The Anasazi- The Ancient
Pueblo Peoples of the
Southwest
In the centuries that led to the year 1000, Europe
was emerging from chaos. Tribes roamed the
countryside evoking fear from luckless peasants.
The grandeur that was Rome had long passed.
Across the Atlantic, the North American continent
was also inhabited by tribes. The ANASAZI managed to build glorious cities in the cliffs of the modern
Southwest. Their rise and fall mark one of the greatest stories of pre-Columbian American history.
Anasazi means "ancient outsiders." Like many peoples during the agricultural era, the Anasazi employed
a wide variety of means to grow high-yield crops in areas of low rainfall. Their baskets and pottery are
highly admired by collectors and are still produced by their descendants for trade. It is their cliff
dwellings, however, that captivate the modern archeologist, historian, and tourist.
One component of the Anasazi community were the kivas.
These structures were used for religious celebrations.
This kiva is from the Sand Canyon Pueblo, Crow Canyon,
in the Mesa Verde region and dates back to the 13th
century.
The Anasazi built their dwellings under overhanging cliffs
to protect them from the elements. Using blocks of
sandstone and a mud mortar, the tribe crafted some of
the world's longest standing structures. The famed CLIFF
DWELLINGS were built into the mountainsides with but
one exit for the sake of defense. With the exception of
hunting and growing food, all aspects of living could be performed within the dwelling. Deep pits were
periodically dug within the living quarters. These pits, called KIVAS, served as religious temples for the
ancient Anasazi. Sleeping areas were built into the sides of the cliffs. Even water could be gathered
between the porous cracks in the walls — all by clever design, of course. Historians can only theorize why
the Anasazi civilization declined. One explanation is attack by hostile tribes. Others believe the resources
of the area were becoming exhausted. The durability of their structures has proven remarkable. Think of
how our contemporary structures fall into utter disrepair without constant maintenance. The cliff
dwellings have endured over eight hundred years of exposure to the elements and still stand proud.
Today, the Hopi and Pueblo people in Arizona and New Mexico are the descendants of the Anasazi, the
preferred name for these ancient people by their descendants is “Ancestral Pueblo”. The Anasazi are
perhaps the most romanticized of the prehistoric Southwestern pueblo cultures. They lived thousands of
years ago in arid, yet beautiful canyon country. They
'disappeared' or migrated to the larger southwestern Hopi,
Zuni and other pueblos in about 1300 AD and left behind
thousands of rock art paintings [pictographs] and carvings
[petroglyphs] along with the stone dwellings and graineries
[storage bins]. In later settlements like Mesa Verde
(Colorado) and Bandelier (New Mexico) you can find their
art on the walls of the cliffs they built their dwellings on.
Questions
Answer the questions after reading the article. All answers should be written in complete sentences. You
should restate the question in your answer.
1. What region of the United States did the Anasazi call home? ____________________________________________
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2. What two artifacts/items are they still known for and produce today?_________________________________
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3. What is a kiva?________________________________________________________________________________________________
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4. What makes their dwelling so unique?_____________________________________________________________________
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5. Explain the reason a dwelling might only have one exit.__________________________________________________
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6. Why do historians have to guess about why the culture declined? ______________________________________
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7. What is the difference between a pictograph and a petroglyph? ________________________________________
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