1. Abstract
The ancient Pueblo (popularly-called "Anasazi" even though it might
be a racist term - see footnote[1])
lived in the four corners region of the American Southwest until about 1300
CE. They were an people who are the predecessors to the modern-day Pueblo Native
Americans of the American Southwest. After spending centuries building beautiful
buildings and homes, the ancient Pueblos rose and thrived as a full civilization.
Yet, at the peak of their existence, they suddenly set fire to their creations
and left. Nobody is completely sure how their society fell, and no one reason
will answer it completely, but it is a mixture of environmental and societal
pressures. This case study attempts to understand the overlap of the environmental
and conflictual aspects. Another paper will have to work to understand these
other factors.
Anasazi Society
The Anasazi society had its roots well over 10,000 years ago as nomadic hunter-gatherers
upon the planes of North America. About 2000 years ago, there seemed to be
a small shift as corn was introduced into the diet of the ancient Pueblos, and
they started to become a more sedimentary people and began to focus their lives
in the area around Colorado. Archaeologists call this stage of their society,
from about 1 CE until 550 CE,the Basketmakers, primarily because of their
extensive ability to weave and create baskets. These baskets enabled the people
of the region to gather more effectively:
Food was a constant, primary concern for the Basketmakers. Like the
earlier hunting cultures of the Colorado Plateau, these people were masters
at collecting seed, nuts, and other fruits and berries. With corn available
to cultivate, the people began to stay longer in the area. They found that some
species of gourds grew well in gardens, thus providing another food. We know
they were competent hunters by the tools they fashioned from the bones of animals.
[2]
They gave up their seminomadic way of life completely by the Modified Basketmaker
stage from 550-750 CE. The primary change was the settling of the land in the
Four Corners region of present-day United States in Colorado
Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona
and Utah, the so-called Four Corners region, home of
the present-day Mesa Verde national park.[3]
Picture curtousey of Desert USA
They found a water supply of seeps and springs and good soil for growing
crops. Above all, there was an abundant supply of wood for fires, house construction,
and tools.[3]
Opting for a more stable life as a farming community, they began to grow crops
and grew into the so-called Classic period. As many indigenous Americans, their
chief crop was maize. Yet, living in the west, it was hard to ensure that rain
would come. In order to more effectively farm their crops, the Anasazi peoples
were able to construct an amazing system of dams, canals and other water control
features.[4]
Historical records from 900 to 1300 A.D. in Europe indicate that this
was a time of changes in atmospheric circulation known as the Medieval Warm
Period. In high-latitude regions this was largely beneficial: grapes were grown
in England and the Norse founded colonies first in Iceland and then in southern
Greenland. But in arid regions a warmer climate, especially when accompanied
by drought, can cause significant difficulties for farmers. A fifty-year drought
occurred between 1130 and 1180 A.D. It was during this period that soil and
water conservation features such as grid borders, terraces and check dams began
to be built in the Four Corners area.[5]
Yet the Anasazi were capable of continuing in their lands in that situation.
They had built a number of reservoirs.[2]
Their dams were built not necessarily to retain water, but to retain silt.
Intermittent water running down the small drainage courses deposited silt behind
the dams. The silt, which was often several feet deep, would retain moisture
for a considerable period of time. The Pueblo farmers used those areas as small
farming plots. (ibid.) They built an irrigation ditch more than four miles
long.[6] [T]he Anasazi
were able to successfully grow enough corn, squash, beans, and cotton to satisfy
subsistence needs and create a surplus. (See [4],
quoting R. Douglas Hurt, Indian Agriculture in America 21-26 (1987)).
Many modern-day scholars, both of Pueblo heritage and not, have been attempting
to reconstruct the Anasazi jurisprudence in order to understand how the ancient
court system worked. Some of the indigenous scholars are doing so in order
to incorporate the ancient into the modern Pueblo system.[4]
Their architecture skills were also quite something interesting. Hundreds
of thousands[3] of
people visit the Mesa Verde National Park
and stay in camps and lodges around the area. For the best pictures, see the
book, The Story of Mesa Verde, available online http://www.mesaverde.org/smvf/p1.htm
and in print.
