During the Pueblo III period, people continued to farm corn, beans, and squash.

They ate more domesticated turkey than they had before.

Wild plants, including nutritious weeds that grew in farm fields, were eaten in great quantities.

People still hunted wild animals, especially rabbits. Deer, elk, and bighorn sheep were not eaten as often as they had been before. It is possible that there were fewer of these large animals because people had "over-hunted" them.

From A.D. 1276 through 1299, there was a severe drought. People used small dams and reservoirs to capture and store as much water as possible. Although people were still able to grow corn in some parts of the Mesa Verde region, it became difficult to feed the large numbers of people that had moved into the villages.