Late Phase of Ancestral Puebloan Cliff Dwellings

Name: Late Phase of Ancestral Puebloan Cliff Dwellings
Start: 1271
End: 1280

Type Event Region North America Time 1271–1280

In the 1270s, cliff dwelling construction and large-village settlement of the Ancestral Pueblo culture in the American Southwest entered a late phase.

Timeline

1271–1280Cliff Palace · ColoradoStone multi-room settlements at complexes like Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde could hold hundreds of people, representing the pinnacle of Ancestral Puebloan architectural technique; dendrochronology shows major construction concentrated from the late 12th to mid-13th century, with the 1270s a late phase of occupation and maintenance.
1271–1280Colorado Plateau · ColoradoAround the 1270s, persistent drought, depletion of forest resources, and degradation of farmland intensified survival pressures on the Colorado Plateau; archaeological evidence shows some cliff dwellings beginning to be abandoned, with communities gradually migrating south to the Rio Grande valley and northwestern New Mexico, the large-scale migration completed by about 1300.

Sources

The Mesa Verde World: Explorations in Archaeological Research — David Grant Noble (2006)
Anasazi America: Seventeen Centuries on the Road from Center Place — David E. Stuart (2000)