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69-582: The Ancestral Puebloans , also known as the Anasazi and by the earlier term the Basketmaker-Pueblo culture, 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 . They are believed to have developed, at least in part, from

138-543: A coal mine near Kayenta, comes near the Four Corners. The Four Corners region was one of the first locations in the United States in which helium was extracted, and the area is increasingly important as a source of helium supply, with the region being noted for its abundance of high-grade 'green' helium . The most notable helium field in the region is Arizona's Holbrook basin. Terrain The understanding of terrain

207-513: A different cycle unrelated to rainfall. This forced the abandonment of settlements in the more arid or overfarmed locations. Evidence suggests a profound change in religion in this period. Chacoan and other structures constructed originally along astronomical alignments, and thought to have served important ceremonial purposes to the culture, were systematically dismantled. Doorways were sealed with rock and mortar. Kiva walls show marks from great fires set within them, which probably required removal of

276-480: A few generations was probably also due to migrations of people from surrounding areas. Innovations such as pottery, food storage, and agriculture enabled this rapid growth. Over several decades, the Ancestral Puebloan culture spread across the landscape. Ancestral Puebloan culture has been divided into three main areas or branches, based on geographical location: Modern Pueblo oral traditions hold that

345-423: A large system of easy transportation, as timber was not locally available. Analysis of strontium isotopes shows that much of the timber came from distant mountain ranges. Throughout the southwest Ancestral Puebloan region, the inhabitants built complexes in shallow caves and under rock overhangs in canyon walls. Unlike earlier structures and villages atop mesas, this was a regional 13th-century trend of gathering

414-465: A range of structures that included small family pit houses , larger structures to house clans , grand pueblos , and cliff-sited dwellings for defense. They had a complex network linking hundreds of communities and population centers across the Colorado Plateau . They held a distinct knowledge of celestial sciences that found form in their architecture. The kiva , a congregational space that

483-437: A regular grid", is essentially an indication of the ruggedness or relative height of the terrain. Geomorphology is in large part the study of the formation of terrain or topography. Terrain is formed by concurrent processes operating on the underlying geological structures over geological time : Tectonic processes such as orogenies and uplifts cause land to be elevated, whereas erosional and weathering processes wear

552-482: A single stage. Most houses faced south. Plazas were almost always surrounded by buildings of sealed-off rooms or high walls. There were often four or five stories, with single-story rooms facing the plaza; room blocks were terraced to allow the tallest sections to compose the pueblo's rear edifice. Rooms were often organized into suites, with front rooms larger than rear, interior, and storage rooms or areas. Ceremonial structures known as kivas were built in proportion to

621-662: A smooth, leveled surface in the bedrock or removing vegetation and soil. Large ramps and stairways in the cliff rock connect the roads above the canyon to sites at the bottom. The largest roads, built at the same time as many of the great houses (1000 to 1125 CE), are: the Great North Road, the South Road, the Coyote Canyon Road , the Chacra Face Road , Ahshislepah Road, Mexican Springs Road ,

690-569: A terrain or curvatures at each location. These measures can also be used to derive hydrological parameters that reflect flow/erosion processes. Climatic parameters are based on the modelling of solar radiation or air flow. Land surface objects, or landforms , are definite physical objects (lines, points, areas) that differ from the surrounding objects. The most typical examples airlines of watersheds , stream patterns, ridges , break-lines , pools or borders of specific landforms. A digital elevation model (DEM) or digital surface model (DSM)

759-414: A veneer of small sandstone pieces, which were pressed into a layer of binding mud . These surfacing stones were often arranged in distinctive patterns. The Chacoan structures together required the wood of 200,000 conifer trees, mostly hauled – on foot – from mountain ranges up to 70 miles (110 km) away. One of the most notable aspects of Ancestral Puebloan infrastructure

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828-720: A widespread practice among Ancestral Puebloans. Ancestral Pueblo people in the North American Southwest crafted a unique architecture with planned community spaces. Population centers such as Chaco Canyon (outside Crownpoint, New Mexico ), Mesa Verde (near Cortez, Colorado ), and Bandelier National Monument (near Los Alamos, New Mexico ) have brought renown to the Ancestral Pueblo peoples. They consisted of apartment complexes and structures made of stone, adobe mud, and other local material, or were carved into canyon walls. Developed within these cultures,

