What Are Some Facts About the Anasazi Indians?
Interesting facts concerning the Anasazi Indians include that they date back to about 2,000 B. C., they were skilled engineers and they are responsible for the cliff pueblos of the Southwest. They also built some of the first apartment buildings in the New World.
The Anasazi are believed to have inhabited the Four Corners area of Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico as early as 2,000 B.C. Their first homes were built into the ground, but they later started to build adobe pueblos high above the ground on steep cliffs that were accessible only by climbing. Some of these pueblos are as high as 700 feet above the ground. Pueblos were often multiple-story groups of dwellings or apartment buildings. The Cliff Palace pueblo was three stories, had 200 rooms and housed 1,000 people. Pueblo Bonita at Mesa Verde housed 1,200 people in 800 rooms.
The Anasazi were skilled engineers. Some of their roads are 10 meters across and extend for up to 30 kilometers in a perfectly straight direction or along a meridian. One of their most puzzling roads extends from Chaco Canyon, considered to be their capital, 20 kilometers due south in a perfectly straight line. Their developments were often arranged along a meridian, and scientists are unable to explain why they built in this manner or how they were able to achieve such a high degree of accuracy.
