The culture of the Ancient Puebloans, or Anasazi, is mostly left to mere guesswork. Their written language is a dead to today 's linguists. The only thing left to understand about their lives is found in what they left behind; which was much more than a few pieces of gorgeous pottery.
For 2,000 years the anasazi ruled Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, and Kayenta, spanning most of the southwest United States writes Kathy Weiser. From 1200 B.C. to 1300 A.D. The ancient puebloans developed their land and their culture. They created gorgeous pottery and developed proper housing, all of which was mysteriously abandoned. Everything was left as if they all just walked out and left their homes, unpacked and undisturbed. This apparent abrupt departure invites a perfect window for research, but begs more questions than it could ever answer.
There are many theories as to why the Anasazi up and left. Even after years of research, a definitive answer has not been found. The most common theory is that the anasazi may have depleted their resources and had to relocate, but their means of taking their territory might not have been very neighborly.
According to Catherine Dold, the anasazi may have had a more …show more content…
They could have been starving already and resorted to cannibalism among themselves or a neighboring tribe. It has been said that eating human flesh can cause a sort of madness or addiction to eating flesh. Perhaps after their first taste they saw the fear it sparked in others, and that gave them the idea to make it a regular practice. After all, the only real downside to them was the psychological trauma, but their moral codes of the time may not have considered cannibalism traumatic, but instead a way of survival. Even if it was their way of survival, others would fear them and fear for their own lives, leaving this anasazi tribe and their resources