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Anasazi Questions and Answers

Readers and park visitors have asked a number of important and interesting questions. Here are my answers to some of the most frequently asked questions.

If you have a question that isn't answered here, please email me (eric (at) anasaziadventure (dot) com) and I will answer you personally as soon as time permits.

My husband is confined to a wheel chair. Can we visit Chaco Canyon?

Yes. Like almost all National Parks, parts of Chaco Culture and wheel chair accessible. The Visitors’ Center and restrooms should be easy for him to navigate. The trail at Pueblo Bonito is pebbled gravel and you can visit without having to go up stairs or ramps, but may not be able to follow the trail through the eastern section of the building. Casa Rinconada and the small sites are also served by a pebbled gravel trail, but the grade on part of it will require care.

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Are you an archeologist?

No, I am a retired business communication professor and have been studying the Anasazi for 25 years. My Ph.D. is in communication and social systems. I used to teach research methods and my research skills have helped me make sense of the relevant literature while the professional archeologists listed in the Acknowledgements have helped me avoid misinterpretations.

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On route 160 near Tsegi, Arizona, there are many small side roads and dirt tracks. Do they lead to ruins?

Perhaps, but do not set out without permission. Most of the tracks you see are private and the residents do not welcome intrusions. Here, as in most Anasazi areas,  there is more than enough to see withot invading other's privacy and perhaps endangering yourself.  My pracites is to enter private lands only with permission and often a guide.

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What is your favorite hike in the four corners area?

Right now, my favorite hike is the Sand Canyon Trail in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. The south end has the most archeological sites while the north end has the greatest natural beauty. But take the qualification, "right now," seriously because I have favorite hikes in most of the areas I've visited. The Pueblo Alto trail is my favorite in Chaco Canyon and the Moon Kiva hike is spectacular if you find yourself on Cedar Mesa in Utah.

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Where is Grand Gulch? Is it worth visiting?

The Grand Gulch Primative Area is located in southeastern Utah and has some spectacular cliff drawings that date to basketmaker times. Many of the pictographs were protected by subsequent Anasazi buildings and are remarkably fresh now that the buildings have fallen. Be aware that this is a hiking area and the nearest ruins and at least ten miles from the trailhead. Permits are required and you can learn more on the BLM's web site.

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I’ve been told that there isn’t much to see at Aztec Ruins. Do you think its worth visiting?

Aztec Ruins is less developed than many other sites, but the West Ruin Great House is spectacular, the reconstructed great kiva is one of the few you can enter, and the museum includes many perishable artifacts you won’t see elsewhere. Even the most jaded Anasazi fancier will enjoy two or three hours there and Salmon Ruin is just a few miles away. Visiting both can make a full day.

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Is there a data base or complete list of known Anasazi sites? How do I access it?

Yes, … and no. Many academic institutions as well as National Parks and Monuments have comprehensive databases of sites within their purview. Access is a more difficult question. Pothunters have done so much damage to unprotected sites that only people with bona fide reasons to use the databases are allowed to use them. Moreover, visiting undeveloped sites is less engaging than you might imagine. There is little to see or photograph; modest humps may be a telltale signs of walls or other features and burried kivas may appear as nothing more than a slight depression.

But, if you would like to get a sense of the number of sites in the southwest, visit this online catalog or read the appendicies to Michael A. Adler, The Prehistoric Pueblo World A.D. 1150-1350 and E. Charles Adams, The Protohistoric Pueblo World A. D. 1275-1600.

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What is a “pueblito?”

Literally a "small house," the term pueblito is generally refers to smaller, pubelo-like structures built by the Navajo as they moved into the four corners area around 1500 CE.

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Were the Anasazi cannibals?

I don’t think we have a complete answer yet and the debate is often emotionally charged. As I read the professional literature, we can say that at least some of the Anasazi ate human flesh some of the time. It remains unclear  how widespread the practice was or what motivated it.

Here is where the debate stands. In Man Corn, Christy Turner demonstrated that human remains at some sites were processed the same way as animal remains. His demonstration hinges on two factors:

  1. Human bodies were tossed into “charnel heaps”—piles of discarded bones—and not buried.
  2. Bones in the charnel heaps display cut marks, crushing, burn marks, and “pot polish” from being boiled. These “taphonomic signatures” are identical to marks found on the remains of game animals and, Turner believes, allow us to infer that the bodies were processed as food sources.

This much of Turner’s appears undisputable, but our ability to generalize from these findings is open to question. Some people have argued that there is no evidence that flesh from the processed bodies was actually consumed. This argument lost ground when a human coprolite (fossilized turd) found at Cowboy Wash showed traces of human DNA that could only have found its way into the sample if human flesh were eaten. More recently, it has been noted that the sample contained no traces of other food elements suggesting that the coprolite had been faked. Further research is needed to resolve this discrepancy.

In addition, Turner reached beyond his evidence to suggest that cannibalism was introduced by renegade Toltec priests who used it as a mean of social control. These elements are among the most controversial, and Turner is now working to bolster his case. When I met him at Chaco during the summer of 2006, he had identified two skulls with characteristic Mesoamerican dental modifications. These are good evidence that at least some Toltecs found their way into the southwest. He will publish these findings along with other evidence in Man Corn II, but no publication date has been set.

