School Groups

Gift Shop Museum

1. How was the first pottery made?

2. What happened because of the large drought in 1275 A.D.?

3. What caused the Cliff Dwellers’ teeth to decay and become weak?

4. Why did they knock holes in the bottoms of some of their pottery?

5. What were the Ancestral Puebloan paint brushes made from? How were they made?

6. What were some of the toys the children played with?

Pueblo Museum

1. What are the three parts of an Atlatl?

2. What did the Ancestral Puebloan women use to make their jewelry? Name two of the materials used in making of their jewelry.

3. Name some of the methods used in hunting jack rabbits and other small animals?

4. How did the Cliff Dwellers’ cradle board differ from the Basket Makers’ cradle board?

5. How did the Basket Maker people cook in a basket? How did they store water in a basket?

6. What are the tools needed to build a Basket Maker pithouse?

7. What kind of corn was grown by the Basket Makers?

Pictographs were painted on stone.

Petroglyphs were scratched on stone.

WRITE A MESSAGE ABOUT YOUR LIFE AS A CLIFF DWELLER USING PICTURES INSTEAD OF WORDS.

The indigenous people developed an international sign language through a system of gestures by which intricate conversation could be carried on as a means of communication between tribes. The natives used a written language by using some of the English alphabet mixed with new characters called Syllabary. Prior to this the people placed pictographs or symbols on pottery, weavings, silverwork, leather, rock and sand paintings. Symbols ranged from motifs of birds, clouds, rain designs, animal tracks to many forms of nature in the environment.

Teachers Guide

1. How was the first pottery made?
The first pottery was made inside baskets.

2. What happened because of the large drought in 1275 A.D.?
It forced the Indians to the river valleys in search of water.

3. What caused the Cliff Dwellers’ teeth to decay and become weak?
The gritty corn meal and pyorrhea.

4. Why did they knock holes in the bottoms of some of their pottery?
So the spirit of the pottery could accompany the spirit of the dead person back thru the Sipapu.

5. What were the Ancestral Puebloan paint brushes made from? How were they made?
The paint brushes were made from yucca leaves. They chewed the end of the yucca leaf.

6. What were some of the toys the children played with?
Stone game balls and small pottery.

Pueblo Museum

1. What are the three parts of an Atlatl?
Thruster, shaft and spear point.

2. What did the Ancestral Puebloan women use to make their jewelry? Name two of the materials used in making of their jewelry.
Shells, bones and stones which were strung with yucca fibers and human hair. Shells, bones, stones, yucca fiber and human hair.

3. Name some of the methods used in hunting jack rabbits and other small animals?
The throwing stick and club (stone/wood).

4. How did the Cliff Dwellers’ cradle board differ from the Basket Makers’ cradle board?
The Cliff Dwellings cradle boards were made from hard wood boards, the Basket Makers cradle boards were made from soft materials (buckskin, blankets or yucca matting) stretched between a wooden frame.

5. How did the Basket Maker people cook in a basket? How did they store water in a basket?
Heated stones were placed in the basket. Tree sap or gum was used to seal the basket.

6. What are the tools needed to build a Basket Maker pithouse?
Digging stick — basket — stone ax.

7. What kind of corn was grown by the Basket Makers?
Flint corn.

Teachers Guide

1. What is the difference between a petroglyph and a pictograph?
Petroglyphs are carvings on stone — Pictograph is a painting on stone.

2. How did the Cliff Dwellers close their doors and windows?
With door and window stones.

3. What is a metate stone?
A corn grinding stone.

4. When a couple married, whose home did they move in to?
The women owned the dwellings and invited the men into their homes.

5. How did the people store their corn and other food for future use?
In stone bins and silos.

6. For what purpose were the areas behind the Cliff Dwellings used?
Trash dumps, turkey pens, and the storage of their dead until spring.

7. Draw a diagram of a kiva and label the following: air deflector, fire pit, sipapu, storage shelves, fresh air shaft, and pilaster.

Ventilator shaft, for fresh air.
B. Deflector, to deflect the air.
C. Fire pit, for light and warmth.
D. Sipapu, spirit world entrance.
E. Pilasters, roof supports.
F. Shelves, for storage.

8. Which was the most common type door used in the cliff dwellings, T-door or rectangular?
Rectangular.

9. Why did the people build their homes, one room on top of the other?
For security.

10. Give two examples of how the Ancestral Puebloans stayed warm in the winter?
Each others body heat, animal skins, and yucca blankets.