Bridging the Long Tenth Century: From Villages to Great Houses in the Central Mesa Verde Region

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Research, Education, and American Indian Partnerships at the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Research by the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center and affiliates has illuminated many periods of history in the central Mesa Verde region; it has also highlighted several lacunae. The Long Tenth Century (AD 890–1030) is one of these lacunae. There is a conspicuous gap in the dendrochronological record, and sites are few and far between. In addition, the Long Tenth Century falls between two of the major research themes in the central Mesa Verde region—the development of the first village societies in the Pueblo I period (AD 760–880) and the Chacoan florescence in the late Pueblo II period (AD 1075–1140). To better understand this period, we summarize what we currently know about environmental change, settlement patterns, and architecture in the central Mesa Verde region. We consider the social and demographic consequences of village collapse and how these influenced the development of cultural landscapes in the region. Then, using newly synthesized excavation data, we address the origins of great houses in the Mesa Verde region and their relationship to Chacoan great houses in the San Juan basin. Far from a lacuna, the Long Tenth Century appears to have been a period of significant change linking villages and great houses.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Research, Education, and American Indian Partnerships at the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36075.0