Editing Pre-Columbian era (section)

=== Ancestral Puebloans ===
{{Main|Ancestral Puebloans}}
[[File:Cliff_Palace.JPG|thumb|The [[Cliff Palace]] in [[Mesa Verde National Park]], Colorado.]]
The Ancestral Puebloans thrived in what is now the [[Four Corners]] region in the United States. It is commonly suggested that the culture of the Ancestral Puebloans emerged during the [[Early Basketmaker II Era]] during the 12th century BCE. The Ancestral Puebloans were a complex [[Oasisamerica]]n society that constructed [[kiva]]s, multi-story houses, and apartment blocks made from stone and adobe, such as the [[Cliff Palace]] of [[Mesa Verde National Park]] in Colorado and the [[Great house (pueblo)|Great Houses]] in [[Chaco Culture National Historical Park|Chaco Canyon]], [[New Mexico]]. The Puebloans also constructed a [[Great North Road (Ancestral Puebloans)|road system]] that stretched from Chaco Canyon to Kutz Canyon in the [[San Juan Basin]].{{sfn|Vivian|Hilpert|2012|p=137}} The Ancestral Puebloans are also known as "Anasazi", though the term is controversial, as the present-day [[Pueblo peoples]] consider the term to be derogatory, due to the word tracing its origins to a [[Navajo]] word meaning "ancestor enemies".<ref>Cordell, pp. 18–19</ref>