Pecos Classification facts for kids
The Pecos Classification is a way to organize the history of the Ancestral Puebloans. It divides their past into different time periods. These periods are based on how their buildings, art, pottery, and other cultural items changed over time. This system was first created in 1927 at a meeting in Pecos, New Mexico. An archaeologist named Alfred V. Kidder organized this meeting.
Original Time Periods
The first Pecos Classification had eight main stages of Southwestern history. It did not include exact dates for these periods.
- Basketmaker I, or Early Basketmaker II
- Basketmaker II, or Late Basketmaker II
- Basketmaker III, or Post-Basketmaker
- Pueblo I Period, or Proto-Pueblo
- Pueblo II Period
- Pueblo III Period, or Great Pueblo
- Pueblo IV Period, or Proto-Historic
- Pueblo V Period, or Historic
Modern Time Periods
Over the years, people have discussed and changed the original classification. However, the idea of splitting history into "Basketmaker" and "Pueblo" periods is still used. It helps us talk about the culture of the Ancestral Puebloans in the Four Corners area. The following classification is based on a newer version for the Mesa Verde Region.
Archaic–Early Basketmaker (8000 – 1500 BCE)
The earliest people in the modern-day Southwestern United States are called Archaic. They moved into the area after the big game hunters left. Not much proof exists of people living there before 8000 BC.
Evidence near Navajo Mountain shows they were nomadic, meaning they moved around a lot. They were hunter-gatherers, traveling in small groups. They collected wild foods when they were ready to eat. They hunted with stone-tipped spears, atlatls, and darts. They hunted animals like rabbits, deer, antelope, and bighorn sheep.
The first classification thought there was a Basketmaker I Period. But later, scientists found no proof for it. So, it was combined with the Archaic Period.
This time was also called the Oshara tradition. People started to settle down more, and small-scale farming began around 1000 BC.
Early Basketmaker II (1500 BCE – 50 CE)
The early Ancestral Pueblo people camped outside or lived in caves during certain seasons. During this time, they started to grow gardens. They planted maize (corn), especially flint corn, and squash. However, they did not grow beans yet.
They used manos and metates to grind their corn. The women made many different kinds of baskets for daily use.
Late Basketmaker II (50 – 500)
During this period, people built simple storage areas. These included cists (underground storage pits) and shallow pit-houses. It seems that religious and decision-making systems began to form.
There were groups that practiced Shamanism. Petroglyphs and other rock art show that ceremonies were important. Groups of people started to work together more on bigger decisions.
Basketmaker III (500 – 750)
People started building deeper pit-houses. They also built some rooms above ground. The bow and arrow became common, replacing the atlatl and spear.
They began making plain, unpainted bisque pottery. Some pottery was also painted black-on-white. They started growing beans, which came from Central America through trade. Beans could be cooked slowly in their new pottery vessels. Wild amaranth and pinyon pine were also important foods. People might have started to tame turkeys during this time.
The first kivas appeared. These were large, round, underground rooms used for ceremonies.
Pueblo I Period (750 – 900)
The Pueblo I Period saw more people and bigger villages. People started to live together more closely. Their farming systems became more complex.
People began building and living in pueblos all year round. They built reservoirs and canals to manage water, which was often scarce. Large villages and great kivas appeared, but pit-houses were still used. Above-ground buildings were made of jacal (wattle and daub) or simple masonry. Plain gray bisque pottery was most common. Some red bisque and black-and-white decorated pottery also appeared.
Pueblo II Period (900 – 1150)
By AD 1050, Chaco Canyon in New Mexico was a major center. It had a population of 1,500 to 5,000 people. It was surrounded by planned towns called great houses. These were built from the wood of over 200,000 trees.
Thirty-foot-wide (30|ft|m|disp=output only) roads, with raised edges called berms, spread out from Chaco. A typical pueblo had small blocks of above-ground masonry rooms and a kiva. Great kivas could be up to 50–70 feet (15–21 m) across. Pottery included corrugated gray bisque and decorated black-on-white. Some decorated red and orange pots were also made. People traded for shells and turquoise from other cultures.
After a small dip at the end of the Pueblo II Period, populations started to grow in the 12th century. Agriculture became more intense. People used terracing and irrigation systems often.
Pueblo III Period (1150 – 1350)
Settlements during this time included large pueblos, cliff dwellings, towers, and turkey pens. Most villages in the Four Corners area were abandoned by AD 1300. The differences between the Hohokam and Ancient Pueblo people became less clear.
Pueblo IV Period (1350 – 1600)
During this period, large pueblos were usually built around a central plaza. Socially, there was more conflict than cooperation. This is thought to be why settlements at Mesa Verde were abandoned.
People began making kachinas for religious and ceremonial purposes. Plain pottery became more common than corrugated pottery. Red, orange, and yellow pottery increased, while black-on-white pottery decreased. Cotton was brought in and grown as a valuable crop.
Other cultures joined the Puebloans. As early as the 1400s, the Navajo people started moving into the region from the north. In the next century, Spanish colonists first arrived from the south in the 1540s.
Pueblo V Period (1600 – present)
The Spanish took control of sites like the Acoma Pueblo. Their arrival caused some Pueblo subcultures to go underground or become less visible.
Puebloan Sites
