Who were the Mogollon People?   |  Who were the Hohokam People?

What was life like for the Basketmakers?  |   What was life like for the Puebloans?

Why did the Puebloans abandon their homes?

• What is this archaeology stuff?

  This site was created by Jacqueline Dale and Mike Bowen, members of the education faculty at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada.

• Cool tools archaeologists use.

  This site was created by Jacqueline Dale and Mike Bowen, members of the education faculty at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada, page 2.

• Glossary of archaeological terms.

  Explains a number of important archaeological terms from the above site at Simon Fraser University.

• Dating the evidence.

  Material on this website was inspired by "Out of the Past", a video in the Annenberg/CPB Multimedia Collection. From the Annenberg site, "Collapse: Why Do Civilizations Fall?".

• Garbage-ology.

  Also from the Annenberg site, "Collapse: Why Do Civilizations Fall?". Contends that archaeologists are really specialists in studying past peoples' garbage.

• Finding and interpreting evidence.

  Also from the Annenberg site, "Collapse: Why Do Civilizations Fall?".

• Tree-ring dating.

  This is the simplest discussion of tree-ring dating I have discovered so far on the Internet. Site created by Leonard Miller at the University of Arizona, Tucson.

• What is archaeology?

  From the Council for British Archaeology. The site is intended for those who may be seeking jobs in the field, but the explanations are brief and easy to read.

• Why is pottery so important to archaeologists?

  From the Anasazi Heritage Center, Bureau of Land Management.

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• Overview of Where Southwestern Peoples Came From

  From the Southwest Indian Relief Council web site.

• The Earliest People of the Southwest

  From Alan Peterson's Art Site, Coconino Community College, Flagstaff, Arizona.

• Who Were the Ancient Puebloans?

  From the Anasazi Heritage Center, run by the Bureau of Land Management.

• Early Humans & the Basketmakers

  From Mesa Verde National Park.

• Archaic Tools Making Stone Points The atlatl

  These three pages are from the Amistead National Recreation Area, Del Rio, Texas; run by the National Park Service.

• Definition of Paleo-Indian

  Written by archaeologist Tony Baker.

• Overview of the Anasazi

  This page is part of the "Land Use History of North America" website.

• Paleoindians and Archaic Peoples of the Southwest.

  This page was created by Dr. Scott Elias, of the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at the University of Colorado. His essay is part of the "Land Use History of North America" website.

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• The Mogollon People

  Brief introduction from desertusa.com.

• Southwestern Archaeology: Adopt-a-Site

  By Dr. Shereen Lerner, for her course at Mesa Community College, Pheonix, Arizona.

• The Mogollon People

  A brief introduction and map from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, from its website "Tracing the Art of Pueblo Pottery".

• Primitive Civilizations of the Southwest

  This site, from two people at the University of Texas-El Paso, contains information about the Mogollon, Hohokam, and Anasazi cultures.

• Southwest US/Northwest Mexico

  A brief introduction (and timeline) of the Mogollon, Hohokam, and Anasazi cultures, by Chuck Smith.

• The Mogollon

  From the Southwest Indians Relief Council web site.

• The Mogollon

  From Alan Peterson's Art Site, Coconino Community College, Flagstaff, Arizona.

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• Hohokam Irrigation

  This Project was made for Dr. Michael Tang's Science, Technology and Culture Course, Fall Semester, 1998, University of Denver.

• Prehistoric Desert Peoples: The Hohokam

  A brief introduction to the Hohokam from desertusa.com.

• Hohokam Indians of the Tucson [Arizona] Basin

  Linda M. Gregonis & Karl J. Reinhard, chapter one of their book by the same title.

• 3-D Representation of a Hohokam Pithouse

  By Jean Johnson, of Pleione Universe.

• The Hohokam

  By Dr. Shereen Lerner, for her course at Mesa Community College, Pheonix, Arizona.

• Primitive Civilizations of the Southwest

  This site, from two people at the University of Texas-El Paso, contains information about the Mogollon, Hohokam, and Anasazi cultures.

• Southwest US/Northwest Mexico

  A brief introduction (and timeline) of the Mogollon, Hohokam, and Anasazi cultures, by Chuck Smith.

• The Hohokam

  From the Southwest Indian Relief Council web site.

• Timeline of the Hohokam People

  From Alan Peterson's Art Site, Coconino Community College, Flagstaff, Arizona.

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What kinds of food did the Basketmakers eat and what kinds of clothing did they wear?

• Early Humans & the Basketmakers

  "Food was a constant, primary concern for the basketmakers." This page, from Mesa Verde National Park, looks at hunting and gathering.

• Beans in Agriculture

  From Mesa Verde National Park.

• How Did These People Prepare Their Food?

  From the Anasazi Heritage Center, Bureau of Land Management.

• What Did These People Wear?

  From the Anasazi Heritage Center, Bureau of Land Management.

