Transcript The Ancient Ones:

The Ancient Ones:
The Anasazi and Their
Neighbors
By: Malik, Katie, Casey
Background
The Anasazi were a group of
Native-American, originating
from Asia. They were huntergatherers, in around 11,000
B.C.
The Anasazi did
not develop
their own
indigenous
agriculture.
Most of their food supplies
arrived from people living
in now Mexico.
The landscape where the Anasazi lived was
a dry soil, and not many trees grew.
Everything was caked with dust.
When the Native American
farmers first moved into the
Chaco Canyon (A.D. 600),
they lived in underground pit
houses.
Without influence from
neighboring civilizations, the
Chaco Anasazi developed
large stone structures with
multiple rooms. By about
A.D. 920, the structures
were already several stories
high, reaching as high as
most apartment buildings
downtown (up to six stories).
The largest ones used log
supports up to 16 feet in
length, supporting 600
rooms, and weighing
upwards of 700 pounds!
The narrow canyon (previously)
caught rain from many side channels,
much like a sewer system.
This resulted a a very large
amount of water, which could
be dammed and released
slowly.
Most times though, this
resulted in deep cutting
arroyos, as shown to the
right.
The land went through cycles of
wet and dry periods, sometimes
lasting up to decades.
The cycling could last through
generations, so sometimes a
society, such as the Anasazi,
forgot that dry periods existed.
When a drought finally did come,
most times they were unprepared.
The Chaco valley originally contained
a vast diversity of plant and animal
life. Today it is a barren wasteland.
Most of the trees are gone
and all the people
disappeared long ago.
Society:
Complexly
organized,
geographically
extensive, and
regionally
integrated
Anasazi flourished from 600
A.D. to between 1150 and
1200
Invented
techniques
of stone
construction
Chaco Canyon was the center of
the Anasazi political and social
Society due to environmental
resources
Society(cont.)
-Despite environmental
problems such as low rainfall
and
Deforestation population
continued to grow
-Population in its peak = less
than 5,000
-Anasazi lived in “Great
Houses” (ex. Pueblo Bonito) as
well
as other Small settlements at
the base of the canyon
-Great Houses held up to 600
rooms
Society
Chaco Canyon became “black hole”
Goods were imported but nothing was exported
Imported goods: trees for construction, pottery, stone for making
Tools, turquoise for making ornaments, and shell jewelry
Even food had to be imported
Society
Chaco society turned
into mini empire
Divided between wellfed elite living in luxury
and a less well-fed
peasantry doing the
work and raising food
Housing determined
“status”: Great House
(chiefs), outlier Great
Houses (junior chiefs),
and small homes
(peasants)
Inside view of Great
Houses
Precipitating Event
-Chaco was the center for religious ceremonies and receiving orders
-Outliers began to make trouble and strife began
-Signs of war-related cannibalism
Five point analysis
1.Damage to Environment
2. Climate change
3. Hostile neighbors
4. Decreased support by friendly
neighbors
5. Societies response to own
problems
1. Damage to Environment
-deforestation, arroyo cutting
[notice, no trees below!!!]
2. Climate change
-lack of rainfall, temperature
change
From this………………………to this!!!!
3. Hostile neighbors
-no external enemies,
only attacked each other
4. Decreased support
by friendly neighbors
Wait, I still need food!!
-lack of imported goods (food), lead to
starvation