Three UNESCO World Heritage Sites located in the United States are credited to the Pueblos: Mesa Verde National Park, Chaco Culture National Historical Park and Taos Pueblo. Beginning with the earliest explorations and excavations, researchers identified Ancestral Puebloans as the forerunners of contemporary Pueblo peoples. The current agreement, based on terminology defined by the Pecos Classification, suggests their emergence around the 12th century BC, during the archaeologically designated Early Basketmaker II Era. Contemporary Puebloans do not want this term to be used.Īrchaeologists continue to debate when this distinct culture emerged.
The Navajo, who were not their descendants, called them by this term, which meant "ancient enemies". In contemporary times, the people and their archaeological culture were referred to as Anasazi for historical purposes. The kiva, a congregational space that was used chiefly for ceremonial purposes, was an integral part of this ancient people's community structure. They held a distinct knowledge of celestial sciences that found form in their architecture. The Ancestral Puebloans possessed a complex network that stretched across the Colorado Plateau linking hundreds of communities and population centers. They lived in a range of structures that included small family pit houses, larger structures to house clans, grand pueblos, and cliff-sited dwellings for defense.
The Ancestral Puebloans are believed to have developed, at least in part, from the Oshara Tradition, who developed from the Picosa culture. The Ancestral Puebloans were an ancient Native American culture that spanned the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southwestern Colorado.
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