Anasazi By Ailis Dillon and Bailey Hicks

Food In 1200 BC Anasazi killed small animals, and harvested wild plants for food. In the Basketmaker period maize, and squash were added. In AD 500 beans were added. In AD 1300 they still ate corn, squash, beans, deer, rabbits, prairie dogs, and wild plants, but added the Pinion Pine were roasted or ground, ripe fruit from the banana yucca, and dried the red fruit from the cactus. They also sun dried their vegetables. Many items were stone-ground using grinding stones called Metate and Mano. Seeds were parched in coals and ground into meals. Pine nuts were ground into paste. Corn was ground into corn meal. Food was stored in large pits, sealed in baskets, protecting it from insects, animals, and moisture.

when emerged The Anasazi emerged in the south western part of the U.S.A. The main center of the Anasazi’s culture was in Chaco Canyon, where many villages still exist. Aztec ruins, Solomon ruins, and other places in Mexico far north. The Anasazi culture was born around the time of Jesus. Their population was around ad. anasazi.htm anasazi.htm

Language No one knows what the Anasazi spoke. The culture was wide spread in space and time, so it was likely that different languages were spoken. ere_the_anasazi.html#language ere_the_anasazi.html#language

Location In the South Western Part of the U.S things were difficult and new famines forced the Anasazi people to migrate again, from the Aztec area around 1275 ad. Main descendents of this population are now the Hopis living in Arizona, together with the Zunis, Acamos and Pueblo's of New Mexico, now secluded into Indian reservations.

Transportation In around 1125 ad. in the Chaco area, a dreadful famine repeatedly showed up, forcing the Anasazi people to partially move northwards to the area of the These roads reached 300 kilometers out of Chaco Canyon, probably their capital, connecting villages and especially ritual sites through long straight stretches They had one road called the Great North Road that stretched out for more than 20 kilometers pointing exactly southwards! They built several roads that sometimes reached 9 meters across!

Who they were The Anasazi were ancestors of the modern Pueblo people. There are 20 communities living in New Mexico, and Arizona. There never was an Anasazi tribe, and they weren't called the Anasazi. Anasazi- was a Navajo word that archeologists considered as the people how farmed the 4 corners before 1300 AD ml

Anasazi religious activities Archaeology does not reveal much about beliefs, religion, political system, or social customs of a people, so evidence about ancient religion is necessarily indirect. But many early religious ideas and traditions are no doubt preserved in the modern Pueblo culture. Anasazi religion is still based on maintaining harmony with the natural world, which was the key to survival for people. Some modern villages ritually divide themselves into "summer people and winter people," or "squash people and turquoise people" with each half assuming different religious responsibilities. Careful observation of the sun, moon and stars was essential for planning activities such as when to start planting and when to prepare for winter. Important religious concepts and events were associated with seasonal tasks like farming (in spring and summer) and hunting (in fall and winter).

Anasazi Religious Activities Continued… As in many other agricultural societies, rituals were keyed to annual events like the winter solstice or the beginning of the harvest season. Animal figures pecked or painted images on rock walls may have been connected to prayers or magical rituals for successful hunting. Shamans and shamanic practices are rarely found in Anasazi society. True shamans usually belong to nomadic cultures. Shamans seek visions for healing, warfare, finding game, predicting the future, etc. Shamans may be marked from an early age by physical deformities, epileptic seizures, and/or hallucinations. They use intoxicants, hypnotic chanting, prolonged dancing, or pain to reach the spirit world and communicate with spirits on behalf of their people. n n

Pottery Anasazi pottery are called Wares. Wares are very much alike in the structure and decoration. They have the information that dates back to the beginning of their culture. Pots were used every day and made of a grayish material, called shale stone and shale clay. The bottom of the pot wasn’t flat either. The pots that were worth the most had painted designs that were red or black and were painted with a Yucca plant. All the pieces in Anasazi pottery are always fired outside, on the ground.