Crypts are generally round-shaped, with a diameter of 3-5 meters. There is a fire pit in the middle of the crypt for fire heating and lighting. There is an opening on the south side of the fire pit, and the fire pit and the vent are blocked by an erect deflector plate to allow the outside air to enter the crypt space evenly at a moderate speed. To the north of the fire pit there is often a small circular pit called the "source point" (sipapu), symbolizing the place where the Pueblo people were born.
Chaco's Crypt. Above the center is a fire pit, with stepped stone benches near the edge of the wall, and the remains of wooden stakes on the ground and surrounding walls, which should have been covered with wooden domes. There are also sunken rectangular holes in the earth caves, the function of which is not clear. Some scholars believe that it may have been covered with wooden blocks, which were used as drums for tapping the feet to make noises during ceremonies.
Architecture is a monument to civilization that has survived on the earth. Machu Picchu in the foothills of the Andes, the Mayan pyramids in the jungles of Central America, and the pyramids of the sun on the Mexican plateau have all been preserved for hundreds or even thousands of years, allowing us to still get a glimpse of the glory of these demimated civilizations at their peak. Therefore, when it comes to the ancient civilizations of the Americas before Columbus discovered the New World, the first thing that comes to mind is often the Inca civilization in South America, the Maya civilization in Central America, and the Mexican Valley civilization represented by the Aztec civilization. Compared with these ancient civilizations that left a large number of spectacular buildings, the ancient civilizations of the United States north of Mexico and the American civilizations in Canada are rarely mentioned. Our impressions of them are either of the Indians who wear feathers, set up tents on the vast American savannahs, and live a nomadic life, or the Eskimos who build houses on ice. Tents made of cloth, wood and animal skins have long since decayed and weathered without leaving a trace.
Did these ancient civilizations of North America really not leave any mark on the earth where they lived? In fact, among them, there are still some who already have skilled construction techniques. The magnificent buildings they built with stone and mud bricks have stood up to the present day after a century of wind and rain. In contrast, many ancient Civilizations in the Americas, which failed to leave spectacular architectural remains, were forever annihilated in the long river of history with the large-scale invasion of Europeans after Columbus discovered the New World.
The large houses and crypts of the beautiful city of Chaco are the most spectacular architectural complex left over from the ancient Pueblo civilization.
Two of the largest archaeological sites in the United States, the Mesa Verde Site and the Chaco Site, are the most magnificent architectural remains built by the ancient Pueblo civilization in North America north of Mexico, offering a glimpse into their rise and fall from prosperity to demise.
Pueblo means "village" in Spanish. Spanish explorers who came to the New World saw the remains of the architectural settlements left behind by these people and used the term "Pueblo" to refer to them and their civilization.
The core area of the ancient Pueblo civilization was located in the Southwest region of the United States, in the "Four Corners" area where the four states of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona meet today. Its geographical environment is located in the transition area between the southernmost point of the Rocky Mountains and the lowland desert. The vegetation in this area is dominated by dwarf shrubs and grasslands, and the forest rats that live in this habitat have the habit of storing things in their nests similar to those of squirrels. So the nest of the forest rat became a "time capsule", sealing the ancient local animal and plant materials. By analyzing the nest buildups of forest rats, archaeologists were able to restore the ecology of the time and found that the flora and fauna that lived in the area had changed little over the past 4,000 years. Overall, the climatic conditions in this region are not favorable, but they can also support agricultural production on a certain scale. The Gupureblo people grow crops such as corn and beans here, make ends meet, and continue to grow. But arid and unstable climatic conditions, soils prone to depletion of fertility, and slow-growing forests have also limited the development of civilization and laid the foundation for its demise.
There are also some coniferous forests in the mountains surrounding this area, which provide wood for the construction of the buildings. The construction timber left behind in the site has become key evidence for determining the age of the building. Trees grow new rings every year, and the width and narrowness of the rings are related to the climate of the year, especially the changes in precipitation and temperature, forming a series of wide and narrow sequences like Morse codes. By comparing the old tree rings that have been growing in the same area to the present day and the rings of building wood in the ruins, we can determine the age of the building.
The development, maturation and heyday of the ancient Pueblo civilization was around 750-1350 AD, and was divided into three stages: Pueblo I (750-900), II (900-1150) and III (1150-1350).
