Sopris phase facts for kids
| Geographical range | Colorado |
|---|---|
| Period | Late Ceramic period (Post-Archaic) |
| Dates | AD 1000-1250 |
| Major sites | Trinchera Cave Archeological District |
| Preceded by | Archaic |
The Sopris phase was a group of people who lived in southern Colorado a long time ago, between the years 1000 and 1250 AD. They were hunter-gatherers, meaning they found their food by hunting animals and gathering plants. This group is also known as the Upper Purgatoire complex. They lived near the Purgatoire River and were greatly influenced by other groups, like the Puebloan peoples from places such as Taos Pueblo and Pecos. They traded with these groups, especially in the Upper Rio Grande area.
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Sopris People and Their Homes
Archaeologists have found several places where the Sopris people lived. Two important sites are Leone Bluff (site 5LA1211) and site 5LA1416. These are in Las Animas County, Colorado, close to a town called Segundo.
Discovering Sopris Sites
These sites were first found in 1962. Herbert Dick, an archaeologist from Trinidad State Junior College, led the first studies. By 1980, many more studies had been done, and over 300 sites were explored! Site 5LA1416 showed that people lived there during all three Sopris periods.
What Their Homes Were Like
The Sopris people built different kinds of homes. Their building styles might have been influenced by people from the Plains and Rio Grande areas. However, the pottery they made looked very much like the pottery from the Puebloan people in the Rio Grande area.
At Leone Bluff and site 5LA1416, archaeologists found evidence of four Sopris homes. They also found pottery that helped them understand when people lived there. They found signs of the Sopris phase (around 1150 to 1300 AD) and later groups, including historic Spanish-American and Apache people. Skeletons found at these sites showed that some people had Apachean heritage.
Another important Sopris phase site is the Trinchera Cave Archeological District.
How the Sopris Culture Changed Over Time
The Sopris culture changed a lot over the years. Their homes, pottery, and tools were different during various periods.
Early Sopris Life (1000-1100 AD)
In the earliest Sopris period, people lived in pit-houses, which were homes dug partly into the ground. They also built jacal structures, made from sticks and mud, and set up temporary campsites.
- Pottery: They used a type of gray pottery from Taos and their own unique Sopris plain pottery.
- Tools: They used "corner-notched points" for hunting, which are a type of projectile point (like an arrowhead). They also used "basin metates," which were stone tools for grinding food.
Middle Sopris Life (1100-1150 AD)
In the next period, their homes changed. They started using adobe (sun-dried mud bricks) or a mix of adobe and jacal for building.
- Pottery: They still used Taos gray and Sopris plain pottery. But new types appeared, like black-on-white pottery, cordmarked pottery (with cord patterns), polished pottery, and incised pottery (with carved designs).
- Tools and Food: They used metates for grinding, and they also had turquoise, stone beads, and shell beads. During this time, they started to farm a little bit of corn.
Late Sopris Life (1150-1250 AD)
In the last Sopris period, their homes were built with sandstone slabs. These houses had rounded corners and wooden posts to support the roof.
- Pottery: Taos black-on-white and Taos gray incised pottery were very common.
- Tools: They started using "grooved mauls" (heavy hammers) and "slab metates" (flat grinding stones).
