Southwestern North American Worlds: Communities, Water, and Connected Landscapes - Interactive Historical Atlas

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Southwestern North American Worlds: Communities, Water, and Connected Landscapes

Changing homelands, skilled water management, households, and living stewardship.

Explore twenty selected contexts across the Colorado Plateau, Rio Grande, Sonoran Desert and northern Mexican borderlands: early irrigation, Pueblo settlements, earthen towns, craft and exchange. Archaeological classifications, living community histories, languages and political authority remain distinct.

20
profiles in this release
2
regional contexts
1
language families
Interactive collection

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Showing all 20 profiles

Point markers show approximate public towns or distant institutional orientation only, sometimes far from the archaeological context. They never define territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, migration-route, trade-route, hunting, farming, grazing or water-rights boundaries. They do not pinpoint burials, ancestral remains, sacred places, private land or vulnerable deposits; grant no access, digging, collecting, harvesting or travel permission; and do not decide ownership or current safety. Shared orientation points are intentional, not multiple sites at one coordinate.

Southwestern North America (orientation only)

Aztec Ruins: great houses and changing community roles

Reviewed community and place names are preserved where supported; no otherwise unknown ancient self-designation is invented.

NPS explains the Aztec misnomer and identifies the site's Ancestral Pueblo context. The engineering account distinguishes early twelfth-century construction from later remodeling.

Great-house and surrounding-community context Approximately 1100–1300 CE; later preservation separately dated Tree rings, phased masonry, engineering, associated settlement and living histories
Reference town or archaeological context
Farmington, New Mexico, United States (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.
Language family
Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.
3 reviewed sources Read profile
Southwestern North America (orientation only)

Bandelier: tuff architecture and changing settlements

Reviewed community and place names are preserved where supported; no otherwise unknown ancient self-designation is invented.

NPS describes both masonry settlements and tuff-related architecture rather than one uniform dwelling type. The people account identifies continuing Tribal connections and the limits of an exclusively archaeological narrative.

Mesa and canyon household context Approximately 1150–1550 CE; earlier and later contexts distinguished Masonry pueblos, modified tuff cavities, farming evidence and public community histories
Reference town or archaeological context
Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.
Language family
Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.
3 reviewed sources Read profile
Southwestern North America (orientation only)

Canyon de Chelly: farming landscapes and living Diné homelands

Reviewed community and place names are preserved where supported; no otherwise unknown ancient self-designation is invented.

NPS describes a landscape of farming and continuing Diné residence, with Navajo Nation and federal partnership. The preservation account connects historic architecture and long occupation with contemporary conservation work.

Layered farming landscape and living-heritage context Long pre-1700 sequence; later Diné and colonial histories separately contextualized Settlement archaeology, agricultural landscapes, geological context and community stewardship
Reference town or archaeological context
Chinle, Arizona, United States (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.
Language family
Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.
3 reviewed sources Read profile
Southwestern North America (orientation only)

Casa Grande: earthen building and irrigated landscapes

Reviewed community and place names are preserved where supported; no otherwise unknown ancient self-designation is invented.

NPS describes a planned earthen structure and substantial shared labor while leaving its precise purpose unresolved. The history account separates the fourteenth-century building from a late-seventeenth-century written description.

Earthen monument and irrigation-community context Great House approximately fourteenth century CE; longer regional farming background Caliche architecture, canals, settlement features, archival descriptions and community histories
Reference town or archaeological context
Coolidge, Arizona, United States (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.
Language family
Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.
3 reviewed sources Read profile
Southwestern North America (orientation only)

Chimney Rock: households, Chaco connections, and astronomical interpretations

Reviewed community and place names are preserved where supported; no otherwise unknown ancient self-designation is invented.

The Forest Service situates the main settlement between approximately 900 and 1125 CE. The management plan treats cultural resources and Tribal relationships as preservation responsibilities, not unrestricted public knowledge.

Settlement and interpretive-astronomy context Main settlement approximately 900–1125 CE; earlier and later contexts distinguished Masonry, household archaeology, dated structures and landscape-alignment studies
Reference town or archaeological context
Pagosa Springs, Colorado, United States (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.
Language family
Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.
3 reviewed sources Read profile
Northern Mexican borderlands (orientation only)

Cuarenta Casas: shelter architecture and Sierra Madre connections

Reviewed community and place names are preserved where supported; no otherwise unknown ancient self-designation is invented.

