User:Elinruby/Cliff Dwellers

Cliff_Dwellings

The cliff dwellers of the Southwestern United States came from distinct but perhaps related cultures. Construction of the cliff dwellings started around 1000AD and they had mostly been abandoned by 1300.

In the Four Corners area the people who lived there likely came from the Chaco Canyon area, and dispersed to settlements on more fertile land. Many of these Pueblos still exist today. Some may be the longest continuously-inhabited places in North America. Acoma has existed since 1200 and, new excavations suggest, perhaps since before the time of Christ. Oraibi on Hopiland's Third Mesa, was established in 1100.

Nomenclature

Cliff dwellers of the Four Corners area are generally called Pueblo ancestors or Ancestral Pueblo Peoples, although they have also been called Anasazi. However, this name means "ancestors of our enemies" in Navajo and may offend present-day Pueblo. The Hopi sometimes use the word Hisatsinom, which also means ancestors. Some academics seem to be adopting this term.

Current Pueblo Settlements


 * San Ildefonso
 * Sandia Pueblo
 * Santa Clara Pueblo
 * Tesuque
 * Taos
 * Zia
 * Zunihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Chacoan_history

Abandoned Pueblos Pecos Pueblo bustled in its heyday but disease, raids and migration had reduced its population to less than 300 by around 1780, when its entire population left the site and moved to Jemez.

The Guadeloupe Pueblo in the Las Cruces area seems to have formed from the remnants of the Cliff Dwellings of the Pueblo Ancestors


 * Bandelier National Monument
 * Mesa Verde National Park

Sinagua Cliff Dwellings in the Flagstaff Area


 * Walnut Canyon National Monument
 * Wupatki National Monument
 * Elden Pueblo

'''Sinagua in the Verde Valley

The Mogollon created the Gila Cliff Dwellings and the Mimbres culture may have grown from theirs. Emil Haury first made the case for the Mogollon as a a separate culture, although he is better known for his Hohokam excavations at Snaketown.

Casa Grande Mesa Grande

Also see

 * Archaeological Context
 * Damage done by excavation enthusiast
 * Pueblo Revolt
 * Beyond the Mesas is a website for a film of the same name about the boarding school experience for Hopis. The film's author and producer also posts comment about Hopi news and links to additional information about Hopi people.
 * Indian Pueblo Cultural Center