Pueblo II Period

Era in the history of the Pueblo peoples

Ancestral Puebloan periods

Archaic–Early Basketmaker Era
7000–1500 BCE
Early Basketmaker II Era
1500 BCE–50 CE
Late Basketmaker II Era
50–500
Basketmaker III Era
500–750
Pueblo I Period
750–900
Pueblo II Period
900–1150
Pueblo III Period
1150–1350
Pueblo IV Period
1350–1600
Pueblo V Period
1600–present
Map of Ancient Pueblo People in the American Southwest and Mexico.

The Pueblo II Period (AD 900 to AD 1150) 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) is roughly similar[how?] 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.

## Architecture

[edit]

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.[1][2][3] Homes made of stone were more sturdy and fire-proof than the materials used previously. The grouping of the pueblos were called "unit pueblos".[4][5] 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.[6]

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.[1][2][3] Towers, up to 15 feet (4.6 m) tall, were built with housing clusters, with underground access to a kiva or as look-out posts. Trash mounds were generally placed south of the village.[3]

## Communities

[edit]

* Four Corners Region. Due to the dry conditions in the southwest and growing population, communities responded by branching out and establishing new villages and farmland; More than 10,000 sites were established in a 150-year period. During the Pueblo II Period, nearly every spot in the southwest that would support farming not in a flood plain was used for agriculture. Hunter-gatherer artifacts are not found much in the Four Corners region during this period. It is likely that they hunter-gatherer tribes were either forced to seek foraging land in other areas or they assimilated themselves into the Pueblo agricultural lifestyle.[7]
* Mesa Verde. In the Mesa Verde National Park region, contiguous rows of rooms formed E-, U- and L-shaped buildings, and were often formed around a plaza.[3]
* Chaco Canyon. Elaborate, great houses from the Pueblo I Period continued to be built at Chaco Canyon into the 12th century. The structures were much larger than previous dwellings. The multi-storied buildings had high ceilings, rooms with three or four times the space of domestic dwellings and elaborate kivas, such as great, tower and above ground kivas.[8]
* Chimney Rock. Outlier of the Chaco Canyon regional system.

* Agate House at Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona

## Culture and religion

[edit]

* Religion. Community based activities emerged, including ceremonial rituals in great kivas.[3]
* Wall art. Petroglyphs, which appeared in the Petrified Forest National Park during the Basketmaker periods, were made during the Pueblo II and III Periods throughout the Little Colorado River basin. Some of the petroglyphs were solar markers that marked seasonal passage of time between seasonal equinoxes and solstices based upon the suns position in the sky.[9][10]

## Agriculture

[edit]

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 the terraced dams. The dams retained moisture and silt and effectively managed runoff to lower terraces which made an ideal scenario for southwestern agriculture.[3][4]

The population grew during this period, requiring greater amounts of food for the villages.[3] 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 the land became over-populated, wild food and game became scarce.[11]

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.[12] There were periods of time of seasonal hunger and drought when people moved away from their villages and returned "following 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.[13]

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 the grain in mealing bins.[14] 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.[4]

## Pottery

[edit]

Common pottery include corrugated gray ware pottery and decorated black-on-white pottery.[1] Corrugated pottery was made from coils of clay wound into the desired shape and the clay is pinched, which created the corrugated texture.[4] 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.[4]

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 was traded for pottery.[12]

* Mesa Verde Pueblo II corrugated jars Source: National Park Service

* Mesa Verde Pueblo II Mancos Black-on-White jar and ladle Source: National Park Service

* Mesa Verde Pueblo II Mancos Black-on-White Pottery Source: National Park Service

* Anasazi bowl (trade ware) dating from 900–1100 excavated at Chaco Culture National Historical Park

## Other material goods

[edit]

Material goods changed little from the previous periods, such as:[2][3][4][15]

* stone tools, such as axes, hammerstones, pecking stones, knives and scrapers
* manos and metates to grind corn and plants
* bone awls, scrapers, flakers, projectile points
* bow and arrows
* snares
* pottery
* digging sticks
* clothing made from cotton, yucca or hides
* hard cradle boards introduced in Pueblo I
* gaming pieces, pendants and beads

* Mesa Verde Pueblo II manos Source: National Park Service

* Sandal from 700 to 1100. Source: National Park Service

## Cultural groups and periods

[edit]

The cultural groups of this period include:[16]

* Ancestral Puebloans – southern Utah, southern Colorado, northern Arizona and northern and central New Mexico.
* Hohokam – southern Arizona.
* Mogollon – southeastern Arizona, southern New Mexico and northern Mexico.
* Patayan – western Arizona, California and Baja California.

