THE SOUTHWEST REGION: THE ANASAZI
(MODULE 15D)
Read: Fagan (2000:317-329; 333-339;343-350)
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A. While the Archaic Cochise culture forms the substrate for both the Hohokam and Mogollon cultures, Cynthia Irwin
Williams believes that the Oshara Archaic Tradition provides the basis for Anasazi developments.
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| Map highlighting location of Anasazi (modified from
Thomas (1999:90 map) |
B. The Pre-Anasazi and Anasazi Cultural Chronology:
1. Oshara Archaic Tradition (ca. 5500 B.C.-A.D. 450) (resulting from the work of Cynthia Irwin Williams):
a. Jay Phase (ca. 5500-4800 B.C.)
b. Bajada Phase (ca. 4800-3200 B.C.)
c. San Jose Phase (ca. 3200-1800 B.C.)
d. Armijo Phase (ca. 1800-800 B.C.)
e. En Medio Phase (ca. 800 B.C.-A.D. 400)
2. Basketmaker Period (ca. ? B.C.-A.D. 700) (resulting from the Pecos Conference of 1927):
a. Basketmaker I (ca. ? B.C.-A.D. 1 Note that this overlaps with the end of the Armijo Phase and the
middle of the En Medio Phase of Irwin Williams.)
b. Basketmaker II (ca. A.D. 1-450 Not, that this also overlaps with the middle to end of Irwin Williams'
En Medio Phase)
c. Basketmaker III (ca. A.D. 450-700)
3. Pueblo Period (ca. A.D. 700-Present) (also resulting from the standardization reached at the Pecos Conference)
a. Pueblo I (ca. A.D. 700-900)
b. Pueblo II (ca. A.D. 900-1100)
c. Pueblo III (ca. A.D. 1100-1300)
d. Pueblo IV (ca. A.D. 1300-1600)
e. Pueblo V (ca. A.D. 1600-Present)
C. The Southwest Archaeological Chronology for the Anasazi Area:
1. The Oshara Archaic chronology (following Cynthia Irwin Williams):
a. Provides details on the Post-Pleistocene Archaic of the Anasazi area
b. Cross tabulates with the main periodization scheme worked out by Alfred Vincent Kidder at the
Pecos (Pueblo) Conference (1927)
c. Jay Phase:
(1) ca. 5500-4800 B.C.
(2) A generalized Archaic lifeway characterized by small base camps
d. Bajada Phase:
(1) ca. 4800-3200 B.C.
(2) Like the Jay Phase, but with increased reliance on wild, vegetal foods
(3) Increasing number of hearths to process such foods
e. San Jose Phase:
(1) ca. 3200-1800 B.C.
(2) Population begins to increase
(3) Milling stones indicate increasing reliance on vegetal products
(4) Post holes indicate simple surface structures
(5) Southwest appears moister at this time
f. Armijo Phase:
(1) ca. 1800-800 B.C.
(2) Maize appears
(3) Ground-stone tools increase
(4) Settlements:
(a) Reach macroband size
(b) Larger fall and winter camps (of 30-50 people)
g. En Medio Phase:
(1) ca. 800 B.C.-A.D. 400
(2) Economic cycle set in accordance with seasonality
(3) Horticultural life beginning, but primary subsistence still oriented toward hunting and gathering
(4) This phase overlaps/integrates with Basketmaker I and II
2. Basketmaker Period:
a. Basketmaker I:
(1) ca. ? B.C.-A.D. 1:
(2) Note, again, that this overlaps with the end of the Armijo Phase and the middle of the En
Medio Phase of Irwin Williams.
