Essay Example on Ancient Farming Complexes in Southwest USA

Introduction

The 1st centuries of the Common Era included the development of three primary farming complexes in the Southwest in the USA, all of which mainly depended on irrigation. The Anasazi individuals (the Ancestral Pueblo) of the four main corners area created low walls known as check dams to divert and slow water from the seasonal rivers to the cultivated fields. On the other hand, the Mogollon people created their communities along with the belts of mountains of the Southwestern New Mexico as well as southeastern Arizona. They relied upon diversion of stream water and rainfall to water their cultivated crops. The Hohokam people are known to have lived in the desert region of the Gila basin found in Southern Arizona. They created irrigation canals that they were meant to be used in watering their fields. These three primary cultures, the Ancestral Pueblo, Hohokam, and Mogollon. They are usually known for their population growth, pueblo archaeology, and geographical expansion, all of which attained their highest complexity levels between the periods of 700-1300. This which coincided with the rainfall distribution n southwest in the USA. It is during this period when the cultures and population of western and central Mexico were found expanding their geographical area to the northwest. Social and trade stimuli were therefore found moving from Mesoamerica into southwest culture region. It was during a time when climate found in both locations was found being the most favourable for cultural and population growth. This paper will discuss the southwestern cultures in the United States by looking at different cultural practices by Ancestral Pueblo, Mogollon, and Hohokam tribes of the Southwest.

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Geographical Settings

The Southwest area, expanding through the present-day New Mexico and Arizona ad into Texas, Mexico, Utah, and Colorado was the home to several distinct Indian groups as well as the cultural practices pre-colonization. It was in this part that dwelled many groups that Yare collectively referred to as the Pueblo. The three major groups of Pueblo individuals were the Anasazi, Hohokam, and Mogollon.

The Anasazi are a group of individuals in the Southwest of America who are referred to as the Ancestral Pueblos. The word Pueblo originated with a Spanish explorer who landed in the southwest region during his exploration currently the United States. The word Pueblo was a term used to reference Native Americans who resided in an apartment like villages. The Ancestral Pueblos mainly lived in the four corner part-where Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado meet; the Mogollon people usually lived in the southwestern New Mexico. The people of Hohokam were found being the ones that dominated the southern Arizona desert (Abbott 17). Many historians usually estimate that the Hohokam, Mogollon, and the Ancestral Pueblo tribes reigned over the southwest part from 200-1500 CE. The three tribes either evolved or dissolved into Pueblo Indians whom the Spanish encountered and they resided in the modern New Mexico. The tribes have changed into the Hopi and Zuni tribes. The Navajo and Apache tribes mainly arrived in the Pueblo part around 1200 CE from Pacific Northwest, where they remained different from the Pueblo individuals who were living in the same location.

Buildings

The materials that were entering in the Southwest in the USA from Mexico at this period included parrots, copper bells, ball courts, pottery, and shell trumpets all which were transported using innovative vessel designs and shapes. The period 1150-1300 that marked the achievements by Ancestral Pueblos was referred to as Pueblo 3. Pueblo 3 periods saw several results such as the building of the massive cliff dwelling like the one found at the Mesa Verde National Park as well as the apartments which are usually located in the great houses of the Chaco Canyon. Dressed stones are the ones that were commonly utilized in several localities in bearing the weight of the massive structures that had many rooms which were from several stories. Each larger building was created in effect of every village. Doors and windows were funds being quite small and frequently were made having no openings in lowest rooms that were entered through the use of a ladder via the roof. The buildings were found having a stepped appearance since every floor or level was mainly set back from the one that was below it (Adler 11). Therefore, the resulting terraces started being heavily used as an outdoor of the living space. The roofs were well constructed in aunique desighn to carry significant weights. They constructed the roof using massive beams and covering them using a mat with the smaller brush and poles which was followed by adding of a coat of the adobe inches that was 6-8 inches thick.

Several new kind of hidden ceremonial structures that are found in every segment (kivas) were also created during this era had some kivas being as large as 80 feet in diameter. The craftsmen in the pottery attained a high level of innovations as their innovations were seen to have included the utilization of several colours and the methods that were used by various communities such as Kayenta, Mesa Verde, and Canyon started being much different than the vessels that came from every settlement may start being recognized easily. The cotton cloths, bags, and blankets were mainly woven, given that yucca fibre mostly entered into different articles of clothing to include the user objects as being mats. The feather-cloth robes started being worn at the time of cold weather.