## Notable Pueblo II sites

[edit]

Arizona  | Colorado  | New Mexico  | Utah

|
|
|

Canyon de Chelly
Cohonina
Glen Canyon
Mesa Grande
Navajo Pueblos
Oraibi
Petrified Forest | Canyons of the Ancients
Chimney Rock
Hovenweep
La Plata River valley
Mesa Verde
Ute Mountain
Yucca House | Aztec Ruins
Chaco Canyon
Pecos area | Alkali Ridge
Glen Canyon
Hovenweep

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Pueblo Indian History. Archived 2011-10-08 at the Wayback Machine Crow Canyon Archaeological Center. Retrieved 10–9–2011.
2. ^ a b c Lancaster, James A.; Pinkley, Jean M. Excavation at Site 16 of three Pueblo II Mesa-Top Ruins. Archeological Excavations in Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado. National Park Service. May 19, 2008. Retrieved 10–9–2011.
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Wenger, Gilbert R. The Story of Mesa Verde National Park. Mesa Verde Museum Association, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, 1991 [1st edition 1980]. pp. 39–45. ISBN 0-937062-15-4.
4. ^ a b c d e f Ancestral Puebloan Chronology (teaching aid). Mesa Verde National Park, National Park Service. Retrieved 10–16–2011.
5. ^ Reed, Paul F. (2000) Foundations of Anasazi Culture: The Basketmaker Pueblo Transition. University of Utah Press. p. 61. ISBN 0-87480-656-9.
6. ^ Stuart, David E.; Moczygemba-McKinsey, Susan B. (2000) Anasazi America: Seventeen Centuries on the Road from Center Place. University of New Mexico Press. pp. 58–59. ISBN 0-8263-2179-8.
7. ^ Stuart, David E.; Moczygemba-McKinsey, Susan B. (2000) Anasazi America: Seventeen Centuries on the Road from Center Place. University of New Mexico Press. pp. 56–57. ISBN 0-8263-2179-8.
8. ^ Pueblo Period. Chaco Culture National Historical Park, National Park Services. Retrieved 10–15–2011.
9. ^ Ancient Farmers. Petrified Forest National Park, National Park Service. Retrieved 10–16–2011.
10. ^ Petrified Forest National Park Celebrates the Summer Solstice. Petrified Forest National Park, National Park Service. Retrieved 10–16–2011.
11. ^ Stuart, David E.; Moczygemba-McKinsey, Susan B. (2000) Anasazi America: Seventeen Centuries on the Road from Center Place. University of New Mexico Press. pp. 57, 61. ISBN 0-8263-2179-8.
12. ^ a b Stuart, David E.; Moczygemba-McKinsey, Susan B. (2000) Anasazi America: Seventeen Centuries on the Road from Center Place. University of New Mexico Press. p. 57. ISBN 0-8263-2179-8.
13. ^ Stuart, David E.; Moczygemba-McKinsey, Susan B. (2000) Anasazi America: Seventeen Centuries on the Road from Center Place. University of New Mexico Press. pp. 59, 61. ISBN 0-8263-2179-8.
14. ^ Stuart, David E.; Moczygemba-McKinsey, Susan B. (2000) Anasazi America: Seventeen Centuries on the Road from Center Place. University of New Mexico Press. pp. 59–60. ISBN 0-8263-2179-8.
15. ^ Stuart, David E.; Moczygemba-McKinsey, Susan B. (2000) Anasazi America: Seventeen Centuries on the Road from Center Place. University of New Mexico Press. p. 53. ISBN 0-8263-2179-8.
16. ^ Gibbon, Guy E.; Ames, Kenneth M. (1998) Archaeology of Prehistoric Native America: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. pp. 14, 408. ISBN 0-8153-0725-X.

* v
* t
* e

Indigenous peoples of Colorado

Overview|

* Prehistory of Colorado
* Outline of Colorado prehistory
* Timeline of Colorado history

Contemporary peoples
native to Colorado|

| People|

* Arapaho
* Cheyenne
* Comanche
* Jicarilla Apache
* Kiowa
* Pawnee
* Shoshone
* Ute

|

Reservations|

* Colorado reservations
* Southern Ute Indian Reservation
* Ute Mountain Ute Indian Reservation

Major events|

* Battle of Beecher Island
* Colorado War
* Comanche Campaign
* Meeker Massacre
* Sand Creek massacre

Precontact cultures
in Colorado|

| Paleo-Indian|

* Clovis culture
* Cody complex
* Folsom tradition
* Goshen complex
* Hell Gap complex
* Plainview complex
* Plano cultures

|

Archaic|

* Apex complex
* Basketmaker culture
* Mount Albion complex
* Oshara tradition
* Picosa culture

Post-Archaic|

* Ancestral Puebloans
* Apishapa culture
* Dismal River culture
* Fremont culture
* Panhandle culture
* Sopris phase
* Tipi ring

