The Anasazi Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ancient enemy

The Navajo word 'Anasazi' has been used to describe the Ancestral Puebloans since the early 1900s. Some modern-day Puebloans take offense to it and see it as a sort of ethnic slur since it refers to their ancestors as the 'enemy'. Some sources do translate the word 'Anasazi' as 'ancient ones', though it is derived from the Navajo words 'anaa' (enemy) and 'sazi' (ancestors).

Answer: Four Corners

Four Corners is the name given to the region where Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado meet. The Anasazi inhabited the area that encompassed northern New Mexico, northern Arizona, southwestern Colorado, and much of southern Utah. Part of this region includes the Colorado Plateau and the upper Rio Grande drainage.

Answer: Atlatl

Archaeologists have actually found atlatls in many places in the world which suggests that the technology is ancient. That also means that the atlatl could have been brought with the first peoples to arrive in the Americas. The atlatl was made from wood and was usually about a meter long.

It would have a leather hand grip on one end and a notch on the other end to hold the spear or dart. It was used as a way to extend the hunter's arm so that the dart or spear could be thrown farther and with more force.

Answer: Kivas

The Anasazi began to build kivas during the Basketmaker stage. Kivas were usually semi-subterranean and would be accessed through a hole in the roof; however, during the Pueblo era, some kivas were built completely above ground. There was usually a fire pit, or hearth, near the center of the room accompanied by a 'sipapu'.

The 'sipapu' was a small hole in the floor which symbolized the birth of the people into this world and the connection to the world below from which they emerged.

Answer: Corn, squash, and beans

Corn was perhaps the most important of their staple foods, but the Ancestral Puebloans also cultivated squash and beans. In addition to farming, they also gathered food and hunted game. It was during the early Basketmaker stage that they began to cultivate corn as well as squash.

Answer: Signal fires

Signal stations have been found on hill crests in Chaco Canyon. Archaeologists have even found fire remnants as well as reflective obsidian shale, which would have been used for the signal fire. Many signal fire stations were located on mesa tops, which would have made them an effective way for messages to be relayed between the great houses in the main canyon and all of their outliers.

Many of these signal fire stations were located along the roads which would keep them in a line that would make the signal fires visible over great distances.

Answer: Hisatsinom

The modern-day Puebloans do not actually have one common word used to describe their ancestors since they speak different languages. 'Hisatsinom' is a Hopi word that means 'people of the past'. Another modern Pueblo people, the Tewa, refer to their ancestors as 'Se'da', which also means 'ancient ones'.

Answer: All of these

As the people moved from the Basketmaker phase into the Pueblo phase, they began to build more permanent settlements and improve their farming conditions. They began to use a system of terracing, irrigation, and gridding to produce larger and better crops. Since the weather in the Four Corners area could easily turn into a drought, the Chaco Canyon Anasazi would keep a surplus of corn to be used during years when the crops did not produce enough to feed the people.

Answer: It was usually very simple in design and brown in color.

During the Basketmaker phase, the Anasazi made very elaborately designed baskets that served many purposes. As they moved into the Pueblo stage, they began to make pottery. The designs started out as simple geometric designs, such as zig zags, dots, and lines.

As time went on, the designs became more elaborate and they began to use designs to symbolize different things. Some designs would show an affiliation with a particular town, family, or clan. Other designs would symbolize things such as clouds, water, birds, friendship, etc.

The pottery colors and designs would vary from region to region, but black, white, red, and gray were commonly used.

Answer: True

The Anasazi villages and settlements traded amongst themselves as well as with the Hohokam and Mogollon. Many 'roads' have been found, some of which are almost ten meters wide. Some of these roads are connected to Chaco Canyon. One of the largest is the 'Great North Road', which extends for more than twenty kilometers, leading south from Chaco Canyon.

Some evidence suggests that the roads were stone-filled or terraced. The roads cut through obstacles, such as mesas, and some even include steps built to climb the mesas.