897-649: Is administered by the Navajo Nation Department of Parks and Recreation. Other tribal nations within the Four Corners region include the Hopi and other Ute . The Four Corners is home to the capital of the Navajo tribal government at Window Rock , Arizona. The Ute Mountain Ute tribal headquarters are located at Towaoc , Colorado. The US federal government also has a large presence in the area, particularly

966-874: Is available via the Durango-La Plata County Airport in Durango, Colorado , Four Corners Regional Airport in Farmington, New Mexico , and Cortez Municipal Airport in Cortez, Colorado . Interstate 40 passes along the southern edge of the Four Corners region. The primary U.S. Highways that directly serve the Four Corners include U.S. Route 64 , U.S. Route 160 (which serves the Four Corners Monument itself), U.S. Route 163 , U.S. Route 191 , U.S. Route 491 (previously U.S. Route 666 ), and U.S. Route 550 . The main line of

1035-524: Is characterized by fine hatching, and contrasting colors are produced by the use of mineral-based paint on a chalky background. South of the Anasazi territory, in Mogollon settlements, pottery was more often hand-coiled, scraped, and polished, with red to brown coloring. Certain tall cylinders were likely ceremonial vessels, while narrow-necked jars, called ollas , were often used for liquids. Pottery from

1104-420: Is critical for many reasons: Relief (or local relief ) refers specifically to the quantitative measurement of vertical elevation change in a landscape . It is the difference between maximum and minimum elevations within a given area, usually of limited extent. A relief can be described qualitatively, such as a " low relief " or " high relief " plain or upland . The relief of a landscape can change with

1173-416: Is part of a larger region known as the Colorado Plateau and is mostly rural, rugged, and arid. The Four Corners area is named after the quadripoint at the intersection of approximately 37° north latitude with 109° 03′ west longitude, where the boundaries of the four states meet, and is marked by the Four Corners Monument . It is the only location in the United States where four states meet. In addition to

1242-440: Is part of the high Colorado Plateau . This makes it a center for weather systems , which stabilize on the plateau then proceed eastward through Colorado and into the central states . This weather system creates snow- and rainfall over the central United States. Federally protected areas in the Four Corners area include Canyon de Chelly National Monument , Hovenweep National Monument , Mesa Verde National Park , and Canyons of

1311-811: Is that Ancestral Puebloans responded to pressure from Numic -speaking peoples moving onto the Colorado Plateau, as well as climate change that resulted in agricultural failures. The archaeological record indicates that for Ancestral Puebloans to adapt to climatic change by changing residences and locations was not unusual. Early Pueblo I Era sites may have housed up to 600 individuals in a few separate but closely spaced settlement clusters. However, they were generally occupied for 30 years or less. Archaeologist Timothy A. Kohler excavated large Pueblo I sites near Dolores, Colorado , and discovered that they were established during periods of above-average rainfall. This allowed crops to be grown without requiring irrigation. At

1380-512: Is the Chaco Road at Chaco Canyon, a system of roads radiating from many great house sites such as Pueblo Bonito, Chetro Ketl, and Una Vida. They led toward small outlier sites and natural features in the canyon and outside. Through satellite images and ground investigations, archaeologists have found eight main roads that together run for more than 180 miles (300 km), and are more than 30 feet (10 m) wide. These were built by excavating into

1449-568: The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , now operated by the BNSF Railway , passes along the southern edge of Four Corners. The area is home to remnants of through railroads that are now heritage railways . These include the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad . The Black Mesa and Lake Powell Railroad , which connects a power plant with

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1518-1036: The Department of the Interior with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of Agriculture with the Forest Service . The Four Corners region is mostly rural. The economic hub, largest city, and only metropolitan area in the region is Farmington, New Mexico . The populated settlement closest to the center of Four Corners is Teec Nos Pos , Arizona. Other cities in the region include Cortez and Durango in Colorado; Monticello and Blanding in Utah; Kayenta and Chinle in Arizona; and Shiprock , Aztec , and Bloomfield in New Mexico. Air service

1587-649: The Mexican–American War in 1848. In 1863 Congress created the Arizona Territory from the western part of New Mexico Territory . The boundary was legally defined as a line running due south from the southwest corner of Colorado Territory , which had been created in 1861. This was an unusual act of Congress, which almost always defined the boundaries of new territories as lines of latitude or longitude, or following rivers, but seldom as extensions of other boundaries. By defining one boundary as starting at

