What does the Anasazi have to do with life today?

Question

Do you know why we learn about them in history class? There must be a reason we learn about them. How has it effected us in the last 10 years. What does the Anasazi have to do with life today?

Answer 1

First, let's clear up a few misconceptions in the posts above. The Anasazi (more properly known today as Ancestral Puebloan) were a prehistoric culture in the Four Corners area of the American southwest which first became a distinct culture sometime around the time of Christ (1AD) and collapsed between 1200-1400AD (they were NOT around 3,000 years ago).

The Anasazi culture (which was based as much or more on free standing pueblos as cliff dwellings) fell apart for reasons that are still debated, but where they went is no mystery - historians, archaeologists and the tribes themselves all agree than the modern Hopi tribes in Arizona and many of the New Mexico pueblo tribes (Acoma, Tewa, etc) are the direct descendants of the Anasazi. The Navajo, Apache and other tribes mentioned by the first poster are NOT related to the Anasazi in any way and did not show up in the southwest until after the Anasazi had already fallen into decline.

The Anasazi had an exceptional culture that included an extensive road system, excellent artwork, pottery and weaving and amazing architecture including four and five story tall buildings. They were arguably the most advanced of the prehistoric cultures in the area covered by the modern US. It is well worth learning about them, just for their own sake.

However, if you are interested in some more specific and practical reasons for understanding or knowing about them in terms of impact on our modern culture, here are some suggestions:

Ecology - The locations of ruins as well as stored seeds and other plant material from ruins helps both antropologists and biologists to understand what the southwest environment was like a thousand years ago. The types of plant remains (and locations of farming plots) indicates that the climate was much wetter a thousand years ago and changes in climate may have impacted their collaspse.

The Evolution of Human Societies - How the Anasazi evolved from small roving bands into a complex society with large towns capable of coordinating large work projects like massive buildings and roads can help anthropologists and historians understand how human societies form in general. Likewise, understanding what happened at the end of their culture and why it collapsed could help identify larger themes of potential problems in growing societies including our own.

Law and Modern Native American Identity - Many tribes underwent a revival of identity and pride during the American Indian Movement (AIM) during the Civil Rights era and have sought to express their connection and ownership over the Anasazi. This includes claiming the rights to bodies and burial artifacts found in excavations and in some cases actual ownership and access to property containing Anasazi sites is based on a tribe being able to claim some sort of direct connection with the prehistoric people that lived there.

Tourism - Chaco Canyon National Historic Park and Mesa Verde, Canyon de Chelly, and Hovenweep National Monuments are all founded around major Anasazi sites are are major tourist draws to the southwest and thus a source of income to local communities. Chaco Canyon is also listed as a World Heritage Site.

Also note that there never were any people that called themselves 'Anasazi' - that is just a term that early archaologists used to broadly define a set of similar cultural traits associated with certain prehistoric ruins they were finding. It is very likely, that the people we call Ansazi never even saw themselves as a single society, but rather was actually a collection of individual, though losely associated, bands - possibly with different languages and customs - similar to the relationship between modern pueblo tribes today.

Answer 2

Although his nickname doesn't fit the attitude, Nothingusefullearnedinschool's answer says it well enough. Whether learning about them seems useful to you at this time or not, knowledge and general information can only serve to help a person's overall view and understanding of the world and human beings. There's more to the world than what's happening right now and it's fascinating (to me at least.) When I visited the Mesa Verde cliff dwellings of the Anasazi about 20 years ago, it was like completing the history lessons that I'd studied when I was in school. A year long course on these people and their culture may be a bit much for most people, but a general familiarization with them is well worth the time. You don't have to be an expert in everything, but having a general knowledge of the world that one lives in never killed anyone.

Answer 3

Actually, I didn't learn about them in history class. You must have a newer curriculum than I had. However, I have visited their ruins at Mesa Verde, in Colorado.

They were these cliff dwellers lthat ived about three thousand years ago in the American Southwest and mysteriously abandoned their settlements for a reason that still eludes archeologists.

The idea of a race or civilization simply abandoning their settlements and leaving them as ruins strikes a chord today, as it actually has throughout most of the history of Western Civilization as we have always lived with the story of lving in the "final days" found in the New Testament's Book of Revelations. The prophesy of the Hopi Indian (likely descendents of the Anasazi) also has a story. It is a classical thing to want an arc to a story; a beginning, middle, and ultimately, an end.

Now with global warming and what not, we collectively realize our own vulnerabilities and so we study these stories about lost civilizations, and wonder if we will avoid their fate.

Answer 4

If you build a pyramid of rocks, and you take away the rocks at the bottom, what happens to your pyramid?
The Anasazi, the "Old Ones", built the future for the Apaches, the Mosqaleros, the Comancheros, the Navajos... ;and so many other tribes.
By studying how the Anasazi coped, one can learn to cope with life!

Answer 5

as i consider, Anasazi way the Ancient Enemy. or anything like that. They left constructions, however although we would not have many specifics approximately them, they're feared 1000's of years later. they're practically a thriller - what made them so feared? So feared that the worry lasts although they're all long gone. How it results us now? i believe it tells us that there has commonly been a enormous enemy, and that there would possibly constantly be one. We must reside and paintings with those humans and this skills.