INAH describes locally sourced earthen building, timber elements and storage within shelter contexts. The institutional register lists Cuarenta Casas separately from Paquimé and other Chihuahua sites; they are not one interchangeable locality.

Shelter architecture and regional heritage context Main architecture approximately thirteenth century CE and later precolonial contexts Earthen walls, timber elements, storage features and institutional heritage records
Reference town or archaeological context
Madera, Chihuahua, Mexico (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.
Language family
Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.
3 reviewed sources Read profile
Southwestern North America (orientation only)

Gila Cliff Dwellings: short occupation and longer regional histories

Reviewed community and place names are preserved where supported; no otherwise unknown ancient self-designation is invented.

NPS dates the main cliff-dwelling use to the later thirteenth century within a much longer regional history. The heritage account describes crops alongside hunting, gathering and fiber work, not a strict farmer-forager divide.

Cliff-household and regional farming context Main cliff construction late 1270s–around 1300 CE; earlier regional use distinguished Masonry, timber dates, food plants, textiles and comparative material classifications
Reference town or archaeological context
Silver City, New Mexico, United States (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.
Language family
Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.
3 reviewed sources Read profile
Southwestern North America (orientation only)

Hovenweep: farming communities and varied towers

Reviewed community and place names are preserved where supported; no otherwise unknown ancient self-designation is invented.

NPS distinguishes long regional use from the much later standing settlement buildings. The Square Tower account places room blocks and varied towers in a farming community, not a single isolated castle.

Settlement architecture and farming context Main standing structures approximately 1200–1300 CE; earlier context distinguished Masonry forms, room groups, springs, regional settlement histories and public heritage interpretation
Reference town or archaeological context
Blanding, Utah, United States (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.
Language family
Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.
3 reviewed sources Read profile
Southwestern North America (orientation only)

Las Capas: early irrigation and collective labor

Reviewed community and place names are preserved where supported; no otherwise unknown ancient self-designation is invented.

The field project dates its main investigated farming occupation around 1200–800 BCE and documents canals and fields. The research summary examines work and cooperation needed to maintain irrigation rather than assuming a single ruler.

Early farming and irrigation context Approximately 1200–800 BCE; later use distinguished Excavated canals, bordered fields, houses, botanical evidence and hydraulic reconstruction
Reference town or archaeological context
Tucson, Arizona, United States (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.
Language family
Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.
3 reviewed sources Read profile
Southwestern North America (orientation only)

Mattocks Pueblo and Mimbres: households, pottery, and stewardship

Reviewed community and place names are preserved where supported; no otherwise unknown ancient self-designation is invented.

The heritage site documents looting and successive investigations, which affect what can be reconstructed. The site's historical account places its principal archaeological sequence around 550–1130 CE.

Pueblo household and heritage-stewardship context Approximately 550–1130 CE main sequence; research and stewardship later Settlement architecture, ceramics, legacy excavations and conservation records
Reference town or archaeological context
Bayard, New Mexico, United States (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.
Language family
Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.
3 reviewed sources Read profile
Southwestern North America (orientation only)

Mesa Verde: mesa-top and cliff communities

Reviewed community and place names are preserved where supported; no otherwise unknown ancient self-designation is invented.

NPS distinguishes mesa-top pithouses and villages from later cliff dwellings within a long settlement sequence. NPS presents continuing connections with Pueblo and other Tribal communities rather than a vanished-people narrative.

Settlement landscape and household context Approximately 550–1300 CE; later heritage separately dated Pithouses, masonry villages, cliff dwellings, farming features and community histories
Reference town or archaeological context
Cortez, Colorado, United States (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.
Language family
Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.
3 reviewed sources Read profile
Northern Mexican borderlands (orientation only)

Paquimé / Casas Grandes: adobe urbanism and regional exchange

Reviewed community and place names are preserved where supported; no otherwise unknown ancient self-designation is invented.

UNESCO records residential, workshop and storage spaces in a substantial earthen-built settlement. INAH presents different interpretations of development and Mesoamerican relationships; invasion is not established merely by comparison.

