The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Mesa Verde Story, by Anonymous
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| Title: | The Mesa Verde Story |
| Diorama Series, Mesa Verde National Park Museum |
Author: Anonymous
Release Date: March 15, 2021 [eBook #64833]
Language: English
Character set encoding: UTF-8
Produced by: Stephen Hutcheson and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MESA VERDE STORY ***
FROM MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK—SOUTHWEST COLORADO
Diorama Series
Mesa Verde National Park Museum
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1
Diorama No. 1
EARLY MAN IN NORTH AMERICA
This diorama pictures a hunt such as may have takenplace 10 or 12 thousand years ago in what is now northeasternNew Mexico. In 1926, 1927 and 1928, the bones of30 bison of an extinct species were dug out of the bed ofan arroyo near the little town of Folsom, New Mexico.Associated with the bison bones were 19 spear points ofan unusual type. The place where the bones and spearpoints were found had once been a water hole or marshand men probably killed the bison when they came todrink or to wallow. They skinned the animals, cut off whatflesh they wanted and left the carcasses in the mud. Sometimesspear points were lost or were left in the bodies andthese points, preserved with the bones, tell the story ofthe early hunts.
The unusual spear points are now called Folsom Pointsand the men who made and used them are often referredto as Folsom Men. Other spear points of distinctive typeshave also been found with the bones of extinct animalsand it indicates that there were many different groups ofearly men in America.
Men began to drift into America at least 15,000 yearsago. They came from the north, crossing from Asia toAlaska, then moved to the south. These early men werehunters and their spear points, knives, scrapers and otherstone tools have been found associated with the bones ofelephants, mammoths, camels, horses and certain typesof bison which have been extinct in America many thousandsof years.
Little is known about these early inhabitants of NorthAmerica. They lived by hunting and by gathering seeds,fruit and roots of wild plants. They had no permanentdwellings and moved about, following the game on whichthey lived. Pottery was unknown and their utensils andcontainers were made of animal skins. Cooking must havebeen done over the open fire although they may have beenable to cook some foods by dropping hot stones into skincontainers. Many primitive people have cooked in thismanner.
Few human bones have been found, so little is knownabout the appearance or race of these early men. It canbe presumed that they were ancestors of some of ourpresent-day Indians.
The migrations of people from Asia to America whichbegan thousands of years ago continued until only a fewcenturies ago. When the white man finally arrived, therewere hundreds of tribes and many millions of Indians inthe New World.
2
Diorama No. 2
THE BASKETMAKERS—1 to 450 A. D.
Pictured here is a cave occupied by early farming Indianswhom we call the Basketmakers. Having no houses,they used the caves for shelter and since the caves weredry the remains of the people are often found in a remarkablestate of preservation. These first farmers of the MesaVerde region came into the area almost 2,000 years ago,bringing corn and squash with them.
The corn and squash were raised in small mesa-topfields and the people also hunted game animals and gatheredwild plant foods. Corn was the most important food.It could be stored for the winter and when ground on themilling stones, the mano and metate, could be used inmany ways. The area is excellent for dry farming as therainfall averages 19 inches per year.
Pottery was unknown and baskets served as all-purposecontainers. It is because of the beautifully wovenbaskets, bags, sandals and sashes that the people are calledBasketmakers. Dogs were present and their hair was sometimesused in weaving.
In most of the area around the Mesa Verde, houseswere not in use but in the Durango area the remains ofcrude, hogan-like structures have been found. Since mostof the people did not have houses, caves were used forshelter and most of the remains of these people have beenfound in caves where they have been protected from theelements. In the floors of the caves, small slab-lined pitswere constructed for the storage of food. They were alsoused for burials.
The bow and arrow were not used by the Basketmakers.Instead, they used a weapon called the atlatl, athrowing stick with which they threw long arrow-likedarts. The atlatl served to lengthen the arm and a quickoverhand thrust imparted great force to the dart.
The Basketmaker cradle was woven of reeds and withesand a soft pillow was placed under the baby’s head. As aresult, the head developed normally and was not deformed.
Clothing was scanty. Small string aprons were worn bythe women and loin cloths may have been used. Largeblankets were woven from thin strips of fur and these aswell as animal skins served as robes during the colder seasons.Jewelry made from stones, sea shells, bones andseeds was common. Turquoise came into use at this time.
The Basketmakers were highly intelligent, progressivepeople with great ability to develop new ideas and to borrowthings from other people. Although they lived in asimple, rather primitive way, they laid the foundation forthe great developments which were to follow.
3
Diorama No. 3
THE MODIFIED BASKETMAKER PERIOD—450 to 750 A. D.
When Step House Cave, three miles west of the parkmuseum, was excavated in 1926, the ruins of three ModifiedBasketmaker pithouses were found. They were builtabout 600 A. D.
This diorama shows Step House Cave at the time of itsoccupation. Two of the pithouses are shown, one complete,the other being constructed. The men are doing the heavierconstruction work while a woman applies adobe to the roof.Another woman is cooking, two are making pottery andstill another is threshing beans. A father is showing his twosmall sons how to use the bow and arrow and comingthrough the trees are two men carrying a mountain sheep.
The people of this period were direct descendants ofthe Basketmakers shown in Diorama No. 2. Several newdevelopments such as pithouses, pottery and the bow andarrow had appeared, and the way of life had changed.This change is indicated by the new name, Modified BasketmakerPeriod.
