To the south lay the settlement of Snaketown, focus of the Hohokam, where the inhabitants built courts for a ritual ball game-intriguing echoes of ancient Mexican practices. It was the hub of a trading network extending over hundreds of miles, whose arteries were a series of extraordinary roads that are still being discovered and mapped. Chaco Canyon became the center of a thriving Anasazi cultural tradition.
The initial hunter-gatherer bands gradually adapted to become sedentary village groups, and the high point of Southwestern civilization was reached with the emergence of cultures known to archaeologists as the Anasazi, Hohokam, and Mogollon in the first millennium A.D. Ten thousand years ago, humans first colonized this inhospitable landscape with its scorching-hot deserts and upland areas where temperatures drop below freezing even during the early summer months. Stephen Plog, who has spent decades working in the region, now provides the most readable and up-to-date account of the predecessors of the modern Hopi and Pueblo Indian cultures. Visitors marvel at the impressive ruined pueblos and spectacular cliff dwellings but often have little idea of the cultures that produced these prehistoric wonders. Here lie some of the most remarkable monuments of America's prehistoric past, such as Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde. Interweaving the latest archaeological evidence with early first-person accounts| Stephen Plog explains the rise and mysterious fall of Southwestern cultures.įor this revised edition| he discusses new research and its implications for our understanding of the prehistoric Southwest.Īs he concludes| the Southwest is still home to vibrant Native American communities who carry on many of the old traditions.Many people are familiar with such famous pre-Columbian civilizations as the Aztecs and the Maya of Mexico, but few realize just how advanced were contemporary cultures in the American Southwest. The high point of Southwestern civilization was reached with the emergence of cultures known as Anasazi| Hohokam| and Mogollon in the first millennium AD.
The initial hunter-gatherer bands gradually adapted to become sedentary village groups. Ten thousand years ago| humans first colonized this seemingly inhospitable landscape with its scorching hot deserts and upland areas that drop below freezing even during the early summer months. Here lie some of the most remarkable monuments of America’s prehistoric past| such as Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde. Most people are familiar with the famous pre-Columbian civilizations of the Aztecs and Maya of Mexico| but few realize just how advanced were contemporary cultures in the American Southwest.
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