Anasazi history, and architectural development can be divided into NINE main stages, with artistic, architectural and cultural progression towards the modern Pueblo Indians of today. These stages are:

Basket Maker I: 5500BC - 400 AD

• little is known of the history of this period
• the Anasazi were hunters and gatherers

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Basket Maker II: 700BC - 400/450AD

lived in rock overhangs

made a large quantity of baskets

combined hunting and gathering with farming

main weapon = ATLATLS and darts

• Rohn 1977 dates this period from 590AD - 750AD
• lived in pithouse villages
  • these villages were 2-4 foot below the grounds surface
  • an archaeological survey of Chapin Mesa has recorded Basket Maker III sites, which consisted of 65 individual pithouses. Of course, many more may still lay undiscovered.
  • all of the known house sites on Chapin Mesa, Mesa Verde National Park, were located along the low ridges of the MESA top
  • there was also some limited use of rock shelters
  • the floor plan of these pithouses was roughly circular, approximately 19ft in diameter.
  • walls were clay lined with several upright stone slabs
  • roofs rested on 4 upright posts set into the floor
  • most pithouses had an antechamber facing south
  • presence of upright slab deflectors
  • presence of sipapu
  • circular clay lined hearth
• there was a widespread use of pottery
• the Anasazi were beginning to develop agriculture
• main weapon = bow and arrow

• "PUEBLO" is a spanish word meaning town or village
• the Anasazi continued to live in pithouses, however, these were now above ground. These are known as Slab-Based houses.
• three main characteristics define a Pueblo I site
  • a long narrow mound of burned stones, consisting of fire reddened sandstone, burned adobe and potsherds
  • the presence of upright slabs
  • pottery
• use of 'wattle and daub' wall construction with stone slabs set upright in the wall bases.
• Storage rooms for crops were built

• the Anasazi began to live in pueblo unit villages
• these villages consisted of:
  • multi roomed masonry building
  • Kiva
  • trash dump
  • the Kiva and trash dump were on the south front of the village
• the Kiva became the cultural centre of the village
• village became divided into clans
• introduction of cotton
• domesticated turkey became a source of food

PUEBLO III: 1100AD - 1300AD

• settlements moved from the mesa tops into the open valleys, canyon heads or natural rock alcoves
• the Anasazi began to build huge multi storey, multi room masonary pueblos.
• these villages had many Kivas
• developed water management systems for domestic use and irrigation
• 3 main elements define this period:
  • population increase
  • superior architectural advancement
  • abandonment of 4 corners region.
• final tree ring date at Mesa Verde National Park is 1278. The Anasazi moved and re-established their culture along the Rio Grande.

• modern Pueblo Indians such as the Hopi and the ZUNI

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