b. Basketmaker II:
(1) ca. A.D. 1-450
(2) Note, again, that this also overlaps with the middle to end of Irwin Williams' En Medio Phase
(3) Anasazi basketmakers "start to identify selves"
(4) Maize and squash domesticated (no beans yet)
(5) No ceramics yet
(6) General description: primarily hunters and gatherers practicing some horticulture
c. Basketmaker III:
(1) ca. A.D. 450-700
(2) Settlement moves from ecotonal locations to one favoring moist alluvial valley soils
(3) Pit houses are circular to rectangular and may be 7 meters in diameter
(4) Larger pit houses may have been early kivas
(5) Beans added to domesticates
(6) Ceramics become widely accepted
3. Pueblo Period:
a. Pueblo I:
(1) ca. A.D. 700-900
(2) Residences shift from pit houses to masonry above-ground structures
(3) Pit houses remain as ritual locations
(4) Cotton added to list of domesticates
(5) Most settlements remain small, but some may exceed 100 structures
b. Pueblo II:
(1) ca. A.D. 900-1100
(2) A period of expansion and elaboration
(3) Period of population growth and increased sedentism
(4) Maximum extent of Pueblo area reached
(5) Kivas become fully developed with standardized features:
(a) Sipapu
(b) Central fire pit
(c) Encircling benches
(d) Wall niches, etc.
(6) Pottery:
(a) Assumes recognizable forms
(b) Black-on-white wares predominate
(7) Climate:
(a) Conditions may have been warmer and moister in the area than at present
(b) Especially so during the summer months
(8) Settlements:
(a) Most settlements remain small—probably fairly egalitarian
(b) Exception—the so called "Chaco Phenomenon"
c. The "Chaco Phenomenon":
(1) As indicated, somewhat of a dramatic Pueblo II exception
(2) Profiled in the Odyssey Video: The Chaco Legacy (shown in class)
(3) Large, concentrated, stratified trading population in northwest New Mexico, especially
around Chaco Canyon
(4) Dates: A.D. 850-1150
(5) 13 "towns" were built on the north (the cliff side) of the valley canyon
(6) 400 villages on the south (gently sloping side) of the valley
(7) "Towns" appear to conform to predetermined plans
(8) Broad, pedestrian roadways connected Chacoan centers with distant outlier communities
(9) Clearly, trade was a very significant factor in this florescence (or was it?)
(a) Chacoans may have been mining and controlling vast amounts of turquoise to
satisfy Mesoamerican demand (?)
(b) Maybe were controlling and working the Cerillos Mines east of Chaco Canyon
(c) Traded in shell from the Pacific (in particular from the Sea of Cortez)
(d) Copper bells from Sinaloa
(10) One of the most spectacular Chacoan architectural accomplishments was Pueblo Bonito
(a) Measured 160 by 100 meters, forming a D-shaped complex
(b) Covered 3 acres
(c) 800 apartment rooms
(d) Four stories tall—stepping down toward the center
(e) Numerous large circular kivas at base of rooms around courts toward center of "D"
(11) Chaco area declines around mid-1100s
(12) What accounts for the Chacoan ascendancy and then decline? Some thoughts:
(a) Some would suggest that accelerating trade led to Chacoan development and
that when this eventually fell away, it lead to ultimate Chacoan decline.
(b) Are there any problems with this basic thesis?
(c) After all, we can see today how trade and commerce can lead to development,
while when a "rich" area becomes marginalized, the area can become impoverished.
(d) I think that we have tended to look at the Chaco Phenomena and tried to
understand it in modern economic terms, but that such reasoning has flaws.
(e) How does trade increase prosperity?
i) Today, it does because we have a cash economy and when an area
produces things, those things become commodities—subject to
comparative valuation in a market.
ii) Things are exchanged for other things or for some kind of acceptable
currency.
iii) This, the currency, or objects traded for, can be amassed and the
owner can become wealthy.
iv) In this way, trade stimulates development.
(f) What about the Anasazi case?
i) Turquoise clearly had a "market" in Mesoamerica.
ii) We know this because Cerillos Mine turquoise has been found in the
far-distant Maya area that has been sourced to the Cerillos Mine
near Chaco Canyon.
iii) Other Mesoamerican turquoise also has been sourced to the same location.
(g) What has returned from Mesoamerica?
i) Copper jingle bells from Sinaloa (northwest Mesoamerica)
ii) Macaw feathers, maybe even the flute-playing Kokopelli?
(h) How might such things have stimulated the Anasazi of Chaco Canyon to have
produced their "phenomenal" development?
(i) Did Chacoan "buying power" lead to increased food or other necessary resources?
(j) In other words, how might the Mesoamerican "riches" have been "invested"
in the local economy to produce the Chacoan florescence?—Just some thoughts!
d. Pueblo III:
(1) ca. A.D. 1100-1300
(2) Note: the "Little Ice Age" is beginning around this time, probably starting to affect local
climatic predictability (hence, what was a "normal" year might start to be in question!)
