MACKENZIE

Who were the Anasazi and what caused them to Vanish? 

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The Anasazi were a group of Native American people who flourished in the Southwestern part of the United States, a very rough and arid desert environment. They were the longest human inhabitants of the southwest in the Americas, seconded only by Mesoamerica which is located in modern day Mexico. The Anasazi vanished long before the arrival of many modern tribes who currently live there, such as the Navajo, Utes and Hopi. The term Anasazi means “the ancient ones”, and is said to come from the Navajos who now reside in their former territory. Navajos believe the land still has the presence of the Anasazi spirits.

 

The Anasazi were masters at building structures that sit on the edges of sandstone cliffs, for housing, storage, religious reasons and defensive purposes. This interesting way of designing houses is what has preserved much of what we know about them, the arid desert environment of the Colorado Plateau has helped to keep many of the ruins and artifacts intact. The Anasazi had a very complex network of communities throughout the Colorado Plateau, the area that roughly sits over what is now the Four Corners region in the Southwestern part of the United States. They had thousands of cliff sited structures and houses suggesting that the Four Corners area was heavily populated in the 9th century (V.Kidder, Pecos Conference).

 

The Anasazi also had very sophisticated techniques for growing food such as, corn, beans and squash. By building terraces and waterways, they had created a very reliable source of food, mastering the desert environment they lived in. Today these incredible cliff sited structures are empty, the terraces they used for growing crops are withered away and all that remains are artifacts. Many anthropologists speculate they may have moved on and become a different people after facing social structure collapse. They may have had to reorganize; and this may have been from climate change that occurred causing famine and population decrease. Some anthropologists also believe the Anasazi died off after facing climate change, or after a potential religious change occurred.

 

Finding the answer to what happened will help preserve the culture they left behind. Due to controversies surrounding their demise, many different tribes and groups of people are claiming ownership of artifacts and destroying knowledge we have to gain from it.

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