While the pithouse has been easily identified as one of the first permanent dwellings to be designed by indigenous architects, it was soon supplanted by another unique structure. Beginning around 700-750 A.D., the Anasazi of the Four Corners region (Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico) developed a radically different form of home construction employing a mortar consisting of straw mixed with sun baked mud. This mortar (adobe) was used to construct the outer façade of Anasazi dwellings and proved to be a more effective shelter than the semi-underground pithouse had been. Gradually, these structures evolved from single room units to multi-roomed, and even multi-storied, compounds. One such example would be the Pueblo Bonito of Chaco Canyon in present day New Mexico; a five story building made up of over 800 inhabitable rooms.
When Spanish explorers made their first forays into the western expanse of North America, it was adobe architecture that they happened upon. Early settlers used the word “pueblo” to describe the adobe structures that they encountered. While pueblo is actually a Spanish word for a village, this term has become synonymous with this type of architecture. Although the Anasazi had dispersed into separate tribal units by the time the Spanish arrived in North America, their inheritor nations continued to use adobe architecture. The Pueblo Indians are so named due to the prevalence of these structures within their communities.
Regardless of its size and scope, the adobe pueblo follows a similar architectural matrix. Most adobe structures begin with a log frame, which can either be a single room or several rooms that are connected through doorways. Once the frame is in place the mixture of straw and mud that forms the adobe compound can either be applied as mortar or fashioned into bricks and built around the frame. When a larger dwelling is required, indigenous architects were able to build on multiple levels--thus was created the first apartment complexes in North America. The flat roofs and light frames of the pueblos made it possible to stack separate dwellings up to five stories high and connect these additions through a series of ladders.
The years between 750 to 1050 A.D. have been identified as the Pueblo Period of Anasazi culture. It was during this period of time that the pithouse was gradually replaced by the adobe structure. The Anasazi retained the pithouse for use as kivas--a semi subterranean chamber used in religious ceremonies. While at the height of their cultural development, the Anasazi began to fade from the frontiers of North America. After an extended period of drought, compounded with an increase in invasions by surrounding tribes, the Anasazi ceased to exist an a unified nation by the end of the 1300s Their successor states, the Keres, Tewa, Tiwa, Towa, Hopiu, and Zuni (whom the Spanish named Pueblo Indians) continued to use adobe architecture and maintained cultural traits that were similar to their ancient ancestors.
Peter Nabokov, Native American Testimony: A Chronicle of Indian-White Relations From Prophecy to Present. (New York: Penguin Book, 1978).
Carl Waldman, Atlas of the North American Indian. (New York: Checkmark Books, 2000).
Carl Waldman, Encyclopedia of Native Tribes. (New York: Checkmark Books, 2006).