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How many ruins are there in Chaco Canyon?

3,654! 

But you need to understand what that number represents. “Ruin” is not a technical term. Archeologists record “sites” and a site can be anything from a collection of buildings to a handful of stone fragments. In Chaco, there are 3,654 known sites (as of June 2006) including around 400 that date from Navajo or historic occupations. That means that there are around 3,254 sites dating to the Anasazi or earlier eras, but fewer than 100 are the remains of recognizable buildings.

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At Una Vida, we saw walls unlike those you describe in Chapter 2. Did you leave something out?

I think you are refering to the "dry laid" (without mortar) walls along the trail at the southern edge of the site. Right? Although the walls are difficult to date, archeologists believe they were built by the Navajo who moved into Chaco Canyon in the 15th century.

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What are “side notched points?” Where can I learn more about them?

Archeologists and collectors use the name “side notched point” to refer to distinctly triangular arrowheads with lashing notches cut into the sides. They appear to have been the final evolution of Anasazi stone point technology and were produced primarily during the Pueblo III era. The most convenient guide is The Overstreet Identificatin and Price Guide to Indian Arrowheads and Appendix C of the Anasazi Guide will explain their place in the development of Anasazi stone point technology.

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When will your book be published? Where can I get a copy?

The Anasazi Guide will be available from online publisher LULU.com. I’m making a few format changes now, and will email you as soon as its available.

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Where did you get all the pictures on this web site? Can I get a higher resolution image of Pueblo Bonito?

Aside from a few images for which I’ve credited other photographers, all of the images on this web site and in the Anasazi Guide are my own work. I can provide copies at various resolutions, asking for only a modest fee if you plan to use the image for commercial purposes.

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My wife speaks little English. Where can I get a German guidebook?

Bookstores at many National Parks and Monuments have a limited number of foreign language guidebooks and you may also find translated information sheets at some. Unfortunately, my German is not good enough to make a recommendation. Perhaps other readers can help us with a suggestion.

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What is Chaco-McElmo Black-on-white? Why is it important?

Chaco-McElmo Black-on-white is a specific type of painted pottery produced in the Chaco Canyon area. It was painted with organic paint and is charactrized by a thin washy slip covering part of the surface and poorly sorted sand or sand and sherd temper.  It was produced during a relatively brief period of  time (roughly 1100 to 1140 CE, but some argue for an expanded range) and finding fragments of Chaco-McElmo BonW can help to date a site when other evidence is lacking.

Appendix B of The Anasazi Guide will include a table describing the common painted wares and their approximate dates of production.

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What is a field school? How do I enroll?

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Where can I participate in an excavation?

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Was there warfare among the Anasazi?

Yes, at least that seems like to be the best explanation of the destruction and unburried bodies found at some sites. 

There is abundant evidence of violent death among the Anasazi; crushed skulls, stone points embedded in bodies, broken arms, and unburied bodies. This evidence shows that the Anasazi killed one another, but doesn't necessarily point to warfare. Critics note that some of  the deaths may have been accidental, the result of feuds between a few individuals, or isolated raids by small groups. Most scholars use the term “warfare” only for an organized activity involving fairly large groups, and they dismiss some findings as the result of less dramatic conflicts. However, a handful of sites destroyed in cataclysmic events seem to fulfill even the most restrictive definition of "warfare," and two are described in The Anasazi Guide: Salmon Ruins and Sand Canyon Pueblo.

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What do you think of Jarred Diamond’s discussion of Chaco Canyon in Collapse?

I admire Diamond’s earlier book, Guns, Germs, and Steel, but am not satisfied with his chapter on Chaco in Collapse. To me, it appears that he worked too hard to make his discussion of Chaco consistent with his general theory and overlooked many of the things that make Chaco uniuqe. For example, the collapse of a natural sand dune dam around 960 CE evidently lowered the water table a good six inches or more and put construction of major buildings on hold for over a century.

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Who developed your web site? Are they available to do commercial work?

This web site is my own creation. I prefer to do my own work because it is cheaper, I  have complete control of the contents, and I can update features on a daily basis. With today's tools, creating a web site is almost as simple as writing a letter, and here are some of the resources I use.

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What do you think of Craig Childs' House of Rain?

I found it to be very entertaining reading.

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What do you think of Brian Fagan, Chaco Canyon?

I am not fond of it and would recommend against buying a copy. While Fagan is an accomplished science writer, I don't think he took the time to master the relevant literature including the multi-volume reports on the Chaco Project. In addition, I found a disconcerting number of factual errors in the book and think interested readers are better served by Vivian's Chaco Handbook.

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"Which is best for kids; Canyon de Chelly, Mesa Verde, or Chaco Canyon?"

All three are attractive, but I think active children will have most fun at Chaco Canyon because there are more place to hike, climb, and get close to the ruins.

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You seem to know a good deal about the Anasazi, but you say some things I've never read before. Are you making this up?

Aside from a few spots where I've labeled my own speculations and guesses, everything you read in my book and on this web site is based on the archeological literature. You may not have seen it elsewhere because translating sophisiticated analyses and interpretations is hard work. The web doesn't lend itself to inserting footnotes, but the published book includes a 17-page list of the materials on which I've relied.

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© Eric Skopec 2006