Time Period
About 100 – 1300 AD (some say 1- 1300AD and some say even earlier 12 th century BC)
It thrived for 1000 years.
By 1300 AD, it is said that Ancient Puebloan civilization disappeared from 4 corners. Though there are modern day descendants, Pueblo
People, living in the same area today 19 pueblos in New Mexico.
Location 4 Corners, the area in the southwest where Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico meet
Arid climate Climate
Homes/structures Mesa top villages and cliff dwellings
Homes /Cliff dwellings : lived in houses that had many floors and rooms; built against canyon /cliff walls, mesas, or in caves; used ladders, ropes, rock climbing to get into homes. The outer walls were frequently without doors or windows. Usually entered through rooftops.
Pueblo complexes were like apartment complexes. They were multi-
Other know names for the
Ancient
Puebloans storied and multi-purpose.
Great Houses were places of worship. Kivas were also built. These were all built surrounding a plaza or view shed
Materials: Wood, adobe, mud, and stone
Pueblo came from Spanish word pueblo meaning village
Anasazi came from Navajo word meaning “ancient one” or “ancestral enemies. (There’s some controversy with Anasazi being used.) Hopi use “ Hisatsinom ”
Food/Agriculture Farmed : maize, beans, squash (pumpkins), and later cotton. Not sure on date with cotton
Created a surplus and put it in storage rooms
Not sure the exact time period: Domesticated the turkey, continued to gather plant foods and hunt game.
Set up an irrigation system: dams, canals, and water control features
Culture Basket makers
Pottery makers: bowls, mugs, ladles, etc. have been found
Ceremonies
Kachinas: Not sure on date. I found info saying first evidence of the
Kachina was in the late 1800’s. Then 1325 AD. Kachinas/Katsinas were spirit deities.
Belief Systems Great Houses : Place of worship/ceremonies with 200 or more rooms.
Kivas : sunken rock-hewn chamber for ceremonies. Round underground room. A hole in the roof was both a door and chimney with benches in the walls. One small kiva for every 29 rooms or one large kiva for 9 complexes
Sipapu a place where people could communicate with spirits from an alcove in a kiva, to a body of water to a mountain.

Reasons they left: Climate change, drought that lasted decades/centuries, soil erosion, overuse of resources or possibly cultural reasons. Later in 1500
Spanish invasion. Some say they never left just moved to different areas.
References:
*I really like the summary from this website! http://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-ancientpuebloans.html
______________________________________________________
5 th gr. Reflections, Harcourt School Publishers, pages 40-41. 2007
Language: http://www.bigorrin.org/pueblo_kids.htm
http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~dvess/ids/amtours/anawciv.htm
http://www.cliffdwellingsmuseum.com/arch3.htm
http://www.aaanativearts.com/ancient-indians/anasazi.htm
http://puebloindians.aaanativearts.com/ http://www.indianpueblo.org/museum/collections.html
http://www.mesaverdecountry.com/tourism/archaeology/people.html
http://www.mesaverdecountry.com/tourism/archaeology/mesaverde.html
http://www1.american.edu/ted/ice/anasazi.htm
http://www.indianpueblo.org/19pueblos/index.html
http://www.tolatsga.org/Compacts.html#Winnebago