87480-656-9.
- ISBN 0-937062-15-4.
- ^ Pueblo Indian History. Archived 2011-10-08 at the Wayback Machine Crow Canyon Archaeological Center. Retrieved 10-11-2011.
- ISBN 0-937062-15-4.
- ^ ISBN 0-937062-15-4.
- ISBN 0-937062-15-4.
- ^ ISBN 0-937062-15-4.
- ^ Droughts and Migrations. Bandelier National Monument, National Park Service. Retrieved 10-14-2011.
- ^ The Ancient Ones. Frontier in Transition: A History of Southwestern Colorado. Bureau of Land Management. Retrieved 10-16-2011.
- ISBN 0-8153-0725-X.
| Overview | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contemporary peoples native to Colorado |
| ||||||||
| Prehistoric cultures in Colorado |
| ||||||||
| Related articles |
| ||||||||
