The Anasazi nation flourished in the Four Corners region of North America from 100 B.C. until around 1300 A.D. In that time, they forged a highly organized society based on trade and agriculture. They were the first in region, and perhaps the first in North America, to cultivate corn (maize) and establish terraced farming. At their height, they exported finely crafted pottery as far south as Mexico (perhaps to the fringes of the states of Mesoamerica) and were dominant in the regional turquoise trade. As trade became more lucrative, their society began to expand. At first, the Anasazi lived in domed pithouses and arranged their villages in small clusters to protect against sudden attack. As they grew into major trading centers, the Anasazi began to augment their architectural techniques with a new design. In what has been described as the Golden Age of the Anasazi, pueblo architecture dominated home construction and soon gave rise to powerful city states.
Originally one room storage facilities, pueblos became the dominant structure within Anasazi communities. Several pueblos were connected to create larger buildings, and eventually additional structures were added to the top portions to create multi-storied compounds. Pueblo Bonito, located in New Mexico, was an example of this technique. Completed around 900 A.D., the structure stood five stories high and was known to contain 800 rooms. For nearly 400 years, the Anasazi and their unique architecture occupied the Four Corners region. Few could rival their position and threaten their dominance of regional trade. However, after 1150 A.D. the Anasazi relocated their structures to the sides of cliffs and the recesses of canyon walls. They continued to use the adobe designs that they had perfected during the early part of their Golden Age, but this time they seemed to focus their energies on making the cities defensible. The austerity of the design and the massive scale of the compounds themselves did not change much during this period of time. The only cosmetic difference was in the location of the cities and the natural barriers that these cliff dwellings possessed.
Historians and archaeologists have long argued over why the Anasazi were compelled to shift their settlements to these natural barriers. The most common causative factor to be proposed would be warfare—both external invasion and internal strife within the Anasazi nation itself. Despite the relocation of the major trade cities, however, the Anasazi continued to have an impact on the communities that surrounded them. This much is evident in the discovery of a complex road system that linked the nine major trade cities (referred to as Great Houses) to surrounding villages, some as far away as California. These roads not only provided corridors of trade, but most likely carried Anasazi culture as well to 75 different villages and communities within the region. When the Anasazi relocated their great cities to the security of cliffs and canyons, they continued to build their roads that linked them to their neighbors. Trade continued to flourish for close to a century. By 1300, however, the cliff dwellings of the Anasazi were vacant. Without a trace of their former occupants, the abandoned outposts of this mighty trade empire stood as monuments to the ingenuity that built them.
Little is known about the day to day history of the Anasazi, as they disappeared long before the arrival of Europeans. However, what is known about this mysterious and seemingly advanced indigenous community comes from those who might have played a part in their mass relocation.
Paul Aron, Unsolved Mysteries of American History: An Eye- Opening Journey Through 500 Years of Discoveries, Disappearances, and Baffling Events. (New York: MJF Books, 1997).
Mark C Carnes, Ed, U.S. History. (New York: MacMillan Library Reference, 1996).
Kenneth C. Davis, Don’t Know Much About History. (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2003).
Gilbert Legay, Atlas of Indians. (Hauppage: Barron’s, 1995)
Marilyn Miller and Marian Faux, Ed, American History Desk Reference. (New York: MacMillan, 1997).
Carl Waldman, Atlas of the North American Indian. (New York: Checkmark Book, 2000).
