Ancestral Puebloan dwellings

Earlier than 900 CE progressing past the 13th century, the population complexes appear to have been major cultural centers for the Pueblo peoples.

Ancestral Puebloans spanned Northern Arizona and New Mexico, Southern Colorado and Utah, and a part of Southeastern Nevada.

[2] The ancient population centers such as Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, and Bandelier for which the Ancestral Puebloans are renowned consisted of apartment-like complexes and structures made from stone, adobe mud, and other local material, or were carved into the sides of canyon walls.

The structures contained within these alcoves were mostly blocks of hard sandstone, held together and plastered with adobe mortar.

Specific constructions had many similarities, but were generally unique in form due to the individual topography of different alcoves along the canyon walls.

The exterior was stuccoed with sand, lime and oyster dust shells, then it was painted blue, green, or pink.

In 2009 it was suggested that the shape of an oval bowl with curved sides and the uneven embankments on the long sides are unsuited for any kind of ball game; On the other hand, they appear to correspond with dance floors of the Tohono O'odham, used for Wi:gita ceremonies until at least the 1930s.

[12] For a period of time, pueblos throughout the Southwest were connected by a network of roads that radiated from Chaco Canyon, which is believed to have been a cultural epicenter.