1656-566: The Oshara tradition , which developed from the Picosa culture . The people and their archaeological culture are often referred to as Anasazi , a term introduced by Alfred V. Kidder from the Navajo word anaasází meaning 'enemy ancestors' ( anaa– 'enemy', -sází 'their ancestors') although Kidder thought it meant 'old people'. Contemporary Puebloans object to the use of this term, with some viewing it as derogatory. The Ancestral Puebloans lived in

1725-490: The sandstone landscape. In areas where resistant strata (sedimentary rock layers), such as sandstone or limestone , overlie more easily eroded strata such as shale , rock overhangs formed. The Ancestral Puebloans favored building under such overhangs for shelters and defensive building sites. All areas of the Ancestral Puebloan homeland suffered from periods of drought and erosion from wind and water. Summer rains could be unreliable and produced destructive thunderstorms. While

1794-483: The "Sky City", in New Mexico. Before 900 CE and progressing past the 13th century, the population complexes were major cultural centers. In Chaco Canyon, Chacoan developers quarried sandstone blocks and hauled timber from great distances, assembling 15 major complexes. These ranked as the largest buildings in North America until the late 19th century. Evidence of archaeoastronomy at Chaco has been proposed, with

1863-431: The 12th and 13th centuries. The main reason is unclear. Factors discussed include global or regional climate change, prolonged drought, environmental degradation such as cyclical periods of topsoil erosion or deforestation, hostility from new arrivals, religious or cultural change, and influence from Mesoamerican cultures. Many of these possibilities are supported by archaeological evidence. Current scholarly consensus

1932-635: The 13th century. Four Corners Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado , southeastern corner of Utah , northeastern corner of Arizona , and northwestern corner of New Mexico . Most of the Four Corners region belongs to semi-autonomous Native American nations, the largest of which is the Navajo Nation , followed by Hopi , Ute , and Zuni tribal reserves and nations. The Four Corners region

2001-734: The American Great Plains , in areas near the Cimarron and Pecos Rivers and in the Galisteo Basin . Terrain and resources within this large region vary greatly. The plateau regions have high elevations ranging from 4,500 to 8,500 feet (1,400 to 2,600 m). Extensive horizontal mesas are capped by sedimentary formations and support woodlands of junipers , pinyon , and ponderosa pines , each favoring different elevations. Wind and water erosion have created steep-walled canyons, and sculpted windows and bridges out of

2070-754: The American Southwest began to leave their historic homes and migrate south. According to archaeologists Patricia Crown and Steadman Upham, the appearance of the bright colors on Salado Polychromes in the 14th century may reflect religious or political alliances on a regional level. Late 14th- and 15th-century pottery from central Arizona, widely traded in the region, has colors and designs which may derive from earlier ware by both Ancestral Pueblo and Mogollon peoples. The Ancestral Puebloans also excelled at rock art , which included carved petroglyphs and painted pictographs . Ancestral Pueblo peoples painted Barrier Canyon Style pictographs in locations where

2139-483: The Ancestral Puebloans originated from sipapu , where they emerged from the underworld . For unknown ages, they were led by chiefs and guided by spirits as they completed vast migrations throughout the continent of North America. They settled first in the Ancestral Puebloan areas for a few hundred years before moving to their present locations. The Ancestral Puebloans left their established homes in

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2208-734: The Ancients National Monument . Mountain Ranges in the Four Corners include Sleeping Ute Mountains , Abajo Mountains , and the Chuska Mountains . Six governments have jurisdictional boundaries at the Four Corners Monument: the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah, as well as the tribal governments of the Navajo Nation and Ute Mountain Ute Tribe . The Four Corners Monument itself

2277-551: The Chinle, Animas, Jemez , and Taos Rivers. The larger rivers were less directly important to the ancient culture, as smaller streams were more easily diverted or controlled for irrigation. 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. The best-preserved examples of

2346-537: The Colorado Plateau, but extends from central New Mexico on the east to southern Nevada on the west. Areas of southern Nevada, Utah, and Colorado form a loose northern boundary, while the southern edge is defined by the Colorado and Little Colorado Rivers in Arizona and the Rio Puerco and Rio Grande in New Mexico. Structures and other evidence of Ancestral Puebloan culture have been found extending east onto

2415-521: The Field Museum in Chicago has been studying a group of Ancestral Puebloan villages that relocated from the canyons to the high mesa tops during the late 13th century. Haas believes that the reason to move so far from water and arable land was a defense against enemies. He asserts that isolated communities relied on raiding for food and supplies, and that internal conflict and warfare became common in

