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25-537: The original Pecos Classification contained eight stages of Southwestern prehistory, but it did not specify dates. Although the original classification has been significantly debated and sometimes modified over the years, the split into Basketmaker and Pueblo period still serves as a basis for discussing the culture of the Ancestral Puebloans of the Four Corners area. The following classification

50-604: A Basketmaker I Period which was subsequently discredited due to lack of physical evidence. It was combined with the Archaic Period . This period was called Oshara tradition . There was a trend toward a sedentary lifestyle, with small-scale cultivation of plants beginning 1000 BC. The early Ancestral Pueblo camped in the open or lived in caves seasonally. During this period, they began to cultivate gardens of maize ( flint corn in particular) and squash , but no beans . They used manos and metates to grind corn, and

75-440: A plaza . Socially, this was a period of more conflict than cooperation, which is thought to have led to abandonment of settlements at Mesa Verde. The people began making kachinas for religious and ritual purposes. Plain pottery supplants corrugated. Red, orange and yellow pottery is on the rise as the black-on-white declines. Cotton is introduced and grown as a commodity. The Puebloans are joined by other cultures. As early as

100-822: A few uses. Weaving strips of bark or other plant material to support the bark containers would be the next step, followed by entirely woven baskets. The last innovation appears to be baskets so tightly woven that they could hold water. Depending on soil conditions, baskets may or may not be preserved in the archaeological record. Sites in the Middle East show that weaving techniques were used to make mats, and possibly also baskets, circa 8000 BCE . Twined baskets date back to 7000 in Oasisamerica . Baskets made with interwoven techniques were common at 3000 BCE . Baskets were originally designed as multi-purpose vessels to carry and store materials and to keep stray items about

125-556: A kiva or as look-out posts. Trash mounds were generally placed south of the village. Production and use of water conservation dams and reservoirs were also a community-based activities. Reservoirs might reach 90 feet (27 m) in diameter by 12 feet (3.7 m) deep, such as the reservoir near Far View House in Mesa Verde National Park . Terraced, silt-retaining check dams were created on sloping drainage areas where melting snow or rain water ran downhill through

150-463: A wide choice of colors, materials, sizes, patterns, and details. The carrying of a basket on the head , particularly by rural women, has long been practiced. Representations of this in Ancient Greek art are called Canephorae . The phrase " to hell in a handbasket " means to deteriorate rapidly . The origin of this use is unclear. "Basket" is sometimes used as an adjective for a person who

175-773: Is based in part of the Revised Pecos Classification for the Mesa Verde Region. The pre-Ancestral Pueblo culture that moved into the modern-day Southwestern United States after the big game hunters departed are called Archaic . Little evidence for extensive habitation before 8000 BC exists. From evidence near Navajo Mountain , they were nomadic people , hunter-gatherers traveling in small bands. They gathered wild foods when in season , and hunted with stone-tipped spears, atlatls , and darts . Game included rabbits , deer , antelope , and bighorn sheep . The original classification postulated

200-474: Is born out of wedlock. This occurs more commonly in British English. "Basket" also refers to a bulge in a man's crotch. The word “basket” is frequently used in the colloquial “don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” In this sense, the basket is a metaphor for a chance at success. Basket makers use a wide range of materials, including: Pueblo II Era The Pueblo II Period (AD 900 to AD 1150)

225-475: Is religious, in nature. While baskets are usually used for harvesting , storage and transport, specialized baskets are used as sieves for a variety of purposes, including cooking, processing seeds or grains, tossing gambling pieces, rattles, fans, fish traps , and laundry . Prior to the invention of woven baskets, people used tree bark to make simple containers. These containers could be used to transport gathered food and other items, but crumbled after only

250-601: Is roughly similar to the second half of the "Developmental Pueblo Period" (AD 750 to AD 1100). It is preceded by the Pueblo I Period , and is followed by the Pueblo III Period . Villages were larger and had more community buildings than in the Pueblo I Period . Structures were generally made of stone masonry . By AD 1075, double-coursed masonry was sometimes used, which allowed for second story construction. Homes made of stone were more sturdy and fire-proof than

275-462: Is traditionally constructed from stiff fibers , and can be made from a range of materials, including wood splints, runners , and cane. While most baskets are made from plant materials, other materials such as horsehair , baleen , or metal wire can be used. Baskets are generally woven by hand. Some baskets are fitted with a lid, while others are left open on top. Baskets serve utilitarian as well as aesthetic purposes. Some baskets are ceremonial, that

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300-646: The 12th century, populations began to grow after a decline at the end of the Pueblo II Period . More intense agriculture was characteristic, with terracing and irrigation common. Settlements consist of large pueblos, cliff dwellings, towers and turkey pens. Most villages in the Four Corners area are abandoned by AD 1300. The distinction between the Hohokam and Ancient Pueblo people becomes blurred. Typically, large pueblos are centered around

325-569: The 15th century, the Navajo were in the process of migrating into the region from the north. In the next century, the Spanish colonists first came in the 1540s from the south. The Spanish dominate and take over sites such as the Acoma Pueblo . Their arrival sends Pueblo subcultures underground. Basket For other uses see: Basket (disambiguation) A basket is a container that

