Preservation: Let the Water Flow
Categories: Preservation: You Can Help
By: Mark Boardman 05/01/2008
The Anasazi Mystery
For hundreds of years, the ancestors of the Pueblo Indians occupied cliff dwellings in southwestern Colorado. In the 1200s, they left—and nobody’s quite sure why. Until now.
Washington State University Anthropology Professor Tim Kohler and three colleagues have analyzed computer simulations and traditional archaeological research. The conclusion they have reached?
Climate change was one of the reasons. It hurt maize productivity and led to fights between Anasazi tribes.
The combination of famine and violence killed off much of the population, leaving them even more vulnerable.
So they moved south to modern-day New Mexico, where some of their kin already lived.
They did leave behind incredible cliff dwellings, which you can view at
Mesa Verde National Park. You can see where they moved to at Bandelier National Monument.
Kohler’s report appears in the March/April issue of American Scientist.
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