Noted archaeologists|

* Cynthia Irwin-Williams
* Paul Sidney Martin
* Waldo Rudolph Wedel
* Joe Ben Wheat

Related articles|

* List of ancient dwellings of Pueblo peoples in Colorado
* List of prehistoric sites in Colorado
* Trail of the Ancients

* v
* t
* e

Pre-Columbian North America

Periods
Lithic
Archaic
Formative
Classic
Post-Classic

Archaeological
cultures|

* Adena
* Alachua
* Ancient Beringian
* Ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi)
* Anishinaabe
* Avonlea
* Baytown
* Belle Glade
* Buttermilk Creek complex
* Caborn-Welborn
* Cades Pond
* Calf Creek
* Caloosahatchee
* Clovis
* Coles Creek
* Comondú
* Deptford
* Folsom
* Fort Ancient
* Fort Walton
* Fremont
* Glacial Kame
* Glades
* Hohokam
* Hopewell
* List of Hopewell sites
* La Jolla
* Las Palmas
* Maritime Archaic
* Mississippian
* List of Mississippian sites
* Mogollon
* Monongahela
* Old Cordilleran
* Oneota
* Paleo-Arctic
* Paleo-Indians
* Patayan
* Plano
* Plaquemine
* Poverty Point
* Red Ocher
* Safety Harbor
* Santa Rosa-Swift Creek
* St. Johns
* Steed-Kisker
* Suwannee Valley
* Tchefuncte
* Troyville
* Weeden Island

Archaeological
sites|

* Angel Mounds
* Anzick site
* Bandelier National Monument
* Bastian
* Benson
* Blue Spring Shelter
* Bluefish Caves
* The Bluff Point Stoneworks
* Brewster
* Cahokia
* Candelaria Cave
* Carlisle Fort
* Casa Grande
* Chaco Canyon
* Coso Rock Art District
* Crystal River
* Cuarenta Casas
* Cueva de la Olla
* Cutler
* Eaker
* El Fin del Mundo
* El Vallecito
* Effigy Mounds
* Etowah Indian Mounds
* Eva
* Folsom
* Fort Ancient
* Fort Center
* Fort Juelson
* Four Mounds
* Gila Cliff Dwellings
* Glenwood
* Grimes Point
* Helen Blazes
* Holly Bluff
* Hopewell Culture National Historical Park
* Horr's Island
* Huápoca
* Key Marco
* Kimball Village
* Kincaid Mounds
* Kolomoki Mounds
* Lake Jackson Mounds
* Lehner Mammoth-Kill Site
* L'Anse aux Meadows
* Lynch Quarry Site
* Marksville
* Marmes Rockshelter
* Meadowcroft Rockshelter
* Mesa Verde
* Moaning Cavern
* Moorehead Circle
* Morrison Mounds
* Moundville
* Mummy Cave
* Nodena site
* Ocmulgee Mounds
* Old Stone Fort
* Orwell site
* Paquime
* Painted Bluff
* Parkin Park
* Pinson Mounds
* Plum Bayou Mounds
* Portsmouth Earthworks
* Poverty Point
* Pueblo Bonito
* Rassawek
* Recapture Canyon
* River Styx
* Roberts Island
* Rock Eagle
* Rock Hawk
* Rosenstock Village
* Russell Cave
* Salmon Ruins
* Serpent Mound
* Sierra de San Francisco
* Shell ring sites
* Spiro Mounds
* Stallings Island
* SunWatch
* Taos Pueblo
* Town Creek Indian Mound
* Turkey River Mounds
* Upward Sun River
* Velda Mound
* West Oak Forest Earthlodge
* Wickiup Hill
* Windover
* Winterville
* Wupatki

Human
remains|

* Anzick-1
* Arlington Springs Man
* Buhl Woman
* Kennewick Man
* La Brea Woman
* Leanderthal Lady
* Melbourne Man
* Minnesota Woman
* Peñon woman
* Spirit Cave mummy
* Vero man

Miscellaneous|

* Aridoamerica
* Ballgame
* Black drink
* Ceremonial pipe
* Chanunpa
* Chunkey
* Clovis point
* Container Revolution
* Eastern Agricultural Complex
* Eden point
* Effigy mound
* Falcon dancer
* Folsom point
* Green Corn Ceremony
* Horned Serpent
* Kiva
* Medicine wheel
* Metallurgy
* Mi'kmaq hieroglyphic writing
* Mound Builders
* N.A.G.P.R.A.
* Norse colonization of North America
* Oasisamerica
* Piasa
* Projectile point
* Southeastern Ceremonial Complex
* Stickball
* Three Sisters agriculture
* Thunderbird
* Transoceanic contact
* Underwater panther
* Water glyphs

Related
Genetic history
Pre-Columbian era
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