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Archeological evidence suggests that the Anasazi first moved into the southern Colorado Plateau at approximately the start of the Christian Era. Thus, there is a long, long history, tradition, and set of religious beliefs that the Hopi feel they are continuing and upholding. During this long period of time, the ancestral groups and the Hopi have continued to be a relatively settled, agricultural people who have valued land and water above all else. Throughout their documented history, they moved only when necessary; when the land was worn out, became salty or caliche-hardened, when a climate change forced a search for a wetter area, or when invasion or warfare made a dwelling area unsafe.
The earliest Anasazi (a name, which comes directly from the Navajo term, Anasazi, meaning, variously, “the Ancient Ones,” “Ancient Tribe,” “Ancient People Who Are Not Us,” “Ancient Enemies,” or “Enemy Ancestors,” depending on the context) were a simple folk, reoccupying a landscape that had been more or less abandoned hundreds of years previously by a group known as the Archaic Indians. The earliest cultural stage of the Anasazi is known as the Basketmaker phase. By the year AD 500, the Anasazi were developing a more sophisticated society, with the introduction of pottery, the bow and arrow, pit dwellings and more varied, more nutritious crops, including beans.
Around AD 700, architectural advances were made and large surface dwellings began to appear in Anasazi land. This was the start of what the anthropologists have labeled the Pueblo phase of Anasazi history. During this Pueblo phase, pottery became more varied and artistic in design, and color was introduced to their decorations.
As the Anasazi culture flourished, life became easier, with time to contemplate the world and develop philosophies. Religious rituals apparently became more elaborate in the region by around AD 900. Kivas began to appear at that time in the larger communities. These structures were presumably originally used for ceremonial and other special purposes, much as they are today. Pottery design also became more elaborate. A period of favorable climate and/or improved agriculture after AD 900 allowed the population to grow substantially, and a number of small habitation sites mushroomed across the Anasazi area. The Anasazi were probably producing extensive goods and materials for trade by this period.
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Contents, including illustrations, copyright T. K. Reeves, 1997.
on 5 April, 1997.