Earthen urban and regional exchange context Approximately 700–1475 CE broader sequence; major urban phase fourteenth–fifteenth centuries CE Adobe architecture, workshops, storage, settlement layout and comparative material evidence
Reference town or archaeological context
Nuevo Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.
Language family
Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.
3 reviewed sources Read profile
Southwestern North America (orientation only)

Pecos / P’aékilâ: farming, trade, and colonial encounters

Reviewed community and place names are preserved where supported; no otherwise unknown ancient self-designation is invented.

NPS distinguishes earlier pithouse and masonry contexts from the later aggregated pueblo. The people account includes trade, diplomacy and exchanges involving enslaved people; trade is not assumed to be peaceful or equal.

Pueblo, exchange and colonial-encounter context Approximately 800–1700 CE focus; 1838 and later history separately dated Settlement archaeology, architecture, attributed colonial testimony and Pueblo of Jemez history
Reference town or archaeological context
Pecos, New Mexico, United States (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.
Language family
Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.
3 reviewed sources Read profile
Southwestern North America (orientation only)

Salmon Pueblo: construction, reuse, and San Juan connections

Reviewed community and place names are preserved where supported; no otherwise unknown ancient self-designation is invented.

Reed describes construction around 1090 CE and extensive later modification by San Juan communities. The museum explains that the 1970s project investigated only part of the site; the record is not a whole-town census.

Great-house construction and reuse context Approximately 1090–1280s CE; research separately dated Tree-ring dating, masonry, room remodeling, ceramics and legacy excavation records
Reference town or archaeological context
Bloomfield, New Mexico, United States (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.
Language family
Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.
3 reviewed sources Read profile
Southwestern North America (orientation only)

Snaketown: households, canals, and restricted heritage

Reviewed community and place names are preserved where supported; no otherwise unknown ancient self-designation is invented.

Haury's later excavation report argues for continuity through material change; that inference must not become an ancestry conclusion. The original report documents houses, canals and objects, creating a comparative archive shaped by excavation choices.

Irrigation settlement and restricted-heritage context First and early second millennia CE; excavation and living stewardship distinguished House remains, canal evidence, ceramics, excavation archives and community collections
Reference town or archaeological context
Chandler, Arizona, United States (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.
Language family
Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.
3 reviewed sources Read profile
Southwestern North America (orientation only)

Sunset Crater: eruption, relocation, and adaptation

Reviewed community and place names are preserved where supported; no otherwise unknown ancient self-designation is invented.

NPS places the eruption around 1085 CE; the approximation is retained rather than asserting an exact universal date. The people account distinguishes buried settlements and displacement from settings where thinner ash affected farming differently.

Environmental and household transformation context Approximately 1085 CE eruption and subsequent adaptation Volcanic deposits, settlement archaeology, ceramics and attributed community histories
Reference town or archaeological context
Flagstaff, Arizona, United States (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.
Language family
Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.
3 reviewed sources Read profile
Southwestern North America (orientation only)

S’edav Va’aki: Salt River canals and civic heritage

Reviewed community and place names are preserved where supported; no otherwise unknown ancient self-designation is invented.

The village account distinguishes early settlement and canals from later platform-mound expansion and earthen compounds. The museum history records modern acquisitions, excavations and archival work; today's preserved area is not the entire ancient village.

Canal settlement and platform-mound context Before approximately 500–1450 CE; museum and renaming later Canals, pithouses, earthen compounds, platform construction and civic heritage archives
Reference town or archaeological context
Phoenix, Arizona, United States (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.
Language family
Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.
3 reviewed sources Read profile
Southwestern North America (orientation only)

Tonto: cliff households and Salado material networks

Reviewed community and place names are preserved where supported; no otherwise unknown ancient self-designation is invented.

NPS places the cliff buildings within a longer occupied basin and varied cultural relationships. The lower dwelling account describes local stone, carried timber, plaster floors and hearths as evidence of construction and domestic work.

Cliff architecture and regional interaction context Approximately 1300–1450 CE main cliff-household context Masonry, roof timber samples, ceramics, construction sequences and preservation records
Reference town or archaeological context
Globe, Arizona, United States (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.
Language family
Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.
3 reviewed sources Read profile
Southwestern North America (orientation only)

Ventana Cave: stratigraphy, perishable work, and evidence limits

Reviewed community and place names are preserved where supported; no otherwise unknown ancient self-designation is invented.

