The Mysterious Disappearance of the Anasazi

At the beginning of the first millennium, first century after Christ (AD), specifically in the period between the years 1 to 500, there was in the mountainous and semi-arid territories of southwestern North America a group of people dedicated to the art of weaving baskets, for this reason they were known as basket makers. The Amerindian civilization called the Anasazi come from these basket makers, Anasazi is a Navajo word meaning "ancient people" or "ancient enemies", however, this connotation is meaningless since the Navajos were never enemies of the Anasazi.

The first settlements of the Anasazi indicate that they led a sedentary life, growing cotton, corn, pumpkins and beans; They learned how to make pottery and this made it easier for them to cook and store food. They became good hunters and improved significantly in cultivation techniques. One of the most important settlements of the Anasazi was established in Mesa Verde, located southeast of the State of Colorado in the United States (See Figure 1).

[Figure 1. Mesa Verde]

The Anasazi civilization is one of the most mysterious in the world and has not stopped bewildering historians and archaeologists. In most of their history the Anasazi lived in small villages scattered in plateaus and valleys, but in the middle of the 13th century something very strange happened, they began to get together and made the surprising decision to move to steep cliffs where they built impressive houses, but then a question arises, why did the Anasazi decide to move to these cliffs? Not only that, but just fifty years after they settled there they took another baffling decision, they left their houses leaving behind most of their belongings as if they planned to return, but after they left, they inexplicably disappeared from history.

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Why did the Anasazi dissapear?

The theory of wars against other tribes is totally discarded because the Anasazi had no enemy. Another theory tries to explain the fact that this civilization moved to the cliffs due to the need of water, because near these walls they counted on the vital liquid, nevertheless the Anasazi could have obtained the water without moving to the rocky cliffs, besides, to live there represented a great danger to their children.

The states of Arizona, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico converge in a large area called The Four Corners (See Figure 2.), this was the place where the Anasazi lived for more than a hundred years, moving to the plateaus of the cliffs must have been an extremely difficult and strenuous task, they did this in all regions of the four corners, and even settled in the most remote and inhospitable canyons.

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[Figure 2. Four Corners]

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Were they cannibals?

[Figure 3. The interior of a Kiva]

Another interesting theory is held by archaeologist Archie Hanson, who has collected a large amount of evidence that could explain why the anasazi moved to the cliffs. In his investigations Hanson found in what were settlements of the Anasazi evidences of death and extreme violence, these Indians met in spaces called "kivas" (See Figure 3), where they found evidence of cannibalism, this is revealed by the shine in the bottom of clay pits which only forms when a bone is cooked in this type of container. Some bones were found, but they were completely broken with the absence of skulls and vertebrae (See Figure 4). This is a controversial issue, mainly in the regions where the "Hopi" Indians currently live, the latter being descendants of the Anasazi who flatly refuse to identify their ancestors as cannibals.

The evidence of cannibalism was found in fifty Anasazi settlements, this is not a very large number considering the history of this civilization, but what is interesting is that almost all the evidence is from the same period, including the 900 AD until around 1150, these dates correspond to the time when the Anasazi civilization government was established in a place called the Chaco Canyon, this was a great but extremely mysterious city.

[Figure 4. Humans remains; Anasazi cannibalism]

The Chaco Canyon was an imposing city (See Figure 5.), which was built in the middle of nowhere. Everything indicates that something horrible happened to the Anasazi people in the mid-twelfth century and all the clues suggest that it was something violent whose epicenter was in the Chaco Canyon, the most important settlement of this Amerindian civilization. Chaco had its heyday around 900 and 1150 AD and was the largest cultural center of the corners, it was more than a city, it had become a place where great religious ceremonies were held, all the people gathered to worship their gods in the kivas. But suddenly in 1150 the city was totally abandoned and its inhabitants disappeared.

[Figure 5. The Chaco Canyon]

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Did something sinister happen to the Anasazi?

One of the most widespread theories is that there was a great drought that forced the Anasazi to abandon their settlements, however the tests carried out on the land and the trees used in the construction of their homes reveal that the Anasazi had worse droughts in the past and had overcome them. Everything tends to hint that something more sinister happened, something darker that ended this extraordinary civilization.

The Anasazi had no writing, this is one of the archaeological difficulties in the study of this civilization, since the lack of written records does not allow us to follow or explain some behaviors of their culture. The "Navajo" Indians who now live in the four corners have always stayed away from the Chaco Canyon, when they are asked something related to this place, they simply say: "Something very bad happened there". There is no doubt that the Anasazi have left a sinister feeling that lingers in the subconscious of the North American Indian, they have their stories related to that civilization, stories that are told from generation to generation but ones that they keep away from strangers to their tribe.

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Beings from another world?

[Figure 6. Anasazi petroglyphs that ilustrate "evil beings"]

But there is another version of what happened to the Anasazi in the petroglyphs they made on the walls of the cliffs, on these massive rocks there are drawings of strange giant beings that seemed to carry a series of devices on their heads, there are speculations that rely on these drawings to give these strange events an alien explanation (See Figure 6.). If we see the details of these paintings, we can appreciate some beings that are not human and that differ from the Anasazi in terms of both form and dimensions, these beings are giants compared to them.

It is believed that the Anasazi were forced to make human sacrifices for beings from another world, this is a theory that will never be found on official archeology records. This peaceful civilization tried to defend itself and escape from these creatures, which explains why they moved to places of difficult access as the cliffs, however, something happened that made them succumb to the power of these beings and they had to build those impressive stone buildings in the Chaco Canyon for them.

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The Kachinas.

[Figure 7. Kachinas]

Another speculation is related to stories told by the Hopi Indians, they say that their ancestors, the Anasazi, were waiting for the arrival of kachinas, some kind of beings from another world, spirits. Apparently these creatures helped the Anasazi to defend themselves from those who terrorized them, all this eventually led to the evil beings withdrawing from their lands (See Figure 7).

Then a special bond was born between the Anasazi and the kachinas, the latter taught them everything about the universe and the stars, in fact, they left very good evidence that they had knowledge of astronomy and the seasons of the year. Several petroglyphs are related to the summer or winter solstices. An important fact of their stellar observations is that an Anasazi Indian drew the appearance of a new star on the wall of a cliff, that drawing corresponds to the explosion of a supernova in 1050 AD known as the Crab Nebula Supernova (See Figure 8); the coincidences of dates between the astronomical event are verified by the dating of carbon 14 in the remains of a bonfire near the place where the drawing was made.

[Figure 8. Crab Nebula Supernova painting made by an anasazi]

Another speculation that fills everyone's imagination, is that this explosion of the supernova indicated the moment of the arrival of the beings from the stars, year 1050, the war between these beings and the sinister aliens lasted 100 years, at the end of this war the star beings formed a deep connection with the Anasazi, to such an extent that they decided to take them with them.

Perhaps this will seem like something romantic and silly, and maybe you, my dear reader, may think that the history of the Anasazi is full of myths, fantastic and even absurd legends, but until now neither historians nor official archeology have been able to decipher for sure the mysterious disappearance of the Anasazi, and perhaps, they never will.