Mesa VerdeMesa Verde

Fire, water, pottery & architecture

Finding sites (survey)Finding sites (survey)

• What we can controlWhat we can control– Survey intensity = how often we look

Obtrusiveness = ability to detect based on method– Obtrusiveness = ability to detect based on method

• What we cannot control– Site abundance

– Clustering

– Visibility

www.thefurtrapper

VisibilityVisibility

• Site size

• Artifact size

• Density of artifacts

• Size of site exposure

• Duration and frequency of site exposurewww.nia.gr

• Duration and frequency of site exposure

Mesa Verde FiresMesa Verde Fires

• From 1996 to 2003– 5 wildfires

– 50% of parkland burned

Increased site visibility– Increased site visibility• 90% of park had already been surveyed (but low visibility)

• This offered a rare opportunity to survey the park– 593 new sites on only two mesas

– 5 new reservoirs (totaling 9)5 new reservoirs (totaling 9)

– 344 farming terraces near 89 sites

– Check dams rose from n = 191 to n = 1189

www.pinons.info

Water ManagementWater Management

• 9 large reservoirs in the parkg p

• Paleohydrology intensely studied for four

• Box Elder, Sagebrush = mesa top, stone lined

• Morefield, Box Elder = canyon bottom, diversion

• In general– Filled 4 to 5 times each yearFilled 4 to 5 times each year

– Required dredging maintenance

– Provided domestic drinking water

myxj.net

Mesa Verde PotteryMesa Verde Pottery

• May have evolved independently in regionMay have evolved independently in region

• Early examples: Canyon de ChellyI i t f b k t t i– Imprints of baskets on exterior

– Pottery an accidental byproduct of parching trays in basketsin baskets

– Proposed by Earl Morris (1920s)

www.nps.gov

Mesa Verde PotteryMesa Verde Pottery

• Alternatively diffusionAlternatively, diffusion

• Pottery making introduced from southDiff i f M ll– Diffusion from Mogollon area

– Proposed by Blinman

www.nps.gov

Mesa Verde PotteryMesa Verde Pottery

• Intimate outgrowth of basketryIntimate outgrowth of basketry

• Imitation of bottle gourd containers

hearstmuseum.berkeley.edu

www.crowcanyon.org

www.scienceviews.com

Pottery functionPottery function

• Water and food storageWater and food storage– More permanent storage than gourds & baskets

• Cooking• Cooking– Better control of heat

T & i• Temper & corrugation

– Important for beansP t i & il t i t• Protein & soil nutrients

– Allows dried storagearchnet.asu.edu

TemperTemper

• Additive to potteryAdditive to pottery– Sand, crushed pottery, igneous rock

Allows thermal expansion and contraction– Allows thermal expansion and contraction

– Large, abundant, hard temper = resilient pots

“ h d t ” d f d t d t– “sherd temper” = good for decorated pots

h t darchnet.asu.edu

PastePaste

• Paste = pottery clayPaste = pottery clay

• Relates to color of finished pot

iff l fi d d h• Different clays fired under the same conditions produce different colors

cdn‐viper.demandvideo.com

DecorationDecoration

• Firing conditions control colorg– Oxidation tends toward orange (depending on paste)– Reduction tends toward gray

• Slips = prefiring watered clay applicationBrightens paste color after firing– Brightens paste color after firing

• Paints applied pre‐firing pp p g– Yucca leaf brush– Manganese or boiled mustard

www.mesaverdecountry.com

Decorated vs. utility potteryDecorated vs. utility pottery

• Cooking potsCooking pots– Igneous temper (less pretty)

Corrugations– Corrugations

– Allow for control of heat

• Decorated pots have none of these characteristics– Probably used for serving and social functions

