Ansel Hall Ruin - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Ansel Hall Ruin, also known as Cahone Ruin, is located in Cahone

Cahone, Colorado

Cahone is an unincorporated town and U.S. Post Office in Dolores County, Colorado, United States. The ZIP Code of the Cahone Post Office is 81320.-History:The town of Cahone was established about 1912. The Cahone Post Office opened on May 21, 1916...

, Dolores County, Colorado

Dolores County, Colorado

Dolores County is the seventh least populous of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. The county population was 1,844 at U.S. Census 2000. The county seat is Dove Creek.- History :...

. A pre-historic ruins from the Pueblo II

Pueblo II Era

The Pueblo II Era, AD 900 to 1150, was the second pueblo period of the Ancient Pueblo People of the Four Corners region of the American southwest. During this period people lived in dwellings made of stone and mortar, enjoyed communal activities in kivas, built towers and water conversing dams,...

period, the Northern San Juan pueblo was added to the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

in 1997.

Ansel Hall

The Ansel Hall Ruins, previously called Cahone Ruins, were named for Ansel Hall, the property owner. He sponsored two excavations in 1949 and 1950.

Ansel Franklin Hall

Ansel Franklin Hall

Ansel F. Hall was an American naturalist. He was the first Chief Naturalist and first Chief Forester of the United States National Park Service.-Early career:...

was a naturalist for the National Park Service

National Park Service

The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...

. It's said of him that "probably contributed more than any other individual to the formation and early growth of the interpretive work of the National Park Service (NPS)." He was a mentor to photographer Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams

Ansel Easton Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist, best known for his black-and-white photographs of the American West, especially in Yosemite National Park....

, formed the non-for-profit concessions organization Mesa Verde Company and in 1933 funded an expedition of Monument Valley to research and record information about the area.

Hall sponsored two excavations in 1949 and 1950.

Geography

The Ansel Hall Ruin is located within the central Mesa Verde Anasazi region that spans southwestern Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

, southeastern Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

and northern New Mexico

New Mexico

New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

. Its boundaries are: the Colorado River

Colorado River

The Colorado River , is a river in the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The watershed of the Colorado River covers in parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states...

in southeastern Utah, the San Juan River in northern New Mexico, and the Piedra River is the eastern-most boundary in Colorado.

Early people

Evidence from the Mesa Verde area indicates that there were Paleo-Indians and people of the Archaic period in southwestern Colorado. During the transitional period from a traditional hunter-gatherer

Hunter-gatherer

A hunter-gatherer or forage society is one in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals, in contrast to agricultural societies which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunting and gathering was the ancestral subsistence mode of Homo, and all modern humans were...

society to pueblo people

Ancient Pueblo Peoples

Ancient Pueblo People or Ancestral Pueblo peoples were an ancient Native American culture centered on the present-day Four Corners area of the United States, comprising southern Utah, northern Arizona, northwest New Mexico, and southern Colorado...

, there were several distinct cultural changes:

Early hunters

Hunter-gatherers from 10,000 years Before Present

Before Present

Before Present years is a time scale used in archaeology, geology, and other scientific disciplines to specify when events in the past occurred. Because the "present" time changes, standard practice is to use AD 1950 as the origin of the age scale, reflecting the fact that radiocarbon...

hunted and lived in a difficult terrain, traversed deep canyons and areas of few animals and limited vegetation, and managed limited access to water - which made life difficult and limited the size of their hunt groups. They were adaptive to find sufficient food, supplementing their diet with nuts, seeds and fruit from wild plants. Artifacts were found 1) of Paleo-Indians who camped and hunted along the nearby Cajon Mesa of Hovenweep as early as 8,000 years ago and 2) from 20 sites with evidence of the Archaic people from about 6,000 BC.

Basketmakers AD 1 to 550

The people living in the Four Corners region were introduced to maize

Maize

Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...

and basketry

Basket weaving

Basket weaving is the process of weaving unspun vegetable fibres into a basket or other similar form. People and artists who weave baskets are called basketmakers and basket weavers.Basketry is made from a variety of fibrous or pliable materials•anything that will bend and form a shape...

through Mesoamerica

Mesoamerica

Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...

n trading about 2,000 years Before Present

Before Present

Able to have greater control of their diet through cultivation, the hunter-gatherers lifestyle became more sedentary as small disperse groups began cultivating maize and squash. They also continued to hunt and gather wild plants.

They were named "Basketmakers" for their skill in making baskets for storing food, covering with pitch to heat water, and using to toast seeds and nuts. They wove bags, sandals, belts out of yucca plants and leaves - and strung beads. They occasionally lived in dry caves where they dug pits and lined with stones to store food. These people were ancestors of the pueblo people of the Hovenweep pueblo settlement and Mesa Verde.