Among the ruins of ancient Pueblo, the mesa verde ruins and the Chaco ruins are the largest. The Mesa Verde Site is a representative of Pueblo Phases I and III, the largest archaeological site in the United States and the first World Heritage Site in the United States. The Chaco ruins, about 200 kilometers southeast of it, in the Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico, are representative of Pueblo II and have also been selected as a World Heritage Site. These two sites served as the center of the Pueblo civilization at different times, and they grew apart from each other. Its population has repeatedly migrated between the two, and has led to the transfer and diffusion of cultural and architectural techniques. The long history of the two can also represent the entire history of the development of the ancient Pueblo civilization.
The vegetation of Chaco Canyon is dominated by dwarf shrubs and meadows.
Before the ancient Pueblo civilization began, this area was already inhabited by humans. The Paleo Indians, who crossed the Bering Strait and came to the American continent from Asia, arrived here around 9500 BC. The Paleo Indians lived a nomadic life of nomadic dwelling until corn was introduced from Central America around 1000 BC, when it began to transform into an agrarian civilization and settled in pit-houses excavated on the ground. Due to the excavation of a large number of baskets woven from yucca fibers, this period is known as the "basket weaver civilization".
The cave houses found at the Mesa Verde site are generally circular in shape, with fire pits in the middle for heating. There is also a small space at the rear of the living area that is used to store food and other items. The builders of the cave house first dug a relatively shallow pit in the ground, then built a bracket and roof with wood on the pit, and finally covered the bracket and roof with the excavated soil to form a closed cave house that was warm in winter and cool in summer. Each cave house can accommodate 4-8 people and is inhabited by an entire family. By around 657 AD, about 1,000-1,500 people lived in Mesavid and were scattered in different communities.
The semi-underground cave houses, though simple and easy to build, allowed the Pueblo people to move from nomadic to settled, but they were also dark and damp. The year 750 AD marked the beginning of the Pueblo I phase. The ancient Pueblo people began to move from semi-underground cave houses to dwell in houses built on the ground, and gathered together to form tribes. The function of the cave house began to shift to social and religious rituals, and gradually developed the most important structure of Pueblo architecture, the crypt (kiva). The crypt is excavated from the ground, and the guppebro people believe that the world is a bowl, and the sky is a basket buckled to the bowl. The structure of the crypt also reflects this worldview.
Most of the inhabitants of Pueblo Phase I are concentrated in villages, each with about 15-50 families, with an average population of 200 people. The formation of settlements helps to improve the resilience of the population to foreign enemies and natural disasters. By 860 AD, about 8,000 people lived in Mesavid, which also became the center of the ancient Pueblo civilization.
However, unpredictable droughts constrained further development in Mesa Verde, with many Mesavid villages abandoned after less than 40 years of residence. By 880 AD, mesavid's population began to decline significantly. Many crypts and cave houses burned before leaving, which seemed to be a signal of foreign invasion. However, scholars generally believe that the burning of the dwelling was a ritual before the Pueblo people left, and had nothing to do with the war. In search of a more stable source of water, they began to migrate south and settle near the climate-friendly Chaco Canyon. The year 900 AD marked the beginning of the Pueblo II period, and Chaco began to gradually replace Mesavid and develop into the center of the Pueblo civilization.
The crypts that appeared in Mesavid further developed into crypts with a diameter of nearly 20 meters in Chaco, where people held ceremonies, discussed public issues, and carried out other social or economic activities. In Total, Chaco of Pueblo II built more than 20 crypts.
Pueblo's construction techniques matured in Chaco, with the emergence of a large complex of buildings connected by hundreds of houses, called great houses. The Chaco site has more than 10 large houses with hundreds of rooms, the largest of which, Pueblo Bonito, was continuously built between 828 and 1126 AD, with a semi-circular shape, covering an area of 12,000 square meters, consisting of nearly 800 rooms, with 4 earth caves and more than 10 small crypts. The average size of the room is 20 square meters, but not all rooms are inhabited. Many rooms with small spaces and lack of ventilation structures should only be used for storage.
How many people live in The Beautiful City? The answer varies based on guesses about its capabilities. Some scholars believe that Belvedere is a population gathering place similar to a town, and about hundreds of people once lived here. Some scholars believe that the environmental conditions near Chaco are not enough to supply a large number of people, and no traces of the large number of people have been found here. The Belle Ville and Chaco's other large houses are likely to be merely the ritual centers of the Pueblo civilization, not towns, and may have been inhabited by only a few dozen people at most.
