After 1200, we find Chaco or true Anasazi influence coming into the Rio Grande valley to Gran Quivera, thence to southeastern New Mexico. This influence represents the Pueblo Indians who apparently changed the Carlsbad Basketmakers’ way of life more than any other. This continued until sometime between 1500 and 1600, when a drastic and complete change came over all the aboriginal peoples in this section.
The Spanish entered the Southwest, bringing the horse, which prompted this change. The Apaches had slowly been working their way southward from sometime after 1300 A.D. By trade and theft they acquired horses from the Spanish, and, in so doing, the long and bloody career of the Apaches got under way. This freedom and rapidity of movement afforded by the horse allowed them to raid, pillage, and murder Indians and Spanish alike. It is about this time that we lose track of our Basketmakers.
A small cave dwelling in Walnut Canyon
What happened to them is pure supposition. The Carlsbad Basketmakers, for defense or economic reasons, probably joined the Pueblo groups of either the Gran Quivera or El Paso areas and became completely absorbed. Many Pueblo traits found here contribute to this supposition, such as pottery changes and physical changes of the people themselves. For example, the early Carlsbad Basketmakers were long-headed individuals (dolichocephalic). Near the end of their era the head shape changed by artificial deformation, or flattening, brought about by the use of a hard cradle board, to a broad head or brachycephalic type. All along the line there was an admixture of physical types, with the three types being present; long, medium (mesocephalic), and broad.
The Carlsbad Basketmaker would very likely fit into practically any present Pueblo group and not be noticed. He was of medium stature, about 5′4″-5′6″ in average height. His life span was between 30-35 years, and he suffered from arthritis, bad teeth, and broken bones quite often.
The material culture of a people is, perhaps, their most important characteristic, as it represents the utilization of the natural resources in a particular area or environment. Caves were used for a number of purposes: burial, ceremonial, transitory living, etc. It is from these caves that archaeologists dig out the material objects left by prehistoric people and are able to reconstruct the story of the occupants.
As previously mentioned, the name of our Carlsbad Caverns National Park Indians was applied because they made excellent baskets and woven objects. Coiled baskets of yucca with grass, sotol, or twigs of flexible wood as the binder were the most common. Most baskets have designs of various colors woven into them. Red-brown dye was probably made from mountain mahogany. The black was strips of Devil’s Claw (Martynia arenaria). Baskets were waterproofed by smearing pine pitch or mesquite gum on them.
Sandals of yucca and grasses are found in abundance. The square-toed sandal is the most prominent, although the round fishtailed type is common. Both were woven with a variety of ply-thicknesses. They ranged from 5 to 11 inches in length, and 2½ to 4 inches in width. The only known sandal fragment found in the natural entrance to the Caverns is of the square-toed type and is classed as a two warp-two ply.
