Background of Anasazi Indians

The Anasazis were a group of native Indians residing in the Four Corners, which is the area where the
corners of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado meet. The height of the Anasazi civilization and culture
was from 1050- 1125 AD in the modern day Chaco Canyon. The area was mostly dry and consisted of desert
which led to the Indians learning to farm in dry land. The main foods of these natives were beans, squash, and
corn, although they also ate squirrel, deer and rabbit. The Anasazi lived on top of mesas and flat- topped hills
in multistory adobe houses called pueblos. These cliff dwellings helped cover them from other tribes
because of their camouflaging color and smart placement. Some villages can also be seen placed underneath
cliffs.
The Anasazis had many technological advancements and achievements. The first evidence we have of
the Anasazi indicates that they started out with spearheads, darts, and atlatls. They progressively became
more advanced as they incorporated the bow and arrow and more complex kind of spearheads. They also
advanced in agriculture a lot before their decline. From being hunter-gatherers, they became corn farmers,
and finally started cultivating beans and squash after trading with other tribes. During the height of the
population and technological advancements, religious structures and shamanistic cults were being formed.
The Anasazi had an effective irrigation system as well. The system captured rainfall run-off from mesa tops.
The fields were also placed in very strategic locations below natural drainages. There was a very complex
system of dams and canals with head gates that directed water into the fields. Lastly, Anasazis built several
roads that are still seen today. Some of them get up to nine meters across and beyond 300 kilometers out of
Chaco Canyon.
The Anasazi were a very fast adapting tribe, but they still had many issues that forced them to decline.
Some of those reasons might include global/regional climate change, droughts, topsoil erosion, environmental

degradation, deforestation, hostility of tribes, religious and cultural changes, and influences from
Mesoamerican cultures. All of these reasons were backed up by archeological evidence.
The Anasazi timeline is divided into eight distinct time sections. During the Basketmaker 1/Archaic Era
(8th millennium BC 12th century BC,) the Anasazi were mostly sedentary hunter-gatherers who used stonetipped spears, darts and atlatls to catch animals for food.
During the early Basketmaker 2 Era (1200 BCE 50 CE), the natives started living in caves, although
they lived mostly in the open. They also started cultivated gardens of corn, and tools to grind the corn. Their
important possessions were mostly baskets. During the late Basketmaker 2 Era (50 CE 500 CE) the Indians
began to have primitive storage- bins, cists, and pithouses. This was also the beginning of religious structures
and Shamanistic cults. Petroglyphs and rock art also emerged.
During the Basketmaker 3 Era (500 CE 750 CE,) there were deep pithouses and above ground rooms.
This era also started the habit of pottery, which was a very important thing to have for the Indians. To catch
food, the bow and arrow was starting to become more popular. Since trading had also started up, the Indians
started farming beans and domesticating turkeys.
During the Pueblo 1 Era (750 CE 900 CE,) there were many population and technology advances, but
the changes werent too significant.
The Pueblo 2 Era (900 CE 1150 CE) was called as the Golden Age for the Anasazi because of start of
irrigation and further population advancements. The Chaco Canyon became a major recreational center.
During the Pueblo 3 Era (1150 CE 1300 CE,) large turkey pens, pueblos, cliff dwellings, and towers
were being built. Even then, most villages became abandoned by around 1300 CE.
The Pueblo Era 4 (1300 CE 1600 CE) introduced cotton, which was grown as a commodity. This era
was also the start of social problems.
Spanish colonization took up all of the Pueblo 5 Era (1600 CE present).