Pot Creek Cultural Site is an abandoned 13th century pueblo located on private land owned by
Southern Methodist University
, mottoeng = "The truth will make you free"
, established =
, type = Private research university
, accreditation = SACS
, academic_affiliations =
, religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church
, president = R. Gerald Turner
, ...
and on public
Carson National Forest land in
Taos County, New Mexico
Taos County is a county in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, the population was 32,937. Its county seat is Taos. The county was formed in 1852 as one of the original nine counties in New Mexico Territory.
Taos County compris ...
.
Geography
Located within the Rio Grande valley
and surrounded by the
Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the site is at in elevation.
Its sources of water were the Rio Grande del Rancho, also known as the Little Rio Grande, and Rio del la Olla, also known as Pot Creek.
[Catrina B. Witley. May 2012]
''Evidence of Violent Conflict in Males from Pot Creek.''
Landscapes of Violence. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
Archaeological site
The site was a large adobe pueblo consisting of a large plaza, great
kiva
A kiva is a space used by Puebloans for rites and political meetings, many of them associated with the kachina belief system. Among the modern Hopi and most other Pueblo peoples, "kiva" means a large room that is circular and underground ...
, and small plazas with multiple-storied blocks of rooms and smaller kivas. Its height of occupation was between 1260 and 1320
CE. The pueblo is believed to have been similar to Taos Pueblo and had about 400 rooms on the ground floor for storage, with additional rooms in the multiple-storied dwellings used as dwellings.
[Pot Creek Cultural Site.]
Carson National Forest. Four Corners Geotourism. Retrieved July 23, 2014. It is estimated that the pueblo was occupied for about three generations, with its peak population about 1310. Around 1318 a great kiva was under construction, but it was never completed. It is believed that the pueblo was abandoned about 1320, at which time the southern portion of the site was destroyed by fire.
Residents moved to nearby
Picuris
Picuris Pueblo (; Tiwa: P'įwweltha ’ī̃wːēltʰà is a historic pueblo in Taos County, New Mexico, United States. It is also a census-designated place (CDP) and a federally recognized tribe of Native American Pueblo people. The 2010 censu ...
and
Taos Pueblo
Taos Pueblo (or Pueblo de Taos) is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Taos-speaking (Tiwa) Native American tribe of Puebloan people. It lies about north of the modern city of Taos, New Mexico. The pueblos are considered to be one of the oldest ...
s.
[
The pueblo people lived primarily on a diet of corn, squash and beans that they grew. They also ate bison, local animals and wild plants. The made their own pottery. Gray pottery was used for cooking. They also decorated black-on-white pottery vessels and made tools from stone and animal bones.]
The site has been studied by Southern Methodist University
, mottoeng = "The truth will make you free"
, established =
, type = Private research university
, accreditation = SACS
, academic_affiliations =
, religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church
, president = R. Gerald Turner
, ...
for more than 50 years.
Carson National Forest site
The portion of the pueblo located on Carson National Forest is open to visitors from June to September. It is about 50 yards from a parking area on Highway 518 at milepost 66.4 and has a picnic area and restrooms.[High Road to Toas Trail]
NewMexico.org Retrieved July 23, 2014. The one-mile loop trail has signs that interpret the lifestyle of the pueblo residents and leads to a reproduction of a pueblo room and a kiva.
Gallery
File:Pot Creek Trail Map.JPG, Pot Creek Trail Map
File:Pot Creek Trail.JPG, Pot Creek Trail
File:Pot Creek Pueblo Room and Kiva.JPG, Pot Creek Pueblo Room and Kiva
File:Pot Creek Sign 2.JPG, Pot Creek Sign
See also
* Eight Northern Pueblos
The Eight Northern Pueblos of New Mexico are Taos, Picuris, Santa Clara, Ohkay Owingeh (formerly San Juan), San Ildefonso, Nambé, Pojoaque, and Tesuque.
Taos and Picuris are Tiwa-speaking pueblos; the rest speak Tewa. Tiwa and Tewa are c ...
* High Road to Taos, New Mexico
The High Road to Taos is a scenic, winding road through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains between Santa Fe and Taos. (The "Low Road" runs through the valleys along the Rio Grande). It winds through high desert, mountains, forests, small farms, an ...
* Puebloan peoples
The Puebloans or Pueblo peoples, are Native Americans in the Southwestern United States who share common agricultural, material, and religious practices. Currently 100 pueblos are actively inhabited, among which Taos, San Ildefonso, Acoma, Z ...
* Southern Methodist University
, mottoeng = "The truth will make you free"
, established =
, type = Private research university
, accreditation = SACS
, academic_affiliations =
, religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church
, president = R. Gerald Turner
, ...
- Taos SMU archaeology field school program
Notes
References
External links
Carson National Forest: Pot Creek Cultural Site
Southern Methodist University: Pot Creek Pueblo
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Buildings and structures completed in the 13th century
Dwellings of the Pueblo peoples
Tiwa Puebloans
History of Taos County, New Mexico
Native American history of New Mexico
Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area
Archaeological sites in New Mexico
Puebloan buildings and structures
Ruins in the United States
Carson National Forest
Southern Methodist University
Pueblos in New Mexico