Tracking a Vanished Civilization in the Southwest Utah

Submitted by coldrum on Wednesday, 18 July 2007 Page Views: 1045

Country: United States State: Utah
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For 1,000 years, long before Columbus, the Anasazi Indians were lords of what's now the American Southwest. Their civilization was as complex and sophisticated as that of the Mayans. Then, apparently without warning, the Anasazi all but disappeared.

"I'm walking across bare rock where the desert unfolds. Waves of sandstone reveal a deeply carved canyon below. This is where the Anasazi lived. Their ruins are everywhere out here, the remains of a great Neolithic civilization. Single buildings the size of the base of the Sears Tower. Huge, round ceremonial chambers with 90-ton ceilings. This was a landscape of monuments.
"Coming down into this canyon I reach an ancient stairway. I can see where it was chiseled by hand, the hammer strokes of stone tools. It's the largest stairway out here I know of. It's been carved right into the bedrock. You walk down these first one, two, three, four, five steps, and then the steps start getting deeper. They're two feet wide and three feet wide, cut deep into the rock, so that it's very clear that this is the way. You're on the route.
"A friend of mine, an archaeologist, recently discovered that this stairway is part of a prehistoric road, a 30-foot-wide corridor the Anasazi cut across the desert. Four hundred miles of these roads have been documented. They were probably used by Anasazi caravans.
"Traders and migrants would have followed them, carrying exotic birds and carved sea shells; elaborately painted pottery and colorful, loom-woven textiles. All of this material has been found in excavations, evidence of extensive trade routes.
"The Anasazi lived here for more than 1,000 years. Then, within a single generation, they were gone. Between 1275 and 1300 A.D., they stopped building entirely, and the land was left empty.
"It's a mystery. The answer lies deep within the canyon.
"Below the stairway, water seeps from bare rock—an amphitheater filled with the drips and spatters of abundant springs. I have ample water in my pack, but I feel compelled to crouch beside one of these seeps and drink. It tastes clean, filtered through 10 million tons of sandstone.
"Water is what made everything possible here. When rainfall was reliable and water tables were up, the Anasazi built their roads and monuments. Then, when the population reached its highest level, a severe drought hit. Malnutrition coursed through villages. Warfare broke out. Settlements that once stood proudly atop mesas fell to ruins.
"Perched on ledges and tucked into cracks of this canyon are the ruins of cliff dwellings. These are the last breath of the Anasazi in this part of the world.
"But you don't live in these cliffs unless you have to. For all of its artful construction, the dwelling is a sign that they were moving to the last water sources.
"After this, they were gone. Looking for rain, the Anasazi headed south, leaving trails of pottery and architecture showing the way.
"As I follow in their footsteps, I find they left the Southwest with their belongings in place, ladles left in ceramic bowls, granaries sealed full of supplies. It is as if they intended to return. But they never had a chance to come back."

Commentator Craig Childs is author of House of Rain, a new book that tries to solve this ancient mystery. His complete radio essay on his visit in a south west Utah canyon is here at
National Public Radio.

Note: Another radio essay from US National Public Radio on the impact of climate change, past and future.

Contributor Bio for coldrum: Based in Milkyway, contributing since 2002. Favourite site: Avebury.

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