Stephanie Schafer

Mesa Verde and the Anasazi

The culture I chose to research is the Anasazi. The site is on the four corners, the space where
Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona meet on the map. The site in particular is called Mesa Verde,
located in Colorado. I chose this culture because I have always been interested by the Anasazi since I was
a kid, reading books about the cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde. I wanted to learn more about what the cliff
dwellings left for us to discover, and what it said about the Anasazi people.
The cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde were well known by both the Ute and Pueblo Indian tribes, but
the wider American community only learned about these magnificent sites in 1888, when they were
discovered by a local rancher, Richard Wetherill. (Cremen 2007, pg 292) He was helped by a student
named Gustav Nordenskiold, and together they found many discoveries, all of which were taken lightly at
the time. The artifacts were not buried under different strata, they were located inside the buildings in the
cliff dwelling, waiting to be discovered. This kept artifacts safe from weathering and being buried, and
aided archaeologists in understanding the culture of the Anasazi.
Because the artifacts discovered were protected so well, archaeologists were able to make very
logical conclusions about who the Anasazi, or ancient ones were. They left baskets, pottery, manos and
metate, seeds, woven blankets, bows and arrows, sandals, baby cradles, and animal skin. The Anasazi
hunted and gathered, and also learned to grow corn and beans. (Marriott 1996, pg 157) They
understood the seasons and the importance of hard work. This proves a hypothesis of a hunter gathering
people, as well as an agricultural society. The evidence collected also proves a hypothesis of a peaceful,
family oriented people.
From what evidence that was left behind from the Anasazi people, I would have made a similar
deduction- that the people were peaceful, hunter-gatherers, as well as agricultural. The studies I made on
this topic did not seem to cover any digs that were made, but I would have directed digs around the
Chacoan roads to see who the Anasazi were trading with. As director I would have also organized digs in
the areas surrounding the cliff dwellings, looking especially for changes in the stratigraphy to aid
understanding of the ancient society. Using the artifacts that were discovered in the shelters for

Stephanie Schafer
Mesa Verde and the Anasazi
comparison, I would have dated the dug up artifacts using radiocarbon dating, aided with
dendrochronology.
Depending on the time I had to do my research, I would have piece-plotted virtually everything I
found, especially near the roads to help my research goal of finding out more about the culture. Perhaps
they would have used the roads more often in certain times of the year? Piece-plotting and radiocarbon
dating, along with classifying the artifacts, would aid in finding the answer to that question.
Although the artifacts left behind were very telling of the kind of culture they had, the
architecture that still stands on the cliff sites is almost more revealing. They seem to have been intrigued
by the creative liberties building gave them. There were round towers and square towers. There were
round kivas and square kivas. The open spaces inside the town walls were round or square, oblong or
oval. (Marriott 1996, pg 23) Living together in communities under a rockshelter was a way to keep
peaceful and a way to collaborate with those of their tribe. Rooms were created for religious ceremonies,
for keeping warm during the cruel winter climate, and for working on building tools and baskets, or
weaving blankets and grinding corn.
To understand the dates this people left their homes, I would have performed thermoluminescence
on the pottery and hearths inside the homes, to see the last time they were heated. To understand when
they first started living there, I would have taken samples of the wood and plaster used to construct the
houses to see how much carbon 14 they contained. Keeping in mind the de Vries effect, I would have
used dendrochronology to help find a certain date if there were two yielded with the calibration curve.
In addition to living within the rockshelter community, the Anasazi brought wood that came from
forests over fifty miles away to construct the houses inside. (Indians.org 2015) As a director of this
project, I would have made the conclusion that the Anasazi had used the Chacoan roads to do that. I
would hypothesize that the roads were made to not only transport wood from forests perhaps considered
sacred, but also for trading with other tribes.

Stephanie Schafer
Mesa Verde and the Anasazi
Both the architecture and the artifacts left a clear image to interpret the Anasazis culture. They
were hard working, religious, peaceful people. They did not seem to have social classes nor did they look
to fight other groups of people. Cliff dwellings and other contemporaneous sites often have defensive
attributes, but evidence of warfare is scarce. (Noble 2000, pg 57) Their families were their prized
possessions, and life was cherished. It is easy to interpret this material in this manner because of the way
they lived so close together, how they treated their loved ones who had died, and the religious artifacts
and buildings left behind.
Although it is clear to interpret the Anasazi as being peaceful, it is also plain to see that the way
they lived was not always the same. Evidence was found that they did not always live in the adobe walls
inside the cliff dwellings. It was not until around A.D. 1200 that many people moved into the canyons to
live in the cliff dwellings. (Noble 2000, pg 57) For a time until around 300 A.D., the Anasazi lived in
brush shelters, and used atlatls and nets to hunt. Until 500 A.D. they lived in pit houses, with built in
metates and storage pits. (Marriott 1996, pg 157) Then pit house towns were built in caves, and from
there they were living in the cliff dwellings. Around 1300 A.D. however, the Anasazi began to leave due
to a great drought. This was matched up with the historical events of the day in the old world, the Spanish
inquisition, as well as history learned from living relatives to the people.
While it is said that the ancient ones left their beautiful cliff dwellings due to a drought, no one
truly knows why they left. Some say it was due to nomadic tribes encroaching on their space, and others
think that it was due to climate change making a shorter crop season, further research in the areas
surrounding could help answer that question. (Indians.org 2015) Perhaps looking for pollen samples in
order to find out when the crops started lacking water would help answer that question. Doing some
random sampling in areas surrounding the cliff dwellings would probably yield some other tribes
possessions and prove that there were nomadic tribes that motivated the Anasazi to leave. I would look
for higher iron content in the soil to see if there were any gruesome battles between tribes, and look for
other tribes clothing, weapons, and other possessions. As a director of that research goal, I would make

Stephanie Schafer
Mesa Verde and the Anasazi
sure that we ruled out the possibility of the people leaving due to a change inside their social structure as
well.
In conclusion, the Anasazi were a fascinating people, living rich lives and leaving much for us to learn
about them. There are many questions left unanswered that archaeologists can still discover about this
fascinating culture. The cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde show the ingenuity and the intelligence of their
inhabitants, and the artifacts solidify these characteristics. They were not only hunter gatherers, but
agriculturists, who left their cliffside homes for reasons not yet known. The homes they left behind have
sparked the imaginations of many and the designs and histories of their pueblo descendants.

Stephanie Schafer
Mesa Verde and the Anasazi
Bibliography

Cremin, Aedeen. The World Encyclopedia of Archaeology: The World's Most Significant Sites and
Cultural Treasures. Richmond Hill, Ont.: Firefly, 2007. Print.
Marriott, Alice. Indians of the Four Corners: The Anasazi and Their Pueblo Descendants. Santa Fe, NM:
Ancient City, 1996. Print.
Noble, David Grant. Ancient Ruins of the Southwest. Flagstaff, AZ: Northland, 2000. Print.
Indians.org http://www.indians.org/articles/anasazi-indians.html Anasazi Indians. 2015. Website.