The Basketmaker Communities Project

Early Pueblo Society in the Mesa Verde Region

Long before the famous cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park were built, early Pueblo people were establishing a foothold throughout the Mesa Verde region.

The time was the Basketmaker III period, which archaeologists date from about A.D. 500 to 750. The period was marked by, among other things, a rapid increase in population that was largely attributable to the influx of Pueblo farmers into the region. Upon their arrival, the immigrants soon began developing the community organization and institutions that would become hallmarks of later, "classic" Pueblo society.

Crow Canyon's Research

Crow Canyon's Basketmaker Communities Project is a multiyear investigation of the largest Basketmaker III community known in the central Mesa Verde region. The focal point of the community is the Dillard site (5MT10647), which dates from the seventh century A.D. and includes a great kiva, the only confirmed Basketmaker III great kiva in the central Mesa Verde region. Surrounding the Dillard site are more than 100 pithouse sites that appear to date to the same period and are tentatively identified as being part of this extensive early Pueblo community.

Crow Canyon's field research (2011–2014) includes intensive and/or test excavations at Dillard and selected smaller sites, as well as remote-sensing surveys that allow us to identify the locations of buried structures without excavation.

Annual Fieldwork Reports

Annual fieldwork reports provide brief summaries of our excavations after the close of each field season. Please be aware that these documents may contain errors or omissions and that the data presented in them are preliminary and subject to change. After all excavations and analyses have been completed, the annual fieldwork reports will be replaced by interactive databases and the final publication for the project.

Annual Report, 2011 (PDF)

Annual Report, 2012 (PDF)

In 2011, excavators uncovered the remains of a collapsed masonry wall in the great kiva at the Dillard site. This is the only known example of a Basketmaker III great kiva with a wet-laid masonry wall.

Crow Canyon archaeologists are teaming up with remote-sensing specialists to locate buried structures in the study area.

Participants in the Archaeology Research Program assist in excavations at the Dillard site, contributing to Crow Canyon's research into early Pueblo society.