Final answer:
A pueblo is a Spanish term for the stone-and-mud dwellings of the Anasazi, also known as the Ancestral Puebloans, who built complex, communal structures including cliff dwellings for protection in the Southwestern United States between 700-1300 CE.
Step-by-step explanation:
A pueblo is a Spanish term, meaning "village," used to describe the communal structures built by indigenous groups in the Southwestern United States. Specifically, the Anasazi, also known as the Ancestral Puebloans, constructed complex communities composed of large, multi-storied buildings made of adobe and stone, located in present-day Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico from around 700-1300 CE.
The Anasazi society was advanced, with infrastructure such as carefully planned communities, extensive trade networks, and kivas (ceremonial centers), and their settlements often featured central plazas for community gatherings. Notable for becoming cliff dwellers, they built their homes into the sides of cliffs to protect against raiders, accessing their homes via ladders or ropes that could be easily removed.