Inside Anasazi Pueblos, a Clue to Trade Relations
The Anasazi people of New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon had a sophisticated trade structure with other tribes before their civilization was felled by a 50-year drought in the 12th century, according to researchers from the University of Arizona.
The Anasazi used more than 200,000 trees for roof beams and door lintels in their enormous masonry pueblos. Researchers had thought they used all the local trees before bringing in trees from a distance.
But radioisotope analysis of the wood, reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show that they brought in trees from the distant Chuska and San Mateo mountain ranges, up to 60 miles away, from the beginning of construction. That suggests they had a well-developed relationship with the people who lived in those mountains.
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Compiled by Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II
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