• A Sandal

  From the Anasazi Heritage Center, Bureau of Land Management.

• Sandals of the Anasazi

  Utah Museum of Natural History.

What kinds of work did the Basketmakers do; what tools did they use?

• Leaving Behind Artifacts

  From the "Land Use History of North America" website.

• How Did the Ancient Puebloans Farm?

  From the Anasazi Heritage Center, Bureau of Land Management.

• What Did These People Do Besides Farming?

  From the Anasazi Heritage Center, Bureau of Land Management.

• The Atlatl and Baskets

  From Mesa Verde National Park.

• Growing Use of Bow and Arrows

  From Mesa Verde National Park.

• Use of Natural Resources

  From Mesa Verde National Park.

• Photo of Bone Awls

  From Canyon of the Ancients National Monument, Bureau of Land Management. (Click on middle photo on first row of photos.)

What kinds of shelters did Basketmakers live in and what was their community life like?

• Pithouses

  From Mesa Verde National Park. 

• The Basketmakers Begin to Settle in Villages

  From Mesa Verde National Park.

• What were their religious ceremonies like?

  From Anasazi Heritage Center, Bureau of Land Management.

• What is the meaning of rock art?

  From Anasazi Heritage Center, Bureau of Land Management.

• Did Ancient Puebloans trade with others?

  From Anasazi Heritage Center, Bureau of Land Management.

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What kind of food did the Ancient Puebloans eat and what kinds of clothing did they wear?

• Pueblo Farming

  From Mesa Verde National Park.

• Dryland Farming

  From Mesa Verde National Park.

• Prehistoric Farmers

  From the "History of Land Use in North America" website.

• Puebloan Health

  From Mesa Verde National Park.

• Clothing and the Importance of Yucca

  From Mesa Verde National Park.

• Raising Turkeys

  From Mesa Verde National Park.

What kinds of work did the Ancient Puebloans do and what kinds of tools did they use?

• Managing Water

  From Mesa Verde National Park.

• Pottery (as tools)

  From Mesa Verde National Park.

• More on Pottery and Other Basic Tools

  From Mesa Verde National Park.

• Pottery from the Great (or Classical) Pueblo Period

  From Mesa Verde National Park.

• Sources of Trade (Map)

  From Mesa Verde National Park.

• Stone Tools

  From Mesa Verde National Park.

• Bone Tools and Trade

  From Mesa Verde National Park.

• A Seed Jar

  From the Anasazi Heritage Center, Bureau of Land Management.

What kinds of shelter did the Ancient Puebloans build?

• Transition from Basketmaker to Puebloan

  From Mesa Verde National Park.

• Short Overview of Mesa Verde

  From the "History of Land Use in North America" website, written by Shannon Kelly.

• Evolution of the Pithouse

  This site and the following seven are all from Mesa Verde National Park.

• Climate and the Cliff Dwellings
• Transition to the "Great" Pueblo Period (1100 - 1300 A.D.
• Cliff Palace (Mesa Verde)
• Spruce Tree House and Building Techniques
• Balcony House
• Buildings' Doors at Mesa Verde
• The Costs and Benefits of Living in Large Villages

What was their community life like?

• From Pithouse to Kiva.

  By Bruce Bradley, who in 1982 made a film for the National Park Service on the Ancestral Puebloans. This page shows how he constructed a kiva for that film. Photos and text also show how he roofed the kiva as well as the interior.

• Diagram of a kiva.

  From Patrick Kind of the Granite School District in Utah.

• Visit a three-dimensional kiva.

  This site presents a three-dimensional reconstruction of a Great Kiva, an architectural feature found in many prehistoric Anasazi communities in the Southwestern United States. From the Sipapu web site.

• Kivas and Social Organization

  From Mesa Verde National Park.

• The Great Kiva at Long House (Mesa Verde)

  From Mesa Verde National Park.

• "Virtual Tour of Anasazi Images"

  Ray Rasmussen has developed this site. It contains many, many images, most from the Canyonlands area of Utah. It is especially strong in terms of Anasazi petroglyphs.

• Wall Paintings at Mesa Verde

  From Mesa Verde National Park.

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• Why Did the Pueblos Abandon Mesa Verde?

  From Mesa Verde National Park.

• What Happened to These Peoples?

  From the Anasazi Heritage Center, Bureau of Land Management.

• The Drought Theory - I

  From the History of "Land Use in North America" web site (from a page called "population change").

• The Drought Theory - II

  From the History of "Land Use in North America" web site (from a page called "paleoenvironmental change").

• Drought - 1273 A.D.

  From Mesa Verde National Park.

• Social Strife May Have Exiled Ancient Indians

  New York Times Article "The Anasazi Collapse) by George Johnson.

• Collapse at Chaco Canyon

  From Annenberg/CPB: "Collapse: Why Do Civilizations Fall?"

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