![]() The only domestic animal was the dog, which was used as a beast of burden. In the beginning, they hunted with spears rather than bows and arrows but were never known to fish. The Pueblo people continued to utilize irrigation methods to grow corn, beans, pumpkins, cotton, and tobacco. However, most important affairs, such as war, hunting, religion, and agriculture, were governed by priesthoods or secret societies. Each pueblo had its chief and sometimes two chiefs, a summer and winter chief, who alternated. Pueblo del Arroyo at Chaco Canyon, New Mexico by the National Park ServiceĮach pueblo was an independent and separate community, though many shared similarities in language and customs. The houses of the pueblo were usually built around a central, open space or plaza in the middle of which was a “kiva,” a sunken chamber used for religious purposes. For better defense, the outer walls generally had no doors or windows, but instead, window openings in the roofs, with ladders leading into the interior.Įach family generally lived in a single room of the building unless they grew too large, at which time, side-rooms were sometimes added. The buildings had flat roofs, which served as working or resting places and observation points to watch for approaching enemies and view ceremonial occasions. These structures were cut sandstone faced with adobe - a combination of earth mixed with straw and water or the adobe was poured into forms or made into sun-dried bricks to build walls that are often several feet thick. Photo by Carol Highsmith.ĭespite their success, the Ancient Puebloans’ way of life declined in the 1300s, probably due to drought and intertribal warfare, and they migrated south, primarily into New Mexico and Arizona, becoming what is today known as the Pueblo people.įor hundreds of years, these Pueblo descendants continued to live a similar lifestyle, surviving by hunting and farming and building “new” apartment-like structures, sometimes several stories high. ![]() The Anasazi Heritage Center - a museum of the Ancestral Puebloan Culture at the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. ![]() These multiple-room dwellings and apartment-like complexes, designed with stone or adobe masonry, were the forerunner of the later pueblos. During this time, they also began building villages, often on top of high mesas or in hollowed-out natural caves at the base of canyons. They also developed excellent skills in basket weaving and pottery making. Though they didn’t give up hunting, they expanded into an agricultural culture, growing maize, corn, squash, and beans, raising turkeys, and developing complex irrigation systems. Their name is Spanish for “stone masonry village dweller.” They are believed to be the descendants of three major cultures, including the Mogollon, Hohokam, and Ancient Puebloans (Anasazi), with their history tracing back for some 7,000 years.ĭuring their long history, the Ancient Puebloans evolved from a nomadic, hunter-gathering lifestyle to a sedentary culture, primarily making their homes in the Four Corners region of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona. The Pueblo Indians, situated in the Southwestern United States, are one of the oldest cultures in the nation.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |