Ancestral Puebloans

Clues in this puzzle

Across

• Flat-topped tableland prominent across the Four Corners region (4)
• Stout southwestern pine yielding oil-rich edible seeds in autumn (5)
• Sealed stone room dedicated to storing harvested maize against drought (7)
• Shallow geological bowl where runoff pools naturally (5)
• Rock engraving created by pecking off dark desert varnish layers (10)
• Descendants in northeastern Arizona continuing dry-farming traditions (4)
• Diagnostic piece of antique pottery found during an archaeological dig (8)
• Pueblo people celebrated for intricate silverwork and lapidary art (4)
• Preserved by sun-curing to survive lean desert winter months (5)
• Open central courtyard where communal dances and trading occurred (5)
• Beehive-shaped outdoor hearth introduced later for baking bread (4)
• Pertaining to astronomical alignments marking solstices and equinoxes (5)

Down

• Sprawling D-shaped Chacoan Great House with over six hundred rooms (6)
• Sacred indigenous ear nurtured through dry desert farming (5)
• Steep-sided desert gorge sheltering perennial springs and settlements (6)
• Roof timber whose annual rings expose exact construction dates (4)
• Painted pigment image decorating protected sandstone shelter ceilings (10)
• Small rock wall built across a wash to slow runoff and catch fertile silt (8)
• Pointy desert succulent processed to weave tough sandals and twine (5)
• Early semi-subterranean dwelling roofed over with timbers and earth (8)
• Straight prehistoric avenues linking outlying settlements to regional centers (8)
• Footwear woven from durable wild yucca cords to cross hot slickrock (6)
• Underground chamber hosting sacred ceremonial gatherings (4)

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