2484-548: The Great Houses were elite, wealthier families. They hosted indoor burials, where gifts were interred with the dead, often including bowls of food and turquoise beads. Over centuries, architectural forms evolved but the complexes kept some core traits, such as their size. They averaged more than 200 rooms each, and some had 700 rooms. Rooms were very large, with higher ceilings than Ancestral Pueblo buildings of earlier periods. They were well-planned: vast sections were built in

2553-769: The Mesa Verde and the Bandelier areas. Evidence also suggests that a profound change took place in the Ancestral Pueblo area and areas inhabited by their cultural neighbors, the Mogollon . Historian James W. Loewen agrees with this oral tradition in his book, Lies Across America: What Our Historic Markers and Monuments Get Wrong (1999). No academic consensus exists with the professional archeological and anthropological community on this issue. Environmental stress may have caused changes in social structure, leading to conflict and warfare. Near Kayenta, Arizona , Jonathan Haas of

2622-480: The Pueblo II became more self-contained, decreasing trade and interaction with more distant communities. Southwest farmers developed irrigation techniques appropriate to seasonal rainfall, including soil and water control features such as check dams and terraces. The population of the region continued to be mobile, abandoning settlements and fields under adverse conditions. There was also a drop in water table due to

2691-605: The Sun Dagger petroglyph at Fajada Butte a popular example. Many Chacoan buildings may have been aligned to capture the solar and lunar cycles, requiring generations of astronomical observations and centuries of skillfully coordinated construction. The Chacoans abandoned the canyon, probably due to climate change beginning with a 50-year drought starting in 1130. Immense complexes known as "great houses" embodied worship at Chaco. Archaeologists have found musical instruments, jewelry, ceramics, and ceremonial items, indicating people in

2760-508: The West Road, and the shorter Pintado-Chaco Road. Simple structures like berms and walls are sometimes aligned along the roads. Some tracts of the roads lead to natural features such as springs, lakes, mountain tops, and pinnacles. The longest and best-known of these roads is the Great North Road, which originates from different routes close to Pueblo Bonito and Chetro Ketl. These roads converge at Pueblo Alto and from there lead north beyond

2829-415: The amount of winter snowfall varied greatly, the Ancestral Puebloans depended on the snow for most of their water. Snow melt allowed the germination of seeds, both wild and cultivated, in the spring. Where sandstone layers overlay shale, snow melt could accumulate and create seeps and springs, which the Ancestral Puebloans used as water sources. Snow also fed the smaller, more predictable tributaries, such as

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2898-460: The canyon limits. Along roadways were only small, isolated structures. Archaeological interpretations of the Chaco road system are divided between an economic purpose and a symbolic, ideological or religious role. The system was discovered in the late 19th century and excavated in the 1970s. By the late 20th century, aerial and satellite photographs helped in the study. Archaeologists suggested that

2967-543: The continuation of the Chaco Canyon elite system, which had seemingly collapsed a century earlier. Other researchers instead explain these motifs as part a wider Pueblo style or religion. During the period from 700 to 1130 CE ( Pueblo I and II Eras ), the population grew fast due to consistent and regular rainfall which supported agriculture. Studies of skeletal remains show increased fertility rather than decreased mortality. However, this tenfold population increase over

3036-462: The corner of another, Congress ensured the eventual creation of four states meeting at a point, regardless of the inevitable errors of boundary surveying. The area was first surveyed by the U.S. Government in 1868 as part of an effort to make Colorado Territory into a state, the first of the Four Corners states formed. While the US Congress in 1863 intended the corners of Colorado to be placed at

3105-412: The correct location of the Four Corners marker, some of which remain to this day. The first Navajo tribal government was established in 1923 to regulate an increasing number of oil exploration activities on Navajo land. The Four Corners Monument is located at 36°59′56.3″N 109°02′42.6″W  /  36.998972°N 109.045167°W  / 36.998972; -109.045167 . The Four Corners

3174-474: The dismantling of their religious structures was an effort to symbolically undo the changes they believed they caused due to their abuse of their spiritual power, and thus make amends with nature. Most modern Pueblo peoples (whether Keresans , Hopi , or Tanoans ) assert the Ancestral Puebloans did not "vanish", as is commonly portrayed. They say that the people migrated to areas in the southwest with more favorable rainfall and dependable streams. They merged into

