EARLY PUEBLO COMMUNITIES AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN THE DURANGO AREA

Abstract

This paper reports the results of four seasons of excavation at Ridges Basin and Blue Mesa near Durango, Colorado, as part of the Animas–La Plata Project. The primary focus of these excavations was an early Pueblo I landscape consisting of a village center surrounded by clusters of smaller habitation sites. Several Basketmaker II sites were also discovered and investigated. Chronological, settlement pattern, and site structure data from the Durango area are presented and compared briefly with data from Pueblo I settlements to the west to address issues of aggregation, migration, and cultural diversity.