Indians of the Mesa Verde

by Don Watson

One of the far-reaching effects of the permanent house was its influence on true family life. Before this time the people probably had lived in haphazard groups with little opportunity for development of the true family. The house changed all this. In most instances a small pithouse probably served as the dwelling place of a single family and this gave new meaning to the family as a compact unit. Family ties, relationships and inheritance probably took on new meanings.

As generations passed the houses improved and toward the end of the period an important development came. For some time the people had built slab-lined storage rooms around their pithouses. At first they were small but gradually they were enlarged until they could serve as living rooms. The floor was slightly below ground level and the walls of the pit were lined with stone slabs. The above-ground walls were built of poles and adobe and the flat roof was of similar materials. The rooms became rectangular and the side walls vertical making it possible to join them together in long rows. At the end of the period many of the villages consisted of long rows of living rooms in front of which were a few of the old-type pithouses. These pithouses grew deeper and gradually seem to have developed into ceremonial rooms. This was the beginning of the kiva, a subterranean room which is still used for this purpose by present-day Pueblo Indians. Ruins of the type described above are called slab-house villages because of the stone slabs which lined the walls of the living rooms.

The third cultural trait which set the Modified Basket Makers apart from their ancestors, the Basket Makers, was the bow and arrow. Again the people borrowed. The bow and arrow is such a complicated combination that it is easier to believe it was invented once, then spread over the world, than that it was invented several times by different people. The invention occurred in the Old World and the weapon was brought to America by many bands of immigrants.

The Indians of the Mesa Verde received the bow and arrow after they had acquired houses and pottery. Some band of wandering Indians probably brought the new weapon into the region and the people may have obtained it by peaceful borrowing. Or they may have recognized the superiority of the bow through the sad experience of trying to defend themselves with their atlatls. Whatever the circumstances may have been they adopted the bow and the atlatl was discarded.

The bow excelled the atlatl in every way. It had greater accuracy and was well adapted for stalking game or defending the home since it could be shot from almost any position. Brush and trees did not interfere with its use as in the case of the atlatl which could be used only where there was room for the overhead sweep of the arm. Arrows were shorter than atlatl darts, easier to carry and their range was greater. The bow was also more efficient in the killing of small game.

As is always the case the old gave way to the new. The bow was accepted and soon mastered. Defense of the home was easier, hunting was more efficient and more game animals were killed than had been possible with the atlatl.

An extremely important point that must be remembered is that the house, pottery and the bow did not all arrive at the same time. It must not be considered that on a certain day, in a certain year, the Basket Makers voted to accept the new things and become Modified Basket Makers. These new cultural traits filtered in slowly and the people themselves little realized how their culture was changing.

During this period beans came up from the south and were accepted eagerly by the farmers. It is entirely possible that this acceptance was made possible by the new cooking vessels which the people now possessed. At an altitude of 7000 feet dry beans require several hours of boiling and while the people cooked in baskets this would have been virtually impossible. Pottery cooking vessels made the task easy, however, and the beans, an excellent protein food, gave the people a more balanced diet. New varieties of corn also appeared. Previously only red corn had been grown but now other colors became common.

During this period other cultural changes of a minor nature occurred. Hafted stone mauls and axes appeared, the latter being vitally necessary for cutting the many poles used in house construction. The turkey was domesticated and feather blankets, which had first appeared in the preceding period, became increasingly common. Jewelry was much the same as in earlier times except that turquoise came into use and this gave the people an additional stone from which to make beads, pendants and earrings.

The popularity of baskets was in no way lessened by the appearance of pottery and some of the finest baskets were made at this time. Sandals improved in quality and the shape changed slightly. In the preceding period the sandals were square-toed but now the toe became V-shaped, or scalloped. Often the sandals were elaborately decorated with colored designs and with designs produced by variations in the weave.