Woods Canyon Pueblo
Life on the Edge
Jessica
L. Lee
Jessica
Lee is from Dallas, Texas. She was a student in Crow Canyon's 1995
High School Field School, and she excavated at Woods Canyon Pueblo.
Jessica recently graduated from college with a degree in anthropology
and archaeology. She is now working in Washington, D.C., at a museum
that is part of the Smithsonian Institution. Here, Jessica shares
her thoughts about the possible need for protection at Woods Canyon
Pueblo. |
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"As a field
school student in 1995, I thought Woods Canyon was the most peaceful
place in the world. My first impression of the ancient Puebloan
way of life in the canyon was one of leisure and beauty, abundant
natural resources, and peace. My only enemies in Woods Canyon were
the tiny, biting flies and gnats, but the Pueblo people who lived
there long ago might have had more to fear.
"As
I tried to put myself in the place of the ancient Puebloans, I realized
that Woods Canyon Pueblo would have been a good place to live in
times of danger. The canyon provides the food, water, and other
natural resources that the villagers would have needed close at
hand if they were attacked. Also, I think a canyon village would
have been much easier to defend than a settlement on top of a mesa.
And finally, Woods Canyon Pueblo had towers that might have been used to look for approaching outsiders or for
communicating with people across the canyons and mesas.
"Although I
enjoyed the beauty and tranquillity of Woods Canyon Pueblo, I suspect
that the Pueblo people might have built there for a more serious
reason." |
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