Cultural History
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CULTURAL HISTORY Activities Dig that Pad!.......................................... 19 Trees of Time ........................................ 23 What Does it Mean? .............................. 27 Your Visit to the National Monuments ... 29 Will I Survive?........................................ 33 The Real Natural Food and Supply Market ....................................... 35 Agriculture............................................. 39 Pithouse to Pueblo................................ 42 Trade ..................................................... 46 Who Where the Prehistoric Southwest People............................... 50 To Plant or Not to Plant ........................ 59 Modern Cultures of the Verde Valley.... 62 Archeology Crossword.......................... 66 Ancient Sinagua Crossword .................. 67 Word Search .......................................... 68 Answers to Cultural History Section..... 69 14 15 16 CULTURAL HISTORY CULTURAL HISTORY 17 Background on Cultural History Archeology is the scientific study of the from a particular region and time help past. Archeologists study what archeologists better describe cultures people have left behind to reconstruct or peoples of the past. how they lived in the past. Things that people made or used in the past Because placing a culture in specific become buried after people have left time period is crucial, dating a site is them behind. Wind, water, and other very important. Archeologists use a natural forces cover over places where number of dating techniques, such people have lived, farmed, hunted, as stratigraphy, dendrochronology, etc., in the past. When archeologists ceramic cross-dating, radiocarbon dat- locate and excavate these places, they ing, and archaeomagnetic dating. Once can interpret what people did there sites and groups of sites are dated and and how they lived. cultures are defined, archeologists can interpret a culture’s history. As new Archeologists call the things that peo- research is done and new evidence is ple have made “artifacts.” They study found, the interpretation of culture his- artifacts to figure out what they were tory continues to change. and what they were used for. People have used other things that they did During the last Ice Age (Pleistocene), not make, such as animal bones and 10,000 B.C., people migrated south hides, plant parts, and stones. Before from the arctic regions of Asia to such items are made into an artifact, North America. They ranged over archeologists call them “ecofacts.” large areas following herds of large When all these things are found at the game animals and collecting plants. same place or site are studied together, Archeologists call these peoples an archeologist can interpret how the PaleoIndians. Later, after the glaciers people lived at that place at a certain receded and environments changed, time. Although archeologists can learn Archaic peoples were limited in the a little from just an artifact or ecofact areas they hunted animals and gath- by itself, they learn much more from ered plants. a collection of artifacts and ecofacts found at one place together. Thus, it is Between 8,000 to 1,000 B.C., Archaic very important that artifacts and eco- peoples learned to use the plants and facts are left where they are found. animals in their environments very well, and in some areas they began Artifacts and ecofacts found in relation cultivating certain plants. Bands of to one another help archeologists put PaleoIndians and Archaic peoples people of the past in context with place moved through, camped in, and uti- and time. If an archeologist cannot put lized the plants and animals of the a culture in a certain region or in a cer- rich environments of the Verde Valley. tain time, it is very difficult to interpret Eventually, knowledge about grow- relationships between cultures through ing corn and squash worked its way time. Groups of artifacts and ecofacts north from Mexico. Many bands in 16 CULTURAL HISTORY CULTURAL HISTORY 17 the Southwest took up gardening to Valley increased significantly, which supplement their hunting and gather- increased use of the available resourc- ing. Eventually people began settling es. The 14th century was a time of near their gardens for longer periods migration, amalgamation, and con- of time and building more substantial flict. The Sinagua of the Verde Valley shelters. Between A.D. 0–700, beans and Anderson Mesa to the northeast were added to corn and squash, and sustained themselves against outside people over much of the Southwest pressure until the 15th century. Due to became farmers. possible overuse of the environment, flooding, and cultural instability, the By the end of this time, people Sinagua, Salado, Ancestral Puebloans, diversified into the cultures arche- Hohokam, and Mogollon ceased to ologists call the Ancestral Puebloans exist as they had before. Instead, they (Anasazi)*, Mogollon, Hohokam, and moved and/or lived simpler lives. They Sinagua. People began living in villag- became