350-615: The atlatl and spear. Plain bisque and some painted black-on-white pottery is made. Cultivation begins of beans, available due to trade from Central America, and edible due to slow cooking in pottery vessels. Wild amaranth and pinyon pine were also staples. People of this period may have domesticated turkeys . The prototype kivas were large, round, and subterranean. The Pueblo I Period saw increasing populations, growing village size, social integration, and more complicated and complex agricultural systems typified this Period. The construction and year-round occupation of pueblos begins;

375-519: The corrugated texture. In addition to the common gray were used for cooking and storage, pottery from this period included bowls, jars with lids, mugs, ladles, canteens, pitchers, and effigy pots in bird and animals shapes. Pottery was used in trade for food in low-productive farming areas. This helped supplement the diets of people who needed to barter for food – and allowed those with very productive lands to focus on farming. For instance, Chaco Canyon area produced large amounts of surplus food which

400-403: The grain in mealing bins. The mealing bins were designed for grinding areas, where the bins were set alongside one another during a communal effort to grind corn using metates and manos . Common pottery include corrugated gray ware pottery and decorated black-on-white pottery. Corrugated pottery was made from coils of clay wound into the desired shape and the clay is pinched, which created

425-507: The home. The plant life available in a region affects the choice of material, which in turn influences the weaving technique. Rattan and other members of the Arecaceae or palm tree family, the thin grasses of temperate regions, and broad-leaved tropical bromeliads each require a different method of twisting and braiding to be made into a basket. The practice of basket making has evolved into an art . Artistic freedom allows basket makers

450-547: The land became over-populated, wild food and game became scarce. The optimal southwestern farming locations were adjacent to springs, seeps or marshes. Early in the Pueblo II period, the most desirable spots had been taken and, presumably young, families searched out open land to farm, hoping that precipitation would be sufficient to support their crops. There were periods of time of seasonal hunger and drought when people moved away from their villages and returned "following

475-616: The materials used previously. The grouping of the pueblos were called "unit pueblos". Some pueblo sites used a standard plan of front and back pairs of rooms which formed a common cluster of 12 rooms; The rear rooms were used for storage and the front rooms used as living areas. Round-shaped, below ground and standardized kivas were used for ceremonial purposes. Large kivas, called great kivas, were built for community celebrations and were sometimes as large as 55 feet (17 m) in diameter. Towers, up to 15 feet (4.6 m) tall, were built with housing clusters, with underground access to

500-410: The people constructed reservoirs and canals to deal with scarce and irregular water resources. Large villages and great kivas appear, though pithouses still remain in use. Above-ground construction is of jacal or crude masonry . Plain gray bisque predominates in pottery, though some red bisque and pottery decorated in black and white appears. By AD 1050, Chaco Canyon (in present-day New Mexico )

525-447: The rains," stories told by elders of pueblo communities. Evidence of near starvation as children are evident in the interrupted growth lines in their bones and enamel hypoplasias in their teeth. The number rooms for work areas and storage increased during this period. Often the rooms were in the residential buildings, in some cases there were deep pit-houses. Nearly 25% of the rooms were used for grinding corn on metates and storing

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550-618: The terraced dams. The dams retained moisture and silt and effectively managed runoff to lower terraces which made an ideal scenario for southwestern agriculture. The population grew during this period, requiring greater amounts of food for the villages. To increase their yield, there was experimentation to cultivate larger corn cobs, including the Mexican or southern Arizona maize blanco and oñaveno, and locally produced hybrids. They supplemented their diet with hunting and wild plants found on small patches of land unsuitable for farming, but as

575-530: The women made baskets for numerous uses. The people constructed primitive storage bins, cists , and shallow pit-houses . At this stage, evidence suggests that the beginning of a religious and decision-making structure had already developed. Shamanistic cults existed, and petroglyphs and other rock art indicate a ceremonial structure as well. Groups appear to be increasingly linked into larger-scale decision-making bodies. Deep pithouses were developed, along with some above-ground rooms. The bow and arrow replace

600-645: Was a major regional center, with a population of 1,500–5,000 people. It is surrounded by standardized planned towns, or great houses , built from the wood of more than 200,000 trees. Thirty-foot-wide (9.1 m) roads , flanked by berms , radiate from Chaco in various directions. Small blocks of above-ground masonry rooms and a kiva make up a typical pueblo . Great kivas were up to 50–70 feet (15–21 m) in diameter. Pottery consists of corrugated gray bisque and decorated black-on-white in addition to some decorated red and orange vessels. The people imported shells and turquoise from other cultures through trading. During

625-510: Was the second pueblo period of the Ancestral Puebloans of the Four Corners region of the American southwest . During this period people lived in dwellings made of stone and mortar, enjoyed communal activities in kivas , built towers and dams for water conservation, and implemented milling bins for processing maize. Communities with low-yield farms traded pottery with other settlements for maize. The Pueblo II Period ( Pecos Classification )

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