Modified Basketmakers AD 550 to 750

The next era, Modified Basketmakers, resulted in the introduction of pottery which reduced the number of baskets that they made and eliminated the creation of woven bags. The simple, gray pottery allowed them a better tool for cooking and storage. Beans were added to the cultivated diet. Bows and arrows made hunting easier and thus the acquisition of hides for clothing. Turkey feathers were woven into blankets and robes. On the rim of Mesa Verde, small groups built pit houses which were built several feet below the surface with elements suggestive of the introduction of celebration rituals.

Pueblo I
Pueblo I Era
The Pueblo I Era, from AD 750 to 900, was the first period in which Ancient Pueblo People began living in pueblo structures and realized an evolution in architecture, artistic expression, and water conservation...

- AD 750 to 900

From pueblos at Mesa Verde

Mesa Verde National Park

Mesa Verde National Park is a U.S. National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. It was created in 1906 to protect some of the best-preserved cliff dwellings in the world...

we learn of some advancements during this period which are reflected in the Hovenweep structures built in the next cultural period. Pueblo buildings were built with stone, windows facing south, and in U, E and L shapes. The buildings were located more closely together and reflected deepening religious celebration. Towers were built near kivas and likely used for look-outs. Pottery became more versatile, not just for cooking, but now included pitchers, ladles, bowls, jars and dishware for food and drink. White pottery with black designs emerged, the pigments coming from plants. Water management and conservation techniques, including the use of reservoirs and silt-retaining dams also emerged during this period.

Mid-way through this period, about AD 900, the number of Hovenweep residential sites increased.

Pueblo II - AD 900-1150

Colorado Historical Society, Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation described the site as:

A loose cluster of individual habitation units surrounding several community structures, is believed to have been built and occupied between AD 1050 and 1150. As one of the few "pure" large Pueblo II
Pueblo II Era
The Pueblo II Era, AD 900 to 1150, was the second pueblo period of the Ancient Pueblo People of the Four Corners region of the American southwest. During this period people lived in dwellings made of stone and mortar, enjoyed communal activities in kivas, built towers and water conversing dams,...

sites in Southwestern Colorado, it is important as a representation of the broad patterns of Mesa Verde Anasazi cultural change.

Chaco cultural influence

At the beginning of the Pueblo II period, there were few people living in the Mesa Verde region, many people having departed the area at the end of Pueblo I. As conditions for farming improved, people returned to the Mesa Verde region and farmed.

Between 1080 and 1130, the Mesa Verde region was heavily influenced by the culture of the Chacoan people from New Mexico.

Chaco was the center of a large trade network, reaching as far south as Mexico. This dramatically increased access to unique goods, such as Chacoan style pottery, copper bells, macaw remains, sea shells and raw materials used to create artifacts. In addition to the integration of new goods into their culture, the extensive trade routes also brought new ideas and people to the region.
The Chaco culture had a unique architecture, "great houses" which were large, multi-storied and multi-room complexes, with great kiva
Kiva
A kiva is a room used by modern Puebloans for religious rituals, many of them associated with the kachina belief system. Among the modern Hopi and most other Pueblo peoples, kivas are square-walled and underground, and are used for spiritual ceremonies....

s located inside the structure. More than 225 great houses have been found in the northern Anasazi regions, including the Mesa Verde region. Great houses built outside of Chaco Canyon were called "outliers," connected back to Chaco Canyon through a network of roads.

Until this time, most of the people lived in disperse communities of small farmsteads, clustered around community centers which included large buildings for meetings and ceremonies and great kiva

Kiva

A kiva is a room used by modern Puebloans for religious rituals, many of them associated with the kachina belief system. Among the modern Hopi and most other Pueblo peoples, kivas are square-walled and underground, and are used for spiritual ceremonies....

s. There also appeared to have been storage areas for harvested crops. The Chacoan cultural influence was reflected in "great houses" that began appearing in Mesa Verde region communities starting about 1080, and lasting until 1140 after which point great houses were no longer built in Mesa Verde region settlements. A 50 year drought lasted from 1130 to 1180.

Greenlee site, near Dove Creek

Greenlee Ruins on Squaw Point, about 8 miles west of the town of Cahone

Cahone, Colorado

was built at least by the early Pueblo II period, and possibly as early as Pueblo I. Prior to the construction of the Ansel Hall pueblo, the Greenlee site was abandoned about 1050, when Ansel Hall and Brewer Mesa pueblos were in their early stages.

Ansel Hall site

With specific reference to archaeological findings at the Ansel Hall site, the community had a great kiva

Kiva

and a number of ruins which may indicate that the pueblo village was at least a moderate-sized community. Ansel Hall site had about 200 rooms and 36 kivas.

At least one of the small sites was built late in the 11th century, about AD 1074. The pueblo village may have been abandoned by AD 1100, based upon the absence of 12th century white and black pottery.