(3) This period may be remembered as the period of the cliff dwellers.
(4) Upland Colorado and New Mexico Plateau settlements were abandoned
(5) Population constricts through aggregation into fewer, but denser-settled locations
(6) Locational decisions appear to reflect a concern for defense/security—but from what?
(7) Examples of Pueblo III sites:
(a) Kayenta
(b) Mesa Verde
(c) Canyon de Chelly
e. Pueblo IV:
(1) ca. A.D. 1300-1600
(2) Note: the onset of the "Little Ice Age" is already on its way! (having started at least during
Pueblo III times).
(3) Settlement:
(a) Settlement moves away from the Colorado Plateau uplands (i.e. abandonment)
(b) Population shifts south and eastward to by-and-large present locations
(c) Small villages disappear
(d) Towns of 200 to 2,000 become the norm
(4) Pottery and mural art indicates contact with Mexican-oriented peoples, but without
evidence of trading contacts in the form of direct importation (see above discussion)
(5) Kachina Cult may date from this time
f. Pueblo V:
(1) ca. A.D. 1600-Present
(2) A time of movements of peoples
(a) New peoples move into the area around white contact times
i) Athabaskan:
a) Navajo
b) Apache
ii) Numic: (or Uto-Aztecan):
a) Paiute
b) Ute
iii) Yuman:
a) Havasupai
b) Walpai
(b) Why population shifts? Numerous factors may be pertinent:
i) Population movement?:
a) Result of "just history?"
b) Result of changing landscape and resource base due to climatic
changes?
ii) Warfare?:
a) Destruction of villages
b) Need to relocate refugees
iii) Arroyo erosion?:
a) Result of bad land management?
b) Result of climatic instability?
iv) Climatic instability?:
a) By this time, the "Little Ice Age" should have been increasingly
been having an impact
i) Increased drought in the Southwest as a result?
ii) Probably beginning to have an impact earlier during
Pueblo III and IV times
iii) Impact should have been direct on those living there.
iv) But also upon others who felt compelled to leave their
own homelands for "greener hills" (that maybe did not
exist there either!)
v) "System enrichment" as a unifying theory?
a) Southwestern cultures had overspecialized and become
dependent upon one resource—water!
b) While they became excellent administrators, they could not
make it (H2O)!
c) The moral—"Don't put all of your eggs in one basket!" (in this
case, a "hydraulic" one!)
D. Terms related to discussion of: THE SOUTHWEST REGION: THE ANASAZI
1. Anasazi culture:
2. Anasazi geographical distribution
3. Anasazi architectural development
4. Anasazi art: technology, style, and iconography
5. Anasazi external ("foreign") contacts
6. The "Chaco Phenomena"
7. Anasazi: meaning? location? general characteristics of cultural developmental sequence?
8. Anasazi: what transforms from Basketmaker to Pueblo times?
9. Anasazi: Pueblo II and the "Chaco Phenomenon": meaning? significance?
10. Why didn't the "Chaco Phenomenon" occur everywhere?
11. Chaco Canyon: characteristics during Pueblo II times?
12. Kiva and construction elements:
13. Sipapu
14. Video: The Chaco Legacy: represents what?
15. Chacoan "roads": discuss various interpretations
16. Chacoans and turquoise: another Mesoamerican connection? describe
17. The Cerillos Mine: significance?
18. Pueblo Bonito: exemplifies what?
19. Reasons for settlement relocation during Pueblo III
20. Kachina
21. Pueblo "Cliff Dwellers":
22. Pueblo V: reasons for population shifts and decline?
23. Casas Grandes site (state of Chihuahua, Mexico)
24. Anasazi sites:
25. Chaco Canyon sites
26. Chacoan outliers
27. Pueblo Bonito site
28. "Cliff dwellings"
29. Mesa Verde sites
30. Kayenta site
31. The "Little Ice Age" and its possible multi-faceted impacts upon prehistoric Southwestern cultural developments (?)
32. "System enrichment" as a device for understanding prehistoric cultural change—the Southwestern scenarios (?)
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