Introduction

Paleoindian
  Overview
  Food
  Housing
  Artifacts

Archaic
  Overview
  Food
  Housing
  Artifacts

Basketmaker II
  Overview
  Food
  Housing
  Artifacts

Basketmaker III
  Overview
  Food
  Housing
  Artifacts

Pueblo I
  Overview
  Food
  Housing
  Artifacts

Pueblo II
  Overview
  Food
  Housing
  Artifacts

Pueblo III
  Overview
  Food
  Housing
  Artifacts

 

The Basketmaker II Period : 1000 B.C. to A.D. 500

Housing

As people made the transition from a nomadic hunting and gathering lifestyle to a more sedentary farming lifestyle, they began building structures that were more permanent than those built during earlier time periods. Some houses were built in rock alcoves; others were built in the open.

The typical home during the Basketmaker II period consisted of a shallow, basin-shaped pithouse that was dug into the earth. The floor and the lower part of the house walls were belowground and consisted of dirt. The upper walls were constructed aboveground on a timber frame. Posts were set in the ground around the edges of the structure and then covered with branches and other plant material. Larger posts set in the floor supported the roof, and the entire outside of the structure was sealed with a layer of adobe.

At the end of the Basketmaker II period, many pithouses consisted of two round or oval chambers, the outlines of which formed a figure eight. Archaeologists call the smaller of the two chambers an “antechamber,” and they believe it was used for storing tools, containers, and food. Antechambers had a roof hatch that allowed both people and fresh air to enter the structure (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Basketmaker II Pithouse With Antechamber Schematic

The larger chamber is called the “main chamber,” and it was the living space for the family. The fire hearth, usually located in the center of the main chamber, provided light and heat. Just south of the hearth, people sometimes built a short length of wall made of stone, wood, adobe, or a combination of these materials. Called a “deflector,” this short wall shielded the fire from the stream of air that entered the structure through the antechamber. Smoke from the hearth escaped through a hole in the roof. With a ladder leaned up against it, the smoke hole could also have been used as an entryway.

With the beginnings of agriculture, people during the Basketmaker II period were more likely than those of earlier periods to have surplus food, which—if properly stored—could help them survive the winter. So in addition to the storage space of the antechamber, additional storage was provided by pits—some dug into the floor of the main chamber, others excavated into the ground outside the pithouse. Storage pits were covered with large stones or other sturdy material to protect their contents and to provide a level walking surface.