Settlement

During their early stages, from about 200-650, the Mogollon settlements mainly were made up of the villages that were found being relatively small categorized as communities having pit houses that were made near the large ceremonial structures. The cities that were created during this period were located being laid out instead of being random and having trash disposal, which was regarded as being haphazard (Pool 21). Many houses started becoming more substantial, and there were several innovations found in the pottery design, which mainly occurred in 650-850 (Harrod 22). The period between 850-1000, many villages in the Mogollon culture started exhibiting the influence by the Ancestral Pueblo in several things such as the construction techniques and pottery design as there was significant shifting from the pit houses to the pueblos. The Mogollon attained their artistic pinnacle at the period of Classic Members. It was as a result of undergoing climatic deterioration, which made the Mogollon start abandoning their territory in the southwestern New Mexico.

The people of Hohokam community of the southern and eastern Arizona created most of their identified settlements in the central river valleys, and they were living in the villages that were made of pit houses which were usually arrayed along canals and streams (Abbott 12). Three sorts of the settlement have been distinguished in Hohokam region: towns: settlements with in excess of 100 individuals, being involved over a generally significant time. Villages were moderately little with under 100 individuals, all round the year. Camps were typical for brief habitations for a solitary social gathering or family. These settlements over the years relied upon water system such as trenches. Even though all things considered, impermanent locales like camps would have been utilized as bases for chasing and assembling campaigns. The most prominent perpetual destinations, for example, the towns, would have been the critical degree of sorting out the water system frameworks at times. More than one city appears to have depended on a single principle trench, requiring collaboration among towns for water assignment, and water booking. Agriculture was mainly expanded via the use of the extensive irrigation canals, which could be built through the cooperating villages (Ortman, Glowacki, Varien, & Kohler 17). During 775-1150, the Hohokam individuals experienced a time of cultural innovations and created their largest settlements. Following this period up to a period between1350-1450, the culture of Hohokam people commonly exhibits the Mexican and Ancestral Pueblo influences ((Abbott 22). During this period, the people of Hohokam started building compact settlements by mostly having few two-story and multi-room buildings which were found being surrounded by the compound walls. The Ancestral Pueblo is known as being the ancestors of the contemporary people consisting of Pueblo Indians like Acoma, Zuni, and Hopi (Bayman 268). The people are known to be the ancestors of Tohono O'odham and Pima. The Mogollon people dispersed after they abandoned their villages, and they are believed to have joined other groups (Pool 31).

Common Practices

Many historians usually credit Mogollon, Hohokam, and the Ancestral Pueblo as being the first farmers in the United States. The cultural characteristics were familiar to the Ancestral Pueblo individuals a heavy reliance on the cultivated foods, the building of the multi-story and multi-room masonry structures, use and construction of kivas and distinctive pottery. The Ancestral Pueblo individuals living in the western section of Southwest were mainly floodwater or dry farmers. They developed several sets of religious beliefs, which primarily emphasized the sacred significance of rain and they concentrated on an annual cycle characterized by the rain making beliefs. The people of the Ancestral Pueblo in the listed who mainly lived along Rio Grande River usually practised agriculture using small-scale irrigation in addition to floodwater and dry farming. Their ceramics, religion, social organization, and architecture were distinctively unique from their neighbours as they seemed to be making less emphasis on the ceremonies pertaining to rainmaking. The pueblo people were farmers and hunters, and they, therefore, designed tools to aid in that work. The pueblo people did not have metal, but they made tools from wood, stone and bones. The pools were used in grinding, scraping, polishing, farming and chopping. For example, stone axes were used for land cultivation and clearing; the arrows and bows were commonly used in hunting while in digging and farming igging strict were used. Since weaving was a big part of them, spindling whorls were used for weaving and for sewing they used awls. Most of the stone tools were made from stream cobbles.

Corn was the first crop that was cultivated by the Ancestral Pueblos which frequently permeates several creation stories of the people of Pueblo. The Ancestral Pueblos usually are regarded as they believed that harvesting of corn was not only meant for nutrition necessity, but it was also a spiritual gift. Even though agriculture was among the significant measure adopted of society development, Ancestral Pueblos were found having a healthier diet. The community food was attained through gathering and hunting practices as opposed to a limited diversity in the food that was dominated by the corn crop. In the Southwest's arid climate, the Ancestral Pueblos were involved in developing the irrigation systems that were complex that maintained yields even during the period of the hot sun. Cotton was also added to maize as the main crop, and there was a proliferation of irrigation canals as people started making canals deeper and narrower to minimize the loss of water through evaporation and ground absorption. In the 800 CE, the Hohokam people had built one of the largest systems of irrigation that stretches through Arizona today (Abbott 42). This kind of irrigation system much enabled the Pueblos to start planting squash and beans in addition to corn. These elaborate irrigation systems mainly allowed agriculture to begin flourishing, which in turn led to the creation of new kinds of...