The Anasazi and Mississippians Chaco Canyon Mesa Verde

The Anasazi and Mississippians Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, Cahokia, and Moundville

The Anasazi • No great urban centers like those in Peru or Mesoamerica. • Northern people never developed the corn agriculture – except in the southwest and Mississippi Valley. • Why are there similarities with Mesoamerica?

The Anasazi • Three identifiably different cultures in the North American Southwest by 500 C. E. • Mogollon in eastern AZ and southern NM. • Hohokam in southcentral AZ. • Anasazi in four-corners.

The Anasazi • Anasazi = “ancient ones” • By 750 C. E. inhabited aboveground houses, adobe architecture, and ceremonial rooms dug into the earth. • Sunken ceremonial rooms called kivas. • Anasazi housing became known as pueblos to the Spanish.

The Anasazi • 850 s C. E. – Chaco Canyon in the San Juan River basin on northwest NM became a hub. • Straight roads led to and from the city • Had over 600 rooms.

The Anasazi • After 1130 C. E. , a long drought in Chaco Canyon area. • Gradually, with populations growing and climate worsening, Anasazi moved into cliff dwellings. • Mesa Verde had 220 rooms and 23 kivas. • What is beneficial about these structures?

The Anasazi • Another drought – 1276 to 1299 C. E. forced Anasazi to move again. • What happened to the survivors of the Anasazi?

The Mississippians • These peoples prospered during Roman Empire • The Hopewell people lived mainly in Ohio and Illinois, but networked over much of the continent. • They had copper and silver from Lake Superior, quartz from Appalachia, seashells from Florida, and obsidian and grizzly bear teeth from the Rockies.

The Mississippians • Hopewell trading led to mound-building cultures in the Mississippi Valley. • Developed 500 -900 C. E. and flourished after 900 C. E. • Bows and arrows began to be used. • Maize went from being a commodity to a staple crop.

The Mississippians • Cahokia Creek – dozens of rectangular, flattopped temple mounds. • Developed “Woodhenge” – functioned as a calendar and marked the progression of the sun each year. • Around 1100, Cahokia had 15, 000 people.

The Mississippians • By 1400, mound building cultures began losing their power. • Why do you think these people began losing their power and influence?