Firing potteryFiring pottery

• Dig a trench

• Set prefire in trench to get a bed of coals

• Place unfired pots on top of coals

ild d h• Build a wooden structure over trench– This upper fire pulls heat from the underlying coals 

upward

O fi b d b th l• Once upper fire burns down, bury the coals– Reduces oxidation, makes pots white (w/ black 

decorations)

www.ancientarts.org

Cliff Dwelling ArchitectureCliff Dwelling Architecture

Cliff Dwelling ArchaeologyCliff Dwelling Archaeology

• Artifacts excavated prior to modern archaeologyArtifacts excavated prior to modern archaeology– Principle of association cannot be used

• Interpretation relies on architecture (see Nordby)p ( y)– Form of rooms and roomblocks used to assess function

– Analogy used to fill in the gaps

www.dennisrhollowayarchitect.com

Households by analogyHouseholds by analogy

• Society probably matrilinealSociety probably matrilineal– Live in clan groups

Husbands moves nearby to wife’s matriclan– Husbands moves nearby to wife s matriclan

– Mother’s brother assumes important role

F th i t f th i t l t i l– Fathers remain a part of their natal matriclan

Courtyard ComplexesCourtyard Complexes

• Several habitation & storage rooms fronting on a kivaSeveral habitation & storage rooms fronting on a kiva plaza– Kiva roof = plaza area

– Cliff alcove offered protected plaza use

• Large living rooms w/hearthsH d l f il– Housed nuclear family

• Adjacent storage rooms– Small exterior closing doorsSmall exterior closing doors

www.nps.gov

psych.fullerton.edu

www.nps.gov

More on courtyard complexesMore on courtyard complexes

• One room suite per nuclear familyOne room suite per nuclear family

• Usually 1 to 4 suites per courtyard complex

C d l h h l• Courtyard complexes thought to relate to clans

• Number of kivas is often used to predict size

• Courtyard storage rooms = clan resourcesy g

Courtyard KivasCourtyard Kivas

• Center of courtyardCenter of courtyard– By analogy = ceremonial

• Winter residences• Winter residences– Heavily sooted

– Replastered

• A “men’s club”www scienceviews com

– Weaving

– Tool manufacture

www.scienceviews.com

Specialized buildingsSpecialized buildings

• Non courtyard complex buildings• Non‐courtyard complex buildings– Isolated kivas, great kivas

– Rooms w/o courtyards

– Or civic architecture, such as towers

• Thought not to be based on clan identity– Probably had “overriding group benefits” (Nordby pg. 115)

• May be based on larger group identities (site level)farm1.static.flickr.com

MoietiesMoieties• Two complementary groups of clans

R fl d l di i i f i l/ li i ibili i• Reflect dual division of social/religious responsibilities– Occurs in some modern pueblo cultures

This mural portrays the Winter and Summer moieties, the two main societies within the Pueblo, and their most important dances. the Wi t B ff l D i th i ht h d hWinter Buffalo Dance, in the right-hand sphere, honors the buffalo, once the most important source of food at that time of year, while the Corn Dance, on the left, asks for a plentiful harvest of corn, the staff of life for Pueblo peoples. A plumed serpent symbolizing power over water

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plumed serpent, symbolizing power over water, encircles the Winter sphere, and a ceremonial banner surrounds the Summer sphere. During the actual dance, this banner is carried by one man, in front of the line of dancers. This mural was selected for limited reproduction, and prints

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p pwere presented to major donors to the Mural Project. www.indianpueblo.org

Cliff PalaceCliff Palace

• Large “integrative kiva”g g

• No adjacent residential rooms

• Kiva decorated in halves– Two shades of plaster

E h l h d b ildi hi ki

www.escholarship.org

• Each clan had a two‐room building near this kiva

• Similar patterns at other cliff dwellings

www.escholarship.org

SummarySummary

• We can only study kinship by analogyWe can only study kinship by analogy

• But architecture suggests social organization

Cliff d ll i d h i b ildi i• Cliff dwellers organized their buildings in similar fashion to modern Puebloans

blo.

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