Cultural Affiliation

For the purpose of discussing cultural differences during the Pueblo I period, two regions have been
defined, as indicated on this map. These cultural regions roughly correspond to differences in ceramic
manufacturing traditions, architecture and site layout. As can be seen, the Western Region
encompasses the sites in the Dolores and Dove Creek areas, while the Eastern Region encompasses
the sites in the Durango and Aztec areas.

Generally, the sites in the Dolores and Dove Creek areas exhibit western traits and the sites in the
Durango and Aztec areas exhibit both western and eastern traits. The Western Region sites have
rectangular pithouses, roomblocks with front (living) and back (storage) rooms, and ceramics with
igneous rock temper. The Eastern Region sites contain both rectangular and circular pithouses,
roomblocks with single rooms (used primarily for storage), and ceramics with igneous and sand
tempers. In addition, the Eastern Region sites were sometimes surrounded by post stockades or
cobble rings.

 

In summary, an east-west dichotomy of traits suggests that different cultural groups occupied the
project area during the Pueblo I period. The sites along the MAPL corridor in the Dolores and Dove
Creek areas were affiliated with the western cultural group, while the sites in the Durango and Aztec
areas were affiliated with both the eastern and the western groups.