Haury's monograph organizes a long cave sequence through stratigraphy and material comparisons, not one timeless society. The State Museum preserves excavation records and correspondence that help assess how legacy interpretations were assembled.

Cave sequence and research-history context Holocene contexts; legacy excavation and later stewardship separately dated Stratigraphy, stone tools, perishable materials and legacy archives
Reference town or archaeological context
Sells, Arizona, United States (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.
Language family
Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.
3 reviewed sources Read profile
Southwestern North America (orientation only)

Wupatki: farming, households, and connected communities

Reviewed community and place names are preserved where supported; no otherwise unknown ancient self-designation is invented.

NPS describes Wupatki as a crossroads within a much longer inhabited regional landscape. NPS connects settlement changes with multiple pressures and continuing histories in living communities.

Settlement and regional exchange context Main built communities approximately 1100–1250 CE; earlier regional background Masonry buildings, ceramics, settlement distribution and living community histories
Reference town or archaeological context
Flagstaff, Arizona, United States (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.
Language family
Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.
3 reviewed sources Read profile
Evidence-first orientation

Evidence, terminology, and living authority

Six sourced notes distinguish regional names, material classifications, dating, water and household work, colonial testimony, and living authority.

Regional frames and changing geography

Southwest, northern Mexico, Oasisamerica and Aridamerica organize modern scholarship, not a single ancient people or a fixed United States–Mexico divide. Regional exchange can be described without turning a site or modern park boundary into a territorial claim.

[C1] [C4]

Material labels and living names

NPS distinguishes Hohokam as an archaeological classification from the people who created particular objects. The Huhugam Heritage Center explains ancestral relationships through its own community mission. Neither account gives this atlas authority to decide living identity, language or membership.

[C1] [C2]

Dating, preservation, and sampled archives

The Tonto construction study distinguishes incomplete and near-cutting timber samples; a surviving beam does not date every room. Salmon's excavation archive represents only part of a settlement. Looting, exposed architecture and preservation also shape what can be known.

[C5] [C6]

Water, labor, and connected households

Las Capas research examines irrigation and household coordination; canal construction is not automatic evidence of a despotic water state. Farming, wild food use, craft and exchange could coexist. Archaeological irrigation does not award present-day water rights.

[C1] [C3]

External testimony and colonial power

The Pecos account describes exchange, diplomacy and coercion, including enslaved people. Spanish population and military descriptions are attributed testimony, not neutral censuses. Living community histories and later relocation require their own chronology rather than an inevitable disappearance story.

[C7] [C8]

Living stewardship and map limits

Pueblo of Jemez and Gila River community institutions speak for their own histories and stewardship priorities, not for this atlas. Public availability is not consent to reproduce sacred knowledge or objects. Coarse town markers grant no access or collecting permission and cannot establish ancestry, ownership or membership.

[C2] [C8]
  1. C1 The Ancestral Sonoran Desert People · National Park Service
  2. C2 Our Story · Huhugam Heritage Center; Gila River Indian Community
  3. C3 Las Capas Data Recovery · Desert Archaeology, Inc.
  4. C4 Archaeological Zone of Paquimé, Casas Grandes · UNESCO World Heritage Centre
  5. C5 Upper Cliff Dwelling Construction Sequence · National Park Service
  6. C6 Research: Salmon Ruins · Salmon Ruins Museum
  7. C7 People of Pecos · National Park Service
  8. C8 Pecos · Pueblo of Jemez
Connected coverage

Topics already reviewed elsewhere in the atlas are linked instead of duplicated.

Chaco Canyon and Ancestral Pueblo worlds Compare the established Chaco profile without duplicating it or assuming every connected settlement belonged to one centralized state. White Sands footprints and Pleistocene landscapes Open a much older independently dated context, not a direct ancestry claim about later Pueblo or Tribal communities. Clovis archaeological contexts at Blackwater Draw Compare a distinct early material context without making a tool classification a race, single migration wave or membership test.
Read the data carefully

A selective regional collection, not a people census

This editorial release contains 20 profiles. Twenty selective contexts, not a census of every Southwestern people or archaeological site. Chaco Canyon, White Sands and Clovis remain in the Americas deep-history collection and are linked below. Living Pueblo and Tribal histories have their own authority; no claim that communities vanished follows from a change of settlement. Many O’odham, Apache, Diné, Hopi, Zuni and other histories need additional community-led coverage.

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