The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Anasazi, were an ancient Native American culture that spanned the Four Corners region of the United States. They practiced their religion in underground circular chambers called kivas, which were used for religious ceremonies. The best-known Ancestral kiva is a subterranean ceremonial and social chamber built by the Pueblo Indians of the southwestern United States, particularly notable for its colorful mural paintings.
The Anasazi Heritage Center was established in 1988 as a joint effort between the Bureau of Land Management and the Pueblo communities. As they moved to the cliffs and expanded their skills at masonry and architecture, underground rooms were reserved as “kivas”, or places to hold council. After this, the Anasazi built great cities and ceremonial centers with kivas, special sacred buildings usually built underground with a hatchway at the top, which were used for religious purposes. Chaco Canyon held spiritual importance, with its kivas serving as centers for religious rituals.
The Anasazi practiced their religious rituals in subterranean chambers called kivas, with on average one kiva built for every 30 rooms. ChacoCanyon, in western New Mexico, was the cultural center of the Anasazi homeland during the 10th and 11th centuries. The pit house evolved from a simple living space into a kiva, or a sacred room where religious ceremonies were held.
The term “Anasazi” was first applied to the ruins of Mesa Verde by Richard Wetherill, a rancher and trader who was the first to apply it to the ruins of Mesa Verde. Although the structures themselves are not fully understood, it is known that there were dwellings and ritual spaces within the Anasazi community.
📹 The Bloody Truth Behind America’s Ancient Anasazi | Native American Documentary | Timeline
Were the native Americans secret cannibals? New discoveries reveal that the Anasazi tribe killed and ate their victims.
What area was the Anasazi culture?
The term “Anasazi” was first used in 1927 by the archaeological Pecos Classification system to describe the Ancestral Pueblo people, who lived in the Four Corners region of the United States. The term, Navajo in origin, means “ancient enemy”. However, the Pueblo people of New Mexico prefer to avoid disrespecting their ancestors, so the appropriate term is “Ancestral Pueblo” or “Ancestral Puebloan”. The term was first applied to the ruins of Mesa Verde by Richard Wetherill, a rancher and trader who was the first Anglo-American to explore the area in 1888-89.
Alfred V. Kidder, the dean of Southwestern Archaeology, adopted the term, believing it was easier to use. Stephanie Oyenque, IPCC Cultural Education Specialist, believes that the term “Anasazi” is not used within Pueblo communities, and it is time to take back control of accurately describing our ancestral people.
Were the Anasazi peaceful or violent?
The Anasazi culture, traditionally considered utopian, was governed through consensus and was believed to be spiritual and in harmony with nature. However, Christy J. Turner II of Arizona State University’s 1999 book Man Corn, which translates Nahuatl speakers’ expression of cannibalism, challenged this view. Turner’s theory, based on a 1969 talk titled “A Massacre at Hopi”, suggests that the bones were left over from a massive homicidal event and subsequent cannibalistic feast at a sacred place called Death Mound.
The Navajo and Hopi reject his theories, but many scholars question why this peaceful culture turned to brutality, believing it was for terror and control. Turner’s theory suggests that Sacred Ridge is on the far end of the conflict spectrum, where social relations completely melt down.
Why did Anasazi disappear?
Scientists suggest that Ancestral Puebloans may have moved due to factors such as drought, marauding enemy, poor sanitation, pests, and environmental degradation. Other possible explanations include cliff dweller communities growing larger than their capacity, internal stress, and external factors making life uncomfortable. Oral histories and scientific findings suggest that the exodus from places like Chaco and Mesa Verde may have been family-by-family or clan-by-clan, and may have occurred over a hundred years.
Where did the Anasazi dwell?
Mesa Verde National Park is home to some of the most notable and well-preserved cliff dwellings in North America. In the late 1190s, Ancestral Pueblo people began moving into natural cliff alcoves, ranging from one-room granaries to villages of over 150 rooms. They lived in these dwellings for nearly a century, repairing, remodeling, and constructing new rooms while still farming the mesa tops. In the mid-1200s, the population began migrating to present-day New Mexico and Arizona, and by the end of the 1200s, most everyone had migrated away. For site locations, visit park maps or click on specific maps on each page.
What are 5 unique facts about the Anasazi?
The Anasazi people are renowned for a number of factors, including their sophisticated dwellings, intricate transportation systems, ornate pottery, and extensive astronomical knowledge.
What were the Anasazi traditions?
Scholars posit that the Anasazi were polytheists who adhered to an animistic, nature-based religion that placed a premium on the stewardship and veneration of the Earth. They engaged in the worship of a number of spirits and deities, including those associated with rainfall, the sun, and an apocalyptic earth deity.
What was the downfall of the Anasazi?
The collapse of the ancient empire of the Anasazi people in the late 1200s was largely due to a prolonged dry spell called the Great Drought. Tree-ring records suggested that the people, ancestors of today’s pueblo Indians, abandoned their stone villages at Mesa Verde and elsewhere on the Colorado Plateau. However, recent years have seen a shift in Southwestern archeology, with textbooks being rewritten and the common wisdom of great droughts being overturned.
Groundbreaking climatological studies have convinced many archeologists that the “Great Drought” was not enough to be the deciding factor in the sudden evacuation, leading thousands of Anasazi to move to the Hopi mesas in northeastern Arizona, the Zuni lands in western New Mexico, and dozens of adobe villages in the Rio Grande watershed. The mystery of the Anasazi is now an open book again.
