#The hohokam and anasazi achievements series

Contained within a series of canyons, these ruins represent the largest and best preserved examples of ancient Native American buildings, north of the Mexican border. Located in the Southwest corner of Colorado, just outside Cortez, Mesa Verde was without a doubt one of the two crowning architectural achievements (the other being Chaco Canyon) of the Anasazi. Colorado -Ĭolorado’s Anasazi ruins are concentrated in the state’s southwest corner, in the counties of Dolores and Montezuma. These units include – Cajon, Cutthroat, Goodman Point, Holly, Hackberry and Horseshoe and Square Tower, with Square Tower containing the largest concentration of ruins, and the location of the park visitor center. While there is evidence of occupation by Paleoindians and Archaic Indians going back to 8,000 B.C., much of what is found at Hovenweep today is the ruins of 6 different Anasazi villages, protected under several disconnected park units straddling the Utah/Colorado Border east of Cedar Mesa. Prominent ruins in the area include: Moon House, House on Fire, Dollhouse, Jailhouse, Fallen Roof Ruin, Tower House, the Citadel, River House, Target (Bulls Eye), Honeycomb and Monarch Cave. All of these geographic areas are in relatively close proximity to each other, with Cedar Mesa the geographic epicenter of the group. And unlike Mesa Verde, you won’t experience the crowds, and amusement park feel. This is a wilderness area, with the solitude, risks, and surprising discoveries that brings.įor convenience sake I am including in this region, Comb Ridge, Dark Canyon, Bears Ears, Montezuma Canyon, Natural Bridges NM, and of course Grand Gulch. Literally hundreds of dwellings, granaries, and rock art panels can be found by those willing to put in the time and effort to find them. They aren’t the massive multi-room structures one finds in Mesa Verde, but what they lack in size they more than make up for in number. This small corner of southeastern Utah, has arguably the highest concentration of Anasazi sites anywhere. Below are the sites of greatest interest. In Utah, the majority of Anasazi sites are found in the state’s southeast corner, reaching as far north as Canyonlands National Park, and to Glen Canyon Recreation Area in the west. Modern Puebloan tribes, such as the Zuni, Hopi, Keres and Towa count these three four Ancestral Puebloans groups among their kin. Research also suggests they were loosely related to other native cultural groups that inhabited the area during the same period, including the Fremont, Mogollon, and Hohokam.

They engaged heavily in agriculture (growing beans, squash and corn), and developed monumental architecture to house their families, provide a defense against hostile neighbors, and to protect their food supply from rodents and other animals. The Anasazi are known best for their development of a sedentary lifestyle vs. However, depending on where you draw the line on what separates the Anasazi from earlier groups that inhabited the region, the start date may go back as far as 1500 B.C. The Anasazi (also known under the wider descriptor Ancestral Puebloans), were a culture of Native Americans that inhabited the Four Corners region of Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico from about 1 A.D.