We should also notes
this gradual process of modernization led to steps forward but also steps back.
With their more settled lifestyle came the need for more permanent housing
for the slowly increasing population. Although the change was not immediately
evident, these cultural adaptations gradually changed the relationship between
the Anasazi and their land. The ultimate impact of disturbing the delicate
balance between the use and abuse of the land took several hundred years to
manifest itself fully.[21] Michael
Allen and Robert Stevens compare the fate of the Anasazi with modern problem
that result from upsetting thedelicate balance between human needs and available
environmental resources.
Now that we understand how the Anasazi lived, it would be appropriate to understand
how they collapsed. There are a few major theories floating around, most of
which are presented here. The first thing to recognize, though, is that the
ancient Pueblos did not completely disappear: the present-day Pueblos are direct
descendants of those indigenous Americans that seemed to have disappeared in
the year 1300.
The second thing to understand is that no one theory has been able to explain
the entirety of the ancient Pueblos collapse. Many theories, such as a large
drought, a religious shifts yielding migration to the south, cannibalism, climate
changes have been presented and provide many through-provoking ideas. This
case study, though, is aimed at showing how conflict and environment intersected
and impacted the downfall of the ancient Pueblo.
The Great Drought
The most popular theory of the past number of years, it is possible that the
ancient Pueblo simply took one too many hits from droughts.
<http://www.navaching.com/naji/naji.gifs/Rio.gif>
As shown in this chart, it appears as though at various times in their past,
the ancient Pueblo just stayed too long. They were pigeon-holed into staying
where they were after building tons of structures and buildings and methods
of irrigation, and they refused to leave until, in the end, it killed them.
More evidence comes from the Annenberg/CPB.
Archaeologists found evidence that when Sand
Canyon was finally abandoned in the thirteenth
century, the kivas were burned. Kivas were sacred ceremonial places; they would
not have been systematically burned without cause. Many archaeologists believe
the kivas were ceremonially burned, possibly as a way to "close" the
kivas when people left. The Anasazi very likely did this because they never
intended to return. Another important clue is that, at Sand
Canyon, people left almost all their possessions
rather than taking them. The Anasazi likely had a long and difficult journey
ahead of them.
...
When this cycle of drought began, Anasazi civilization was at its height. Communities
were densely populated. Even with good rains, the Anasazi were using their land
to its limits. Without rain, it was impossible to grow enough food to support
the population. Widespread famine occurred. People left the area in large numbers
to join other pueblo peoples to the south and east, abandoning the Chaco
Canyon pueblos and, later, the smaller communities
that surrounded them. Anasazi civilization began a long period of migration
and decline after these years of drought and famine. By the 1300s, it had all
but died out in Chaco Canyon.[5]
The theory, though, has been challenged.
Looking at that graph, it appears as though they weathered through much more
rough times than the one in 1300, some for even longer periods of time. After
studying tree ring research, then Washington State
University PhD student Carla Van West (now senior
principle investigator at Stastical Research,
Inc.) presented evidence that there might have been the enough moisture
to have continued growing enough corn to survive the drought, like they had
done before.
The factors cited by the proponents of the drought theory add to the conclusions
one can draw from these sources. There is little doubt that the impact of little
water had something to do with the ancient Pueblo leaving their homes.
But other possibilities must be understood.
The word Anasazi is actually a misnomer. Many translate it asancient
ones. But etymologists ( have traced its roots to a Navajo word meaningancient
enemies:
"Anasazi, said Richard (Wetherill), was a Navajo word.
