Anasazi

[ ah-nuh-sah-zee ]

noun

, plural A·na·sa·zis, (especially collectively) A·na·sa·zi

1. a Basket Maker-Pueblo culture of the plateau region of northern Arizona and New Mexico and of southern Utah and Colorado, dating probably from a.d. 100 to 1300.
2. a member of the people producing this culture.

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of this culture or its people:

   the Anasazi communities.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Anasazi¹

Term introduced in 1936 by U.S. archaeologist Alfred V. Kidder (1885-1963) < Navajo ʾanaasází ancient inhabitants of the Pueblo ruins, literally, aliens' ancestors (' anaa- enemy, alien + -sází ancestor(s), ancestral)

Example Sentences

Rock formations turn trippy in the 40,000-acre Valley of Fire State Park, a wonderland of red Aztec sandstone with petrified logs and Anasazi petroglyphs.

From Washington Post

The art features figures from the Anasazi period nearly 2,000 years ago.

From Seattle Times

The jury is still out on the Anasazi beans.

From Washington Times

High up in the Bandiagara Escarpment in Mali, West Africa, lies a host of abandoned cities that resemble the Anasazi cliff dwellings of New Mexico.

From Fox News

Millenniums ago the Anasazi built a village here, and Pueblo tribes followed, and then the restless and roaming Navajo.

From New York Times