The nature of artifacts found indicate that the Ansel Hall residents had connections with Chaco Canyon, traded with other native people and had a similar lifestyle with their neighbors:

Tools and flakes made of Obsidian
Obsidian
Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed as an extrusive igneous rock.It is produced when felsic lava extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimum crystal growth...

glass, possibly from an area east of Pagosa Springs
Pagosa Springs, Colorado
Pagosa Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat of, and the only incorporated municipality in, Archuleta County, Colorado, United States. The population was 1,591 at the 2000 census...

in the southern San Juan Mountains
San Juan Mountains
The San Juan Mountains are a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado. The area is highly mineralized and figured in the gold and silver mining industry of early Colorado. Major towns, all old mining camps, include Creede, Lake City, Silverton, Ouray, and...

or New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

, were found in Cahone, Yellow Jacket
Yellow Jacket, Colorado
Yellow Jacket is an unincorporated town and a U.S. Post Office located in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. The Yellow Jacket Post Office has the ZIP Code 81335.-Geography:Yellow Jacket is located at .-History:...

, Lancaster and Stevenson. These findings bolster claims of trading among the Ancient Pueblo People.
An arrow point, Pueblo Alto Side Notched point, common to Chaco Canyon was found in outlying Mesa Verde region communities, including Ansel Hall Ruins, Lowry Pueblo
Lowry Pueblo
The Lowry Pueblo is an Ancestral Puebloan archaeological site located in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument near Pleasant View, Colorado, United States. The pueblo was constructed about 1060 AD atop abandoned pithouses from an earlier period of occupation. It was occupied by 100 people...

, the Mug House at Mesa Verde
Mesa Verde National Park
Mesa Verde National Park is a U.S. National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. It was created in 1906 to protect some of the best-preserved cliff dwellings in the world...

, and other southwestern Colorado site. It was used in the Pueblo II
Pueblo II Era
The Pueblo II Era, AD 900 to 1150, was the second pueblo period of the Ancient Pueblo People of the Four Corners region of the American southwest. During this period people lived in dwellings made of stone and mortar, enjoyed communal activities in kivas, built towers and water conversing dams,...

and Pueblo III
Pueblo III Era
The Pueblo III Era, AD 1150 to 1350, was the third period, also called the "Great Pueblo period" when Ancient Pueblo People lived in large cliff-dwelling, multi-storied pueblo, or cliff-side talus house communities...

eras. The point was named for the Chaco Canyon great house, Pueblo Alto.
Similar to a Chaco Corner Notched point, the Bonito Point used in the Pueblo II and Pueblo III periods was found throughout the Mesa Verde region in Colorado, including Ansel Hall Ruin, Lowry Pueblo
Lowry Pueblo
The Lowry Pueblo is an Ancestral Puebloan archaeological site located in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument near Pleasant View, Colorado, United States. The pueblo was constructed about 1060 AD atop abandoned pithouses from an earlier period of occupation. It was occupied by 100 people...

, sites on Chapin and Wetherill Mesas in Mesa Verde
Mesa Verde National Park
Mesa Verde National Park is a U.S. National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. It was created in 1906 to protect some of the best-preserved cliff dwellings in the world...

, and the La Plata district. The arrow point was named for the Bonita Pueblo in Chaco Canyon.
Indigenous to the Ansel Hall Ruins area, the Dolores Straight Stem point, named for the Dolores River Valley, was found at Ansel Hall, Ackmen-Lowry area, Durango and Piedra districts of southwestern Colorado. The point was generally used between about AD 729 and 920.

The Wilderness Trust Fund requested a grant of $44,900 for the Ansel Hall Ruin (site 5DL.27) in 1999.

The ownership of the ruin may pass from a private owner to the Bureau of Land Management.

Pueblo III - AD 1150-1300

Rohn and Ferguson, authors of Puebloan ruins of the Southwest, state that the ruin was also a Pueblo III

Pueblo III Era

The Pueblo III Era, AD 1150 to 1350, was the third period, also called the "Great Pueblo period" when Ancient Pueblo People lived in large cliff-dwelling, multi-storied pueblo, or cliff-side talus house communities...

settlement. During the Pueblo III period there was a significant community change. Moving in from dispersed farmsteads into community centers at pueblos canyon heads or cliff dwellings on canyon shelves. Population peaked between 1200 to 1250 to more than 20,000 in the Mesa Verde region.

By 1300 Ancient Pueblo People abandoned their settlements, as the result of climate changes and food shortage, and south to villages in Arizona and New Mexico.

Collection

Artifacts from the Ansel Hall Ruin site are located at the Anasazi Heritage Center

Anasazi Heritage Center

Anasazi Heritage Center, located in Dolores, Colorado, is an archaeological museum of Native American pueblo and hunter-gatherer cultures. Two 12th-century archaeological sites, the Escalante and Dominguez Pueblos, at the center were once home to Ancient Pueblo Peoples...

by December 12, 2000. The collection was previously located at the Mesa Verde National Park