3243-600: The elite family whose burials associate them with the site practiced matrilineal succession. Room 33 in Pueblo Bonito, the richest burial ever excavated in the Southwest, served as a crypt for one powerful lineage, traced through the female line, for approximately 330 years. While other Ancestral Pueblo burials have not yet been subjected to the same archaeogenomic testing, the survival of matrilineal descent among contemporary Pueblo peoples suggests that this may have been

3312-571: The forerunners of contemporary Pueblo peoples although specific site to modern group connections are unclear. 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 . Pueblo , which means "village" and "people" in Spanish, was a term originating with the Spanish explorers who used it to refer to

3381-676: The form of a 300-year period of aridity called the Great Drought. This also led to the collapse of the Tiwanaku civilization around Lake Titicaca in present-day Bolivia. The contemporary Mississippian culture also collapsed during this period. Confirming evidence dated between 1150 and 1350 has been found in excavations of the western regions of the Mississippi Valley , which show long-lasting patterns of warmer, wetter winters and cooler, drier summers. In this later period,

3450-495: The growing populations into close, defensible quarters. There were buildings for housing, defense, and storage. These were built mostly of blocks of hard sandstone, held together and plastered with adobe mortar. Constructions had many similarities, but unique forms due to the unique rock topography. The best-known site is at Mesa Verde, with a large number of well-preserved cliff dwellings. This area included common Pueblo architectural forms, such as kivas, towers, and pit-houses, but

3519-474: The images were protected from the sun yet visible to the public. Designs include human-like forms. The so-called "Holy Ghost panel" in the Horseshoe Canyon is considered to be one of the earliest uses of graphical perspective where the largest figure appears to take on a three-dimensional representation. Recent archaeological evidence has established that in at least one great house, Pueblo Bonito,

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3588-402: The intersections of lines of specific latitude and longitude, due to a "standard" survey error of the time, the originally surveyed location of the "Four Corners" point, along with the corresponding survey marker, was unintentionally placed by its initial surveyor 1,821 feet (555 m) east of the intended location. In 1925, some 57 years after Congress had first attempted to specify the spot,

3657-431: The land away by smoothing and reducing topographic features. The relationship of erosion and tectonics rarely (if ever) reaches equilibrium. These processes are also codependent, however the full range of their interactions is still a topic of debate. Land surface parameters are quantitative measures of various morphometric properties of a surface. The most common examples are used to derive slope or aspect of

3726-465: The massive roof – a task which would require significant effort. Habitations were abandoned, and tribes divided and resettled far. This evidence suggests that the religious structures were abandoned deliberately over time. Pueblo oral history holds that the ancestors had achieved great spiritual power and control over natural forces. They used their power in ways that caused nature to change and caused changes that were never meant to occur. Possibly,

3795-407: The monument, commonly visited areas within Four Corners include Monument Valley , Mesa Verde National Park , Chaco Canyon , Canyons of the Ancients National Monument and Canyon de Chelly National Monument . The most populous city in the Four Corners region is Farmington, New Mexico , followed by Durango, Colorado . The United States acquired the four corners region from Mexico after the end of

3864-470: The number of rooms in a pueblo. A small kiva was built for roughly every 29 rooms. Nine complexes each had a Great Kiva, up to 63 feet (19 m) in diameter. T-shaped doorways and stone lintels marked all Chacoan kivas. Although simple and compound walls were often used, great houses usually had core-and-veneer walls: rubble filled the gap between parallel load-bearing walls of dressed, flat sandstone blocks bound in clay mortar. Walls were covered in

3933-614: The people also adopted design details from other cultures as far away as contemporary Mexico . These buildings were usually multistoried and multipurposed, and surrounded by open plazas and viewsheds . Hundreds to thousands of people lived in these communities. These complexes hosted cultural and civic events and infrastructure that supported a vast outlying region hundreds of miles away linked by transportation roadways. Built well before 1492 CE, these towns and villages were located in defensive positions, for example on high, steep mesas such as at Mesa Verde or present-day Acoma Pueblo , called

4002-592: The people's particular style of dwelling. The Navajo people, who now reside in parts of former Pueblo territory, referred to the ancient people as Anaasází , an exonym meaning "ancestors of our enemies", referring to their competition with the Pueblo peoples. The Navajo now use the term in the sense of referring to "ancient people" or "ancient ones", whereas others ascribe the meaning of Anasazi to "those who are different from our people"; (lit. Ana = "different from us" + asaza = "the old ones"). Hopi people use

