Anasazi collapse
by Reed Proctor
who were the Anasazi
- Called Ancient Pueblos.
- Lived in New Mexico area.
- were able to construct great roads including one called the great road.
- Native Americans.
- Were very religious and made Kivas.
- 1,200 people lived at its height
why did they collapse
The Anasazi had failed due to a drought, religious conflict, and political strife.
Drought
The Drought of the Anasazi affected the people the biggest and ruined the geography of the land and civilization. Archaeologists have discovered that the Anasazi have been hit constantly by droughts. the Anasazi were dependent on farming and it was a main part of their life, and they would collect a series of seeds, nuts and other types of fruits. So you can see that having a drought would not help the people because there was no other source of food. A famine struck and the population was densely decreasing. Back then these people were semi nomadic so if all the foods were gone then they have no reason to stick around and try to survive. This a tragic way to end a civilization but its definitely a reason to end a civilization. As you can see the Anaszis's big reason for its collapse was the drought.
Religion
The next big aspect of the Anasazi civilation was the religion and how it contributed to finding the collapse of the Anasazi. Scientists have discovered Kivas which were religious ceremonial grounds that were burned. The Anasazi people would not of burned them down unless they were no going back to that area again. This was one of the first discoveries that helped us discover the Anasazi and how they left. After having some of their possessions burned the Anasazi people didn't get far and died in a sand canyon which was a horrible way to end a civilization. This was another reason that the Anasazi ended and it goes to show that people had a tough time fully making it out of the civilization which let it collapse.
Conflict
Other than the Anasazi people burning down their own kivas, there is a theory that other groups have caused them to do it by starting battles with them. The kivas weren't the only thing that was burned, there are house that were found burned as well which made us question why that would happen. the only explanation was conflict with another village, and them losing with their civilization in ruins. It was hard to fix a whole civilization especially since they had a lack of rain, so the Anasazi had no choice but to leave the land. This led to the Anasazi burning their kivas and led them even further to ending their civilization. Its not fair that one thing can lead to terrible ending of a civilization, but the poor anasazi learned this before it was to late.
conclusion
All these reasons contributed to ending the civilization but in a horrible way that wasn't fair. The biggest one was the drought. if that hadn't happened maybe they would have gone longer than they did. Over all this collapse was one of the worst to ever happen but it couldn't of prevented given the circumstances.