The Navajo used it to describe the ancient people, now vanished, whose ruined
dwellings the Navajo found when they migrated into the Four Corners region from
the northward. In a loose, vague sense Anasazi meant ancient
enemies. Richard did not know if this implied that the first of the Navajos
had found some of these early ones still in their pueblos and cliff dwellings,
and made war upon them."[8]
So there is some ancient idea that the ancient Pueblo and Navajo were enemies.
This idea can be reflected by the evidence above of the excellent defenses created
on Mesa Verde (see further). But to introduce it...
Dr.
Michael Adler, an archeologist at Southern Methodist University, argues
that the Anasazi were not able to move around freely because their once open
range was becoming balkanized into hostile fiefdoms. Archeological evidence
shows that in this period, perhaps as a reaction to drier weather, people in
the Mesa Verde area began building dams and canals to trap and divert water
to terraced fields. They were 'investing in landscapes,' Dr. Adler said, and
presumably began to feel more territorial about where they had settled. 'The
land was filling up with claims and rights,' he said. 'People had to ask before
they used.'[9]
So, he argues,The Anasazi developed elaborate water catchments. And diverting
water may have led to conflict and war.[10]
Their architecture, though, tells part of another story: their defense systems
seem to have been set up very well.
The houses had thick walls, and some were multistoried. It appears
that there were many modifications of walls and houses. Outsidefacing doorways
on the ground level were few. Some rooms had ladder openings in the ceilings
to upper levels, again suggesting a need for defense.[2]
(p47)
The houses were built in large alcoves with overhanging ledges; it would be
difficult to drop anything on them. Only a direct assault could be attempted.
The steep slope would make it difficult for an enemy to attack. Defenders in
the houses could carefully aim their arrows at attackers trying to run uphill
with poor footwear over rough terrain. If an attack lasted more than a day,
the enemy would have to withdraw to obtain water and food. Water and food stored
in the cliff houses would serve the defenders at any time. [2]
(p50)
So it appears as though they had something or someone to fear. And they did
a decent job. Yet, notes the article,There is also no evidence in burials
that shows violence (ibid.). They feel it was unlikely
that war was the straw that broke the camel's back.
On the other hand, there do appear to be some clues that there was- violence.
For example, scientists have found evidence of cannibalism. Some think it was
from religious mobs from Mexico, where cannibalism was regularly practiced,
andthugs of Toltecs came in from Mexico and used it as a gimmick and weapon.[11]
Evidence is shown by both bones and teeth marks (see Turner & Turner, ibid.)
and human feces.[12]
Also, this theory is challenged since many researchers note the absence of
human cannibalism in present-day Pueblo culture, in addition to possible evidence
of ritual execution ofwitches. The cannibalism as explained by these theorists
is that it was the witches who ate human flesh, as it might have been an initiation
into the witch order. The entire debate is played out in a few places, but
one is in a June, 2001 Dallas Morning News article.[13]
Conclusion
The two factors probably played into each other. At the same time as the lack
of rain, it is possible that the civilizations conflicts amongst themselves
and in relationship to other indigenous groups came into conflict with each
other. A complicated connection or disillusion with their religion might have
had some impact on their decision to leave and, therefore, burn part of their
ruins.
The debate is not resolved and controversy will most likely continue. But
each of these ideas, taken by themselves, cannot fully explain the complete
reason for the collapse of Anasazi civilization. Drought, violence, culture,
religion and overextending all had some level of impact on the Anasazi. To
what level, though, is still a debate. The future is wide open.
2. Description
3. Duration
1300s
4. Location
Continent: North America
Region: Western North America
Country: US
5. Actors
Anasazi
6. Type of Environmental Problem
7. Type of Habitat
Dry
8. Act and Harm Sites:
Anasazi
9. Type of Conflict
Substate
10. Level of Conflict
High (relatively)
11. Fatality Level of Dispute (military and civilian fatalities)
None
12. Environment-Conflict Link and Dynamics:
13. Level of Strategic Interest
State
14. Outcome of Dispute:
Complete
15. Related ICE Cases
16. Relevant Websites and Literature
I. CASE BACKGROUND