4071-527: The pit-house, a common feature in the Basketmaker periods. Ancestral Puebloans are also known for their pottery. Local plainware pottery used for cooking or storage was unpainted gray, either smooth or textured. Pottery used for more formal purposes was often more richly adorned. In the northern portion of the Ancestral Pueblo lands, from about 500 to 1300 CE, the pottery styles commonly had black-painted designs on white or light gray backgrounds. Decoration

4140-569: The problems surrounding the originally misplaced marker were brought up before the US Supreme Court. In order to amicably remedy this original surveying error, the US Supreme Court then redefined the point of the Four Corners, officially moving the Four Corners point roughly 1,800 feet (550 m) east, to where the original survey had first held it to be all along, and where it remains to this day, duly marked. This initial survey error has resulted in some longstanding misunderstandings about

4209-525: The road's main purpose was to transport local and exotic goods to and from the canyon. The economic purpose of the Chaco road system is shown by the presence of luxury items at Pueblo Bonito and elsewhere in the canyon. Items such as macaws , turquoise and seashells, which are not part of this environment, and imported vessels distinguished by design, prove that the Chaco traded with distant regions. The widespread use of timber in Chacoan constructions required

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4278-572: The same time, nearby areas that suffered significantly drier patterns were abandoned. Ancestral Puebloans attained a cultural "Golden Age" between about 900 and 1150. During this time, generally classed as Pueblo II Era, the climate was relatively warm and rainfall mostly adequate. Communities grew larger and were inhabited for longer. Highly specific local traditions in architecture and pottery emerged, and trade over long distances appears to have been common. Domesticated turkeys appeared. After around 1130, North America had significant climatic change in

4347-462: The size of the area over which it is measured, making the definition of the scale over which it is measured very important. Because it is related to the slope of surfaces within the area of interest and to the gradient of any streams present, the relief of a landscape is a useful metric in the study of the Earth's surface. Relief energy, which may be defined inter alia as "the maximum height range in

4416-466: The southern regions of Ancestral Pueblo lands has bold, black-line decoration and the use of carbon-based colorants. In northern New Mexico, the local black-on-white pottery tradition, the Rio Grande white wares , continued well after 1300 CE. Changes in pottery composition, structure, and decoration are signals of social change in the archaeological record. This is particularly true as the peoples of

4485-713: The space restrictions of these alcoves resulted in far denser populations. Mug House, a typical cliff dwelling of the period, was home to around 100 people who shared 94 small rooms and eight kivas, built right up against each other and sharing many walls. Builders maximized space use and no area was off-limits. Not all the people in the region lived in cliff dwellings; many colonized the canyon rims and slopes in multifamily structures that grew to unprecedented size as populations swelled. Decorative motifs for these sandstone/mortar structures, both cliff dwellings and not, included T-shaped windows and doors. This has been taken by some archaeologists, such as Stephen Lekson (1999), as evidence of

4554-604: The stone dwellings are now protected within United States' national parks , such as Navajo National Monument , Chaco Culture National Historical Park , Mesa Verde National Park , Canyons of the Ancients National Monument , Aztec Ruins National Monument , Bandelier National Monument , Hovenweep National Monument , and Canyon de Chelly National Monument . These villages, called pueblos by Spanish colonists, were accessible only by rope or through rock climbing. These astonishing building achievements had modest beginnings. The first Ancestral Puebloan homes and villages were based on

4623-451: The term Hisatsinom , meaning "ancient people", to describe the Ancestral Puebloans. The Ancestral Puebloans were one of four major prehistoric archaeological traditions recognized in the American Southwest, also known as Oasisamerica . The others are the Mogollon , Hohokam , and Patayan . In relation to neighboring cultures, the Ancestral Puebloans occupied the northeast quadrant of the area. The Ancestral Puebloan homeland centers on

4692-473: The various Pueblo peoples whose descendants still live in Arizona and New Mexico. This perspective was also presented by early 20th-century anthropologists, including Frank Hamilton Cushing , J. Walter Fewkes , and Alfred V. Kidder . Many modern Pueblo tribes trace their lineage from specific settlements. For example, the San Ildefonso Pueblo people believe that their ancestors lived in both

4761-533: Was used mostly for ceremonies, was an integral part of the community structure. Archaeologists continue to debate when this distinct culture emerged. The current agreement, based on terminology defined by the Pecos Classification , suggests their emergence around the 12th century BCE, during the archaeologically designated Early Basketmaker II Era . Beginning with the earliest explorations and excavations, researchers identified Ancestral Puebloans as

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