Great as was the importance of being able to establish absolute dates for a people who had left no written records, this was not the only contribution made by what have been aptly called “the talkative tree-rings”.[23] The life of man, and particularly primitive man, is greatly influenced by climatic conditions and in an arid climate such as that of the Southwest the difference between drought and adequate rainfall may, quite literally, be the difference between life and death.
It is naturally an inestimable boon to the archaeologist to know the conditions under which the people he is studying lived and it enables him to understand many things, such as periods marked by expansion or by the abandonment of certain areas, which would otherwise be unintelligible.
Important as [dendrochronology] is, it is far from being the only outside science upon which archaeologists must depend. The records left by Spanish historians, who found the Pueblo Indians in the 16th century still untouched by European civilization and living essentially the same sort of life as their ancestors, have provided invaluable information. Also of great importance has been the work of ethnologists, scientists who analyze the [culture] of living primitive people. In the Southwest archaeologists are particularly fortunate, for in many cases descendents of the prehistoric people whom they study are still living in the same general area and under very similar circumstances. In spite of the outside influences to which they have been subjected there is still much to be learned from them. The knowledge of these people garnered by the historian and the ethnologist, added to that obtained by the archaeologist, gives us a far better picture of the life of prehistoric times.
Although a study of material [culture] tells a great deal about a people, there is much of their social, political and religious life which it cannot reveal unless supplementary information is available. There are grave dangers inherent in too great a concentration on material culture. It has been said of the archaeologist that “sometimes he cannot see the people for the walls”[125] and it is the people themselves, after all, who are important.
Two examples will show how [ethnology] and [archaeology] may complement each other. In certain prehistoric sites are found circular underground rooms with highly specialized characteristics. The objects found in these are usually non-utilitarian so that, even if no further information were available, archaeologists would consider them chambers having some religious significance. However, thanks to the fact that similar rooms or kivas, as they are called, are still in use in the modern Pueblo villages, the archaeologist may not only be sure of their ceremonial nature, but he is in a position to understand more of their significance through studying their function in modern Pueblo society. One point demonstrates very clearly how, through correlating ethnological and archaeological evidence, it is possible to understand something of the religious beliefs of people who died hundreds of years ago leaving no written records.
In prehistoric kivas are found small tubelike pits in the floors. If no other information were available the archaeologist would be forced to fall back on simply calling these holes “ceremonial”. The quip that when archaeologists do not know what a thing is they designate it as ceremonial is sufficiently close to the truth to be uncomfortable. In many modern kivas, however, the same type of hole is found. It is symbolic of the mythical place of emergence or route from the underworld from which it is believed that the first people and animals came into the world. Archaeologists refer to it by the Hopi name [Sipapu]. Taking into account the conservatism and dependence on tradition of religions in all parts of the world in all times, it is not too rash to assume that the builders of the prehistoric kivas held some beliefs similar to those of their present day descendents.
Similarly, by equating what we know of the social organization of the Pueblo Indians of today with the evidence from prehistoric times we may postulate that an essentially democratic form of government existed in this section of America long before the signing of the Magna Carta and many centuries before the signers of the American Declaration of Independence were born. It may be asked, what possible information can be gained from ruins which would indicate a democratic way of life. In all the ruins which have been examined all the living quarters were essentially equal. Most anthropologists feel that had there been a marked differentiation between classes, or if all power had been lodged in the hands of a limited number of individuals this would have been reflected in the dwellings. Certain leaders and priests undoubtedly had authority, as they do among the Pueblo Indians of today, but there is no evidence of an autocracy or a ruling class.
This is, obviously, a greatly simplified explanation of some of the many techniques employed by archaeologists in seeking to reconstruct the life of ancient times. No one approach will suffice, but by utilizing many methods numerous scattered bits of information are obtained. These are studied and correlated and at length it is possible to produce an account which is at least a reasonable approximation of the truth.
CHAPTER II
THE MOST ANCIENT CULTURES
At least 25,000 years ago there were men in New Mexico who lived in caves and hunted animals, many of which no longer exist. Over 10,000 years ago there were already distinct groups of people in the Southwest, some of whom were primarily hunters and some of whom were largely dependent on the gathering of wild foods. Since the most ancient cultures of North America have already been covered in detail in a previous book in this series,[130] only a very brief resume will be given here.