Trip 1: The A.D. 1200s

In the A.D. 1200s, the village of Castle Rock would have been filled with activity. People of all ages would have been going about their chores, working on pottery and tools, making clothes, eating, playing, talking with their neighbors, and relaxing after a hard day's work.

The ancestral Puebloan people were excellent farmers who grew corn, beans, and squash. They raised turkeys for the eggs, feathers, meat, and bones. They didn't need to rely on turkey as their only meat source, because they also hunted deer, rabbits, and other wild game. They probably used dogs to help with hunting.

To learn about the religion of the ancestral Puebloans, Crow Canyon archaeologists talk with their modern descendants who live in the pueblos of northern Arizona and New Mexico. Although there are some kinds of information that Puebloan peoples do not share with others, we know that their oral traditions include stories about life in the Mesa Verde region. We think that the ancestral Puebloan people prayed for the good of the earth and for success in hunting and farming.

The ancestral Puebloan people also traded with their neighbors and with people from distant places for things like seashells and turquoise for jewelry, cotton for clothing, and obsidian for arrowheads. Can you picture trading taking place in and around the pueblo?

The ancestral Puebloan people understood their environment well and knew how to use the plants, animals, and minerals for food, shelter, tools, and medicine. During the cold and snowy winters, the ancestral Puebloan people wore blankets, wraps, and clothes woven from plant fibers or fashioned from animal hides. During the summer, they wore lighter clothing.

Children learned by working with family members, practicing important skills, and listening to their elders. Even though they didn't go to school, kids had a lot of lessons to learn! What do you think someone your age would have been doing at Castle Rock Pueblo?

Migration

The ancestral Puebloans lived in the Mesa Verde area for hundreds of years. During this time, they developed strong family groups, traded with people from other communities, and shared natural resources.

By A.D. 1300, the Puebloan people left their homes in the Mesa Verde region. They moved to the Hopi mesas in Arizona and to the northern Rio Grande valley and the area around Zuni in New Mexico. People living in these pueblos today still have close ties to the ancestral Puebloan sites in the Mesa Verde region. Why did the families who lived at Castle Rock Pueblo leave the mesas and valleys they knew, the stone villages they worked so hard to build, and many of their beautiful possessions?

Trip 1
A.D. 1200s

Trip 2
A.D. 1800s

Trip 3
A.D. 1990s