The oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the USA is St.
Augustine, FL (1565), the oldest continuously occupied English
settlement being Jamestown, VA (1607). These are well settled claims,
but what is the oldest continuously occupied human settlement in the
USA? Many believe it to be one of the following three pueblos in New
Mexico: Old Oraibi (Hopi), Acoma (Navajo), or Taos (Navaho). Which of
the three is it? When was it founded, and how many years separate the
founding of each of these three pueblos?

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Clarification of Question by nautico-ga on 12 Feb 2006 15:33 PST

An expert friend tells me that Acoma and Taos are not Navajo, but Puebloan.

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Clarification of Question by nautico-ga on 13 Feb 2006 13:06 PST

Rainbow, make that your answer!

Hi nautico,

Thank you for accepting my findings as an answer to your question. I
am re-posting it again for your convenience.

"Acoma means People of the White Rock. Designated a National Historic
Landmark, the pueblo was founded around 1075 AD and is considered one
of the oldest continuously occupied settlements in the United States.
Taos Pueblo in northern New Mexico and the Hopi town of Old Oraibi in
Arizona are also contenders for this title. Acoma is famous for
thin-walled, intricately decorated, black-on-white pottery."

Side Canyon
http://sidecanyon.com/attraction/nmexico1.htm

=================================

"The Hopi are village-dwelling, agrarian people. Old Oraibi, on the
First Mesa, is the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the
U.S. lower 48, and was founded about 1050 AD."

Hart Williams: Native American Village
http://www.hartwilliams.com/imdpart1.htm

=================================

1050 - Great multi-storied pueblos are first constructed. Not long
after this time, pueblos appear in the Taos Valley.

Taos County Historical Society: Taos Time Line
http://www.taos-history.org/time.html


Search criteria:
Acoma founded
Taos founded
"Old Oraibi" founded


Best regards,
Rainbow

Thanks. The only question left unanswered is which of the three
pueblos can make a valid claim as oldest, but perhaps this is simply
undocumented.

Nautico --

I don't think Charles Mann's book "1491" has the answer (he doesn't
include much about the American southwest) but he notes that
moundbuilders populated the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys as
early as 3400 B.C.

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

Omnivorous, I'm not so much interested in the identification of the
earliest dwellers, but rather in that of the oldest settlement that's
been continuous occupied since its founding. To my knowledge, no
settlements meet that criterion except the New Mexico pueblos I cited.

Hi nautico,

Here's what I've been able to gather:

"Acoma means People of the White Rock. Designated a National Historic
Landmark, the pueblo was founded around 1075 AD and is considered one
of the oldest continuously occupied settlements in the United States.
Taos Pueblo in northern New Mexico and the Hopi town of Old Oraibi in
Arizona are also contenders for this title. Acoma is famous for
thin-walled, intricately decorated, black-on-white pottery."
http://sidecanyon.com/attraction/nmexico1.htm

"The Hopi are village-dwelling, agrarian people. Old Oraibi, on the
First Mesa, is the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the
U.S. lower 48, and was founded about 1050 AD."
http://www.hartwilliams.com/imdpart1.htm

1050 - Great multi-storied pueblos are first constructed. Not long
after this time, pueblos appear in the Taos Valley.
http://www.taos-history.org/time.html

I hope this helps.

Best regards,
Rainbow

Nautico, Rainbow --

Mann notes that Cahokia (N of St. Louis) was a dominant city as early
as 950-1250 AD.  Though reduced in size by 1300 due to environmental
disaster and resulting civil wars, the area around Monks Mound
remained inhabited.

It does appear to be the largest inhabited collectivity in the eastern
half of what's now the United States.

Best regards,

Omnivorous

Thank you very much for the rating and tip.
Best regards,
Rainbow

Acoma Pueblo and Old Oraibi are the two that are older than Taos
pueblo.  Of the two, I personally believe the Hopi Village of Old
Oraibi is older.

Hopi oral history tells us that the village of Shungopavi (one of the
"Second Mesa" villages) is actually older than Old Oriabi. But
Shungopavi moved its location from below the mesa to up above and so
Old Oraibi has been continuously occupied longer.

Acoma and Taos are in New Mexico, Hopi is in Arizona.

See the Hopi web page to learn more about the Hopi:  http://www.hopi.nsn.us

Paul Kabotie
http://www.nativeart.net