Pithouses, the idea borrowed from other people, cameinto general use early in the period. Some were built inthe caves but now that they had good houses the peoplebegan to move to the mesa tops. By 700 A. D., most, perhapsall, were living in small pithouse villages near theirfields. The pithouses provided shelter and comfort duringthe colder seasons.
Pottery appeared early in the period and basketry becameless important. The secret of pottery making waslearned from people to the south and soon the womenwere making water jars, bowls, pitchers, ladles and cookingpots of good quality. Beans came into use, now thatthere were pots in which to cook them, and added anexcellent protein food to the diet.
About 550 A. D., the bow and arrow, borrowed fromother people, came into use. The bow was superior to theatlatl and made hunting and defense of the home easier.Stone axes and mauls and other tools of stone and boneappeared during this period. Turkeys were domesticatedand they and the dogs were the only domesticated animalsthe Mesa Verde people ever had.
The Modified Basketmaker period saw developmentand progress. With houses, pottery and the bow and arrow,and the addition of beans to their diet, the peopleseemed to gain vigor and the population began to grow.By the end of the period, there were hundreds of pithousevillages in the Mesa Verde and a great area around it.
4
Diorama No. 4
THE DEVELOPMENTAL PUEBLO PERIOD—750 to 1100 A. D.
Pictured here is a typical Mesa Verde pueblo of about850 A. D. The houses are joined together in a long curvingrow, facing south. In front are two underground ceremonialrooms, one complete, the other under construction.Around the village are the fields and in the head of asmall draw at the left is a spring which provides water.The people are engaged in the activities of a Septemberday: gathering the crops, drying food, building houses,carrying water, cooking, dressing hides, making potteryand, in some cases, doing nothing at all.
In the two preceding dioramas, the people were calledBasketmakers. From this time on, they will be calledPueblos. Pueblo is a Spanish word meaning village. Thisperiod saw the beginning of true pueblo architecture sothe new name, Pueblo Indians, is used.
During the preceding period, individual pithouseswere built but near the end, the builders began to join thehouses together in compact groups. Early in the DevelopmentalPueblo Period, individual pithouses, used as dwellings,disappeared. The houses became rectangular withvertical walls built of posts and adobe. The rooms werejoined together, end-to-end, in long, curving rows. In frontwere one or more deep pitrooms which served as ceremonialrooms.
Later in the period, stone masonry appeared andhouses were built of stones laid in adobe mortar. Thesevillages usually contained from 4 to 15 rooms built in asingle compact group. In front were one or more ceremonialrooms, now completely underground. These rooms,now called kivas, served as ceremonial rooms, clubroomsand workrooms and were used chiefly by the men.
About 750 A. D., the people began to use a woodencradleboard and the baby’s head rested on the hard boardwithout a pillow. This caused the back of the skull toflatten and the head appeared much broader. From thistime on, almost every head was noticeably deformed.
During the Developmental Pueblo Period, there wasgeneral improvement in everything except basketry whichdeclined as pottery grew in favor. Pottery improved inquality, designs became more common and corrugatedpottery appeared. Minor arts and crafts improved andcotton cloth appeared about 900 A. D. Evidently the cottonwas imported from warmer regions to the south for itwill not mature in the Mesa Verde.
From all appearances, this was a peaceful period, forthe population grew rapidly and the people spread over awide area. Hundreds of small farming villages dotted theMesa Verde area.
5
Diorama No. 5
THE GREAT PUEBLO PERIOD—1100 to 1300 A. D.
Spruce Tree House, shown in this diorama, is the bestpreserved large cliff dwelling in the Mesa Verde. It contains8 kivas and well over 100 rooms and may have hadas many as 200 inhabitants. The diorama shows it as itwas when occupied during the thirteenth century.
The rooms, which were small, served as sleeping andstorage rooms. Most of the activities of the people werecarried on in the open courts and on the house roofs. Picturedhere is a September afternoon and the people arebusy with their many activities. Corn, beans and squashare being carried down from the mesa-top fields andspread on roofs to dry. Women are grinding corn, cooking,carrying water and caring for the babies. Some of the menare building a kiva roof and a new house is also beingbuilt. In the center of the village, old men sit in the sunand talk about bygone days when things were better.
The Great Pueblo Period of 1100 to 1300 A. D. was theclimax of Pueblo development in the Mesa Verde. From1100 to about 1200, the people lived on the mesa tops inwell-built masonry pueblos. The plan of the villages, however,began to change. Kivas, which formerly had beenoutside the village proper, were now placed inside andwere surrounded by houses. Tall, round towers, whichmay have been lookout towers, became common. The villagesalso grew larger and were concentrated in the mostfavorable areas. All of this indicates a need for defenseand it is probable that nomadic Indians were beginningto harass the Pueblo farmers.
About 1200 A. D., the Mesa Verde people began tomove to the caves. Soon most, if not all, were living in cliffdwellings which were simply pueblos built in caves. Thisabrupt change evidently resulted from a need for defenseagainst increasing enemy pressure.
During this last century, the people reached their highestlevel of development. Houses, pottery and all otherarts and crafts except basketry were of the finest qualityproduced in the Mesa Verde. After thirteen centuries ofsteady development, the culture reached its peak.
In 1276 A. D., a drought began which lasted through1299 A. D. Because of the drought and probably, also, becauseof increasing enemy trouble, the people moved tothe south. Some of our modern Pueblo Indians living inNew Mexico and Arizona are their descendants. The MesaVerde was never again occupied by farming Indians. Aftermany silent, empty centuries, the cliff dwellings were discoveredby the white man in 1874.
Transcriber’s Notes
- Silently corrected a few typos.
- Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication.
- In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by _underscores_.
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