An analysis of nest accumulation in forest rats shows that there was once a large number of pine trees growing in the Chako area, but the construction of large houses has led to the cutting down of pine trees in the neighboring area. The disappearance of trees led to increased soil erosion, which, combined with a 50-year drought that began in 1130, led to the collapse of agriculture and the increasing inhospitable habitability of Chaco. Environmental degradation has led to a lack of resources, and wars have become frequent in the scramble for resources, and evidence of cannibalism has even been found at some sites. The last wooden beam found in Chaco was dated to 1170 by the rings of the year. By around 1200, Chaco was completely abandoned. The Pueblo people left Chaco, and many of them began to return to Mesavid, which had become more habitable.
The cliff palace on the cliff wall of Mesa Verde is the largest cliff dwelling built by the ancient Pueblo people.
The Pueblo III period, which began in 1150, marked the decline of Chaco and the revival of Mesa Verde. The Pueblo people who migrated from Chaco brought with them the mature construction techniques developed by Chaco. Chaco's classic large-room buildings also began to appear in Mesa Verde. Built in a semi-circular shape on the summit of the mountain, the Temple of the Sun has the shadow of the beautiful city of Chaco.
The most famous architectural achievement of Mesavid in Pueblo III was the creation of cliff dwelling. Built in a cavity on a cliff, the cliff dwellings are made of sandstone blocks and reinforced with soil mortar bonding. In addition to living space, the cliff dwelling also has the most important circular crypt of the Pueblo culture, which serves as a place for tribal social and ceremonial activities. The top of the closed flat roof of the crypt can also be used as a plaza for social activities. The Pueblos built more than 600 buildings on the cliffs of Mesa Verde. Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in Mesavid and in all of North America, built between 1190 and 1260. The Cliff Palace has a total of 23 crypts and 150 rooms, with a total of about 150-250 people living here. The large number of crypts shows that there may be many different families living here. There are also some storage rooms around Cliff House Square, which may have been used to store supplies and ritual items shared by the entire tribe. There is also a 7.9-meter-high tower in the cliff palace, which may be used for observation and defense.
The Long House, located in the southwest of Mesa Verde, is the second largest cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde, built around 1200. There is also an infiltration spring on the innermost side of the cliff house, which provides a source of water for residents to survive. According to estimates of human remains found in Mesa Verde, the average height of the Pueblo people at that time was 1.63 meters for men and 1.52 meters for women, and the average life expectancy was 32-34 years. The location of the cliff is hidden, not easy to be discovered by outsiders, and has a strong defensive color. The migration of the Pueblo people from the flat land to the cliff house also seems to indicate that wars were becoming more frequent at that time.
In the early 13th century, about 22,000 people lived in Mesa Verde. Unfortunately, the tragedy of Chaco was once again played out in Mesavid, where the 69-year drought of the 13th century and the unusually cold climate that became unusually cold after 1270 severely damaged agriculture in the region, and Mesavid once again became uninhabitable. After 1250, wars within the Pueblo began to become frequent in order to compete for food resources that had become scarce due to the deteriorating climate. A large number of household items have also been excavated at the Mesa Verde site, and some archaeologists believe that the inhabitants may have left in a hurry during the war. The last wooden beam found in Mesavid was dated to 1281 by the rings of the year. Around 1285, the last inhabitants of Mesavid left the area, ending 700 years of human habitation.
The year 1350 marked the end of the Pueblo III period and the end of the ancient Pueblo civilization. The Pueblo people migrated elsewhere to survive, and although they did not become extinct, they never built any grand buildings that exceeded the scale of the mesa verde and Chaco sites. The ancient Pueblo people developed agriculture and construction techniques in an inferior natural environment, transforming from a nomadic life to an agrarian society, leaving us with a large number of exquisite and spectacular architectural remains. However, the capricious climate has forced them to abandon their homes again and again, uproot their homes, and find a new Garden of Eden. In the repeated struggle with the climate, the ancient Pueblo civilization was eventually defeated. Although this is a tragic story of a man who failed to win the day, the descendants of Gupueblo still lived elsewhere, and their culture continues to this day. Legends about Mesa Verde and Chaco are still passed down by word of mouth among the descendants of the Pueblo people.
(Editor-in-charge: Liu Jie)