the Pueblos, such as the Hopi, es of pithouses, cooking and storing Zuni, Acoma, and Tohono O’odham their food in pottery, and hunting with (Pima and Papago) that the Spanish bow and arrow. Trading in goods and met in the 16th century. ideas was very important between the different cultures. Both the Mogollon With the aid of the following activities, and the Hohokam disseminated many students can learn about archeology ideas and items from Mexico north and the native peoples of the Verde to the Ancestral Puebloans. Because Valley and the Southwest. Feel free the Sinagua were between all three to use and adapt any of the infor- of these cultures, they adopted and mation and activities in this section passed on many ideas and items from to help you in your units on native all three groups. They lived both in peoples and archeology. These activi- the mountains around Flagstaff and in ties meet the following Arizona State the Verde Valley. The Sinagua adopted Curriculum Standards (AIMS). many Hohokam ideas and styles, such as shell jewelry, irrigation farming, These activities may be used to paddle and anvil pottery, ballcourts, enhance field trips to the monuments, and small platform mounds. or may be used on their own. We hope that you will find them helpful Between A.D. 700–1000, the Ancestral in your endeavors to teach children Puebloans developed above ground about the great heritage of our coun- masonry pueblos, which filtered south try. If you need any further assistance, to the Mogollon, Sinagua, and Salado. feel free to inquire directly to the By A.D. 1100, the Hohokam had monuments for more information. adapted the idea into adobe platform mounts, “big houses,” and compounds. After the great drought of the late * The name “Anasazi” is being 13th century, many of the Ancestral replaced by the name “Ancestral Puebloans and Sinagua of the Flagstaff Puebloan” in recognition of their area moved south. During the 14th modern ancestors. century, the population of the Verde 18 CULTURAL HISTORY CULTURAL HISTORY 19 OBJECTIVES Educator’s Outline for After completing this exercise the student will be able to DIG THAT PAD! 1. define the Rule of Superposition. 2. discuss the amount of information that can be obtained by one artifact and its position. GRADES: 6 to 8 AZ CURRICULUM STANDARDS: Science Standard 1 — Science as inquiry GROUP SIZE: 20 to 30 DURATION: 30-60 minutes SETTING: Classroom MATERIALS: Pencil and paper SET-UP AND PROCEDURE: Following is a cross-section of an excavated archeo- logical site found in central Arizona. The artifacts found in the rooms have been marked with a letter. Have the students answer the questions about the sketch after discussing the background information. Discuss the answers to the ques- tions. 18 CULTURAL HISTORY CULTURAL HISTORY 19 STUDENT WORKSHEET DIG THAT PAD! Archeology is the scientific study of layers of earth where they were found past cultures. Many compare it to using other methods too. Any once- detective work, because archeologists living thing, such as wood, seeds, deduce when, where, and how peo- bone, etc., can be dated by radiocar- ple lived by studying what they left bon dating. The radiocarbon testing of behind. Archeologists excavate a site a small piece tells when the thing was in an organized way. They map the alive. Because people usually used it area, and carefully record everything soon after its death, an archeologist that is found there. The location of assumes that the people must have objects and what they were used for lived about the same time. Charcoal are valuable clues about how people is a very important source of radiocar- of the past lived. By comparing arti- bon dates, because many plant and facts or objects made by people from animal remains are preserved when different sites, archeologists can sur- they have been burned. mise which cultures lived at which sites and how they interacted with The magnetic north pole moves over one another through time. time. When the clay of a fire pit or hearth is baked, the magnetic particles Placing cultures and artifacts in time in it line up with the true magnetic is essential to making any interpreta- north of that time. By comparing the tions about people of the past. Layers alignment to the known location, of soil accumulate naturally over time. archeologists can date a sample of Depending on which layer an artifact baked clay. This is called archaeomag- is found in, an archeologist can tell netic dating. how old it is compared to another In the Southwest, whole tree limbs artifact found at the same site. Because and logs have been preserved in the layers of earth on the bottom were ancient pueblos, cliff dwellings, and laid down before the ones on top, other structures. Southwestern arche- anything found in the lower layers ologists and other scientists have should be older than anything found figured out a calendar of tree rings in the upper layers. Thus an archeolo- by studying samples from structural gist knows that an artifact found at beams, stumps, and living conifer the bottom of a site is usually older trees.