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The term Navajo Pueblitos, also known as Dinétah Pueblitos, refers to a class of
archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and ...
s that are found in the northwestern corner of the
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state of New Mexico. The sites generally consist of relatively small stone and timber structures which are believed to have been built by the Navajo people in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The sites are located within the cultural area known as the Dinétah, the traditional homeland of the Navajo tribe of Native Americans. Pueblitos (Spanish for "little villages"; cf. Pueblo Native Americans) are generally found in defensible locations along mesa rims and on isolated outcrops and boulders. The structures themselves can consist of from one to six rooms, and take the form of multi-storied towers, cliff dwellings, and fort-like enclosures.


Setting

The majority of pueblito sites are located on lands administered by the United States
Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's l ...
in Rio Arriba and
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...
counties, New Mexico. Pueblitos, as well as a large number of other early Navajo sites are clustered in the Largo and Gobernador canyons, which drain in a north and westerly direction to the San Juan River.


Pueblo influence

The sites, now in ruins, date to what archaeologists have named the Gobernador phase of Navajo history. This was a period of population movements which began with the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, during which the
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
were driven from New Mexico by an alliance of various Rio Grande and Western Pueblo tribes. The Spaniards returned in 1692, and it appears that some Pueblo people fled to the mesas and canyons of the Navajo. A large Puebloan influx to the Dinétah region was long seen by archaeologists as the impetus for a mixing of Puebloan and Navajo cultural traits which appears to have taken place in the 18th century. The presence of Pueblo refugees has also been generally credited as an important driving force behind the construction of the pueblitos. There is, however, some debate over the evidence that any large number of Pueblo people lived with the Navajos in this period. Spanish reports seem to indicate that portions of several Tewa and two Jemez communities may have sought refuge with the Navajos. However, historical evidence from the Hopi Pueblos indicates that the majority of the refugees from the Rio Grande region went to Hopi, leading some scholars to believe that the number of Puebloans that fled to Navajo country may have been as little as a few hundred.


Defensive nature

Whether constructed by Navajos, Puebloans, or a combination of both, most scholars agree that the Pueblitos are highly defensive in nature. Dinétah was a frontier area at the beginning of the 18th century, held by Navajos and possibly Pueblo refugees against retaliatory Spanish expeditions and Ute- Comanche raids. The defensive strategies employed at Pueblito sites consist of two general elements; advance warning, and regulation of access. The location of sites allowed for good views of approach routes, and sites were often situated so that they could be visually linked.


Architecture

Pueblitos are generally constructed as two-story masonry structures situated on rock outcroppings or cliff edges. The shape of the structures generally follows the contour of the outcrop on which it rests. The interior space is partitioned by abutting cross walls to the outer walls. In most cases the structures and rooms tend to have rounded corners. The masonry is usually of readily available unshaped sandstone blocks and slabs which are set in mud mortar. Room interiors are often covered with hand pressed
adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...
mortar. Room ceilings are supported by ''piñon'' and
juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...
logs ('' vigas''). Above the primary beams, slats of juniper and piñon are placed laterally ''latillas'' . Adobe is sometimes placed atop the ''latillas'' to form a floor. Spanish style hooded fireplaces are found in some sites. Many pueblitos are in good condition and walls often stand from 4 to 15 feet in height. Forked-stick
hogan A hogan ( or ; from Navajo ' ) is the primary, traditional dwelling of the Navajo people. Other traditional structures include the summer shelter, the underground home, and the sweat house. A hogan can be round, cone-shaped, multi-sided, or squ ...
s occur throughout the Dinétah region, as well as in association with pueblitos. The hogans usually have a framework of three main posts that form a tripod. Split juniper slats are placed on the framework to form a cone. The juniper slats were originally covered with a layer of mud mortar, but this layer has since washed away from the structures of this period.


Important sites

Some of the larger and better documented pueblito sites include the following: * Adolpho Canyon * Christmas Tree Ruin * Crow Canyon Archaeological District * Frances Canyon Ruin * Hooded Fireplace Site * Largo School Ruin * Old Fort Ruin * Shaft House Ruin * Simon Canyon Ruin * Split Rock Ruin * Tapacito Ruin * Three Corn Ruin


See also

*
List of dwellings of Pueblo peoples Hundreds of Ancestral Puebloan dwellings are found across the American Southwest. With almost all constructed well before , these Puebloan towns and villages are located throughout the geography of the Southwest. Many of these dwellings inc ...


References

*Linford, Laurance D., ''Navajo Places - History, Legend Landscape'' The University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, 2000. *Marshall, Michael P. and Hogan, Patrick, ''Rethinking Navajo Pueblitos'' New Mexico Bureau of Land Management, Cultural Resources Series No. 8, 1991. *Powers, Margaret A. and Johnson, Byron P., ''Defensive Sites of Dinetah'' New Mexico Bureau of Land Management, Cultural Resources Series No. 2, 1987.


External links


Dinetah Rock Art & Pueblitos - Photos, Videos, and MapsPueblito in Mesa Verde
{{coord missing, New Mexico Navajo history Pueblito Pueblito Ruins in the United States History of Rio Arriba County, New Mexico History of San Juan County, New Mexico Dwellings of the Pueblo peoples Colorado Plateau