Anasazi

From Wikinfo

The Anasazi were a prehistoric Native American civilization (c. 1100 - c. 1400 C.E.) who lived in the Four Corners area of the American Southwest. They are the ancestors of the modern Pueblo peoples. The word "Anasazi" is Navajo for "Ancient Ones" or "Ancient Enemy". The tribal legends of early Native Americans declare that the Anasazi were fierce warriors.

This civilization is most famous for the adobe (mud brick) and stonework structures that they built within cliff walls, cliff dwellings. These villages were (and still are) often only accessible by rope or through rock climbing. Spanish settlers named these unique villages pueblos. The Anasazi culture apparently died out 600 years ago for as yet undetermined reasons. Many have speculated that a change in local climate and resulting agricultural failures may be the reason for this disappearance. Another possibility is ecological collapse

References

• Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Anasazi" http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anasazi July 25, 2003