The high, arid plateau that includes parts of New Mexico, Colorado, Texas and Arizona created special demands on the indigenous peoples of the region. In order to survive they learned to cultivate plants and build architecture that adapted to the climate Although the earliest evidence of maize (Indian corn) pollen is about 1200 BC in the Southeast and 1000 BC in the Southwest, the indigenous peoples of the arid Colorado Plateau region of the Southwest apparently were more receptive to growing Mexican plants as a supplement to wild foods.
Domestication of indigenous plants had begun 2500 years earlier in the Southeast. The combination of a wide variety of indigenous crops, plus the vastly greater supply of wild foods provided little incentive for Southeastern peoples to experiment with imported food sources.
Basketmaker II Period: 1000 BC - 500 AD
Throughout the period 1000 BC to about 500 AD, the indigenous peoples experimented with various crops that originated in Mesoamerica or in their own locale. Varieties of maize and squash were developed which would thrive in the arid, four season climate. These plants were grown in small gardens at the base camp with little care from their owners. It possible that the gardens were left unattended for weeks at a time as family bands wandered the countryside, hunting game and gathering wild foods as they ripened. The cultivated plants became increasingly important to their diets, but never completely replaced wild vegetables and fruits. Several varieties of beans arrived in the region beginning around 400 AD.
The era from 1000 BC-500 AD, when the Southwest's indigenous peoples were living in pithouses, but becoming increasingly skilled at gardening is known as the Basketmaker II Period. Archaeologists assigned this label because until about 750 AD, Southwestern cultures did not know how to make pottery. Baskets and ultimately, gourds, were used for storages. Pottery was first created in the Southeastern United States around 2500 BC and in Mexico around 1600 BC. It is not known why corn cultivation traveled from Mexico 1750 years earlier than the knowledge of pottery.
The architecture of the Basketmaker II Period was extremely simple. Up until around 300 AD crude huts were created by digging shallow pits and stacking saplings over them in a teepee fashion. In the winter, the covering of the teepee-pithouse was probably animal skins. In the warmer, dryer months, available vegetation was woven into the framework to provide shade. These lightweight structures would have provided no protection against poisonous snakes or large predators. Undoubtedly, on many a night, a rattlesnake slid into a pithouse to snuggle up to something warm!
Basketmaker III Period: 500 AD - 750 AD
Beginning around 500 AD, the Southwest's indigenous peoples became much more sedentary. Corn, beans and squash had become a much more important part of their diets. They had learned that cultivation and perhaps, pouring of water on the plants would greatly increase productivity. Several other Mexican crops, such as peppers, also were being planted.
During the Basketmaker III Period, the pit houses in farmstead hamlets became more stoutly built, larger and more sophisticated. Their construction often included interior partitions, anterooms and air circulation baffles. Families often lived in these more substantial pithouses for up to 15 years. They were able to become more sedentary because of the increased proportion of cultivated foods in their diets. They still built simple teepee-like pithouses at locations where small bands seasonally hunted or gathered wild foods.
Pueblo I Period: 750 AD - 900 AD
Beginning around 750 AD, the indigenous peoples of the Southwest began occupying permanent farmsteads that provided families most of their vegetative dietary needs. Wild seeds, nuts, cactus leaves and fruits supplemented the cultivated foods.
The knowledge of making pottery arrived onto the Colorado Plateau around 750 AD. This technology might have been spread by the dispersal of the population of Teotihuacan between 600 AD and 750 AD. An external source for ceramics seems likely since several ethnic groups began immediately making quite sophisticated pottery. With the actual knowledge on how to created vitreous ceramics from clay was accompanied by an understanding of color slips and decorative patterns. In the Southeast, the first crude pots appeared around 2500 BC, but the evolution to more sophisticated and decorative ware was much, much slower. (See article on Teotihuacan.)
The bow & arrow was introduced in the Southwest during this period. This technology might also have been the result of major population movements out of central Mexico due to the abandonment of Teotihuacan. Prior to that time, the primary hunting weapon had been the atlatl, a lightweight javelin which was slung at game with a throwing stick. The bow & arrow greatly increased the range at which a hunter could kill game. This resulted in more animal protein being available to their families. With increased, and more nutritious food supplies, came larger families, longer life spans and population growth.
Domestic architecture changed radically when families began living on permanent farmsteads. Some pithouses were still built, but those ethnic groups which settled on farmsteads began building rectangular wattle & daub or masonry houses. The wattle & daub houses were similar to the more primitive structures in the Southeast. Vertical posts were planted into the ground. A lathing of vines and saplings was woven between the posts. Upon this lathing was packed several layers of clay. In the Southwest, this is known as adobe construction. Unlike houses in the Mississippi Valley and eastern United States, the roofs of these houses were either flat or only slightly sloped. They were framed with crisscrossed samplings and sheaved with whatever vegetation was available.
A little later stone masonry houses appeared. Their form was almost identical to that of the adobe houses, and they also had flat or slightly sloping roofs. The walls were made by stacking fieldstone walls with clay mortar.
Initially, the adobe and fieldstone houses were small one room sheds. However as the indigenous people became more experienced in building solid wall houses, they increased in size. The typical manner that a farmstead home would expand was for cubicle of similar size to be added linearly to the original structure. Sometime additions were constructed at right angles to the original line of rooms, but the homes continued to be only one room in width.
By the end of the Puebla I period, large villages had developed. Some of these villages contained as many as 600 residents. While the majority of residents concentrated in villages, or at least hamlets, others continued to live on isolated farmsteads. The cultural sophistication of the region was about to change radically. Around 900 AD, the people living in Chaco Canyon (now New Mexico) beginning constructing architecture like no one had seen in North America. The cultural advancements of Chaco Canyon soon spread outward in a 200 mile radius circle.
Source: The Examiner