Why is Anasazi offensive?
The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Anasazi or Basketmaker-Pueblo culture, were an ancient Native American culture that spanned the Four Corners region of the United States. They were believed to have developed from the Oshara tradition, which developed from the Picosa culture. The term “Anasazi” was introduced by Alfred V. Kidder, meaning “enemy ancestors”, but contemporary Puebloans object to its use. The Ancestral Puebloans lived in various structures, including small family pit houses, larger clan houses, grand pueblos, and cliff-sited dwellings for defense.
They had a complex network linking hundreds of communities and population centers across the Colorado Plateau. They held a distinct knowledge of celestial sciences, which found form in their architecture. The kiva, a congregational space used mostly for ceremonies, was an integral part of the community structure. Archaeologists continue to debate when this distinct culture emerged, but the current consensus suggests it emerged around the 12th century BCE, during the Early Basketmaker II Era. Three UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the United States are credited to the Pueblos: Mesa Verde National Park, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, and Taos Pueblo.
What is the Anasazi folklore?
Kokopelli, a small man with a flute and corn, traveled between villages, causing crops to grow taller at night. In the centuries leading up to 1000 BC, Europe was emerging from chaos, and tribes roamed the countryside, causing fear among peasants. The Anasazi tribe, also inhabited North America, built glorious cities in the cliffs of the modern Southwest. Their rise and fall mark one of the greatest stories of pre-Columbian American history. The tribe built dwellings under cliffs, using sandstone blocks and mud mortar to create some of the world’s longest-standing structures.
📹 The True Origins of the Anasazi… Native American (Navajo) Teachings
In this video, Navajo Historian Wally Brown shares the traditional Navajo teachings about the origins of the Anasazi—a history …
As a Navajo myself who grew up on the reservation I remember stories of the Anasazi, I was told that they were part of a certain people who came up from south america who set up these places as mass trading sites. There are stories of them taking our navajo people as slaves and it was a drought that caused their trade network to fail causing their ultimate downfall…perhaps thats what drove them to cannibalism toward their end…
Wally Brown, Navajo historian, has a lot to say about this topic. According to Dineh (Navajo) oral history, the Anasazi left no descendants. Instead, they were eradicated by the ancestors of the cliff dwelling tribes and the puebloan tribes, whom they had enslaved and victimized (cannabalized?) for three centuries. Brown says the puebloans and cliff dwellers were present when the Dineh migrated into the Southwest. The Anasazi came later from the south. They were violent and oppressive, practiced human sacrifice and possibly cannibalism. These practices horrified the original inhabitants. Eventually, the victimized tribes turned on the Anasazi and wiped them out. Brown’s oral history is fascinating and presents a completely new way of viewing the history of the region. According to the Dineh, modern puebloan tribes are not descended from the cannibal Anasazi, but from the heroic survivors of their victims. Worth a listen: youtu.be/JIKLnZoOtR4
I’m Aztec and in the end this documentary completely blamed all the horrors and cannibalism on my people. I’m also not at all offended. If there is clear proof that Aztec peoples moved to the area and did this, then it is what it is. This was 800 years ago! Political correctness has no place in history!
My grandmother was a native woman. She died at over 105 years of age and she told my siblings and I about old rituals that our ancestors committed…..and yes cannibalism was a part of that. Why that one guy is so sensative about that subject…..riddles me. Maybe he has never spoken honestly to one of his elders, or asked the proper questions to his elders. Maybe he didn’t pay attention to his elders teachings.
When I was young, back in the early 70’s I got a chance to go to Mesa Verde…and I was astounded at the cliff dwellings and became entranced with the beauty of the place and the mystery of the Anasazi. As I got older though, I felt something was off with the history and the narrative of what happened in the southwest…so, I started travelling and going to many Southwestern sites and reading everything I could about the ancestral Puebloans…When I was young, the story was that these were egalitarian, peaceful simple farmers….but when you walk through the ruins of Chaco, Aztec Ruins, Salmon Ruins and many others…you get a very, very different feeling…This was a complex, thriving Mesoamerican society with what I believe were “Kings” and they had wars, Religion, Culture, basically all the things a thriving, sophisticated, culture would have. Finally over the last 2 decades the narrative is starting to change and putting the Anasazi, Hohokam and Fremont peoples into their proper perspective. I recommend anyone who is even slightly interested in Southwestern ancient history to read Stephen Lekson’s Book “A History of the Ancient Southwest” an amazing and eye opening book that tries to put the pieces of the puzzle together and show what was really going on around a thousand years ago in the Southwest.
Why is human sacrifice (on a grand scale) accepted as part of ancient Aztec culture (including drinking human blood), but the very real possibility of something similar happening in the Anasazi culture is completely unthinkable. Its probably because the Aztecs had a form of written language that physically showed them carrying out such acts. Kinda hard to deny. The fact is that many human cultures engaged in acts that we today find horrid, but they considered normal. You can’t (and shouldn’t) judge an ancient culture by our modern standards.
About 15 years ago, my wife and I visited Chaco Canyon. At one point, I mentioned to our park service guide that evidence of cannibalism was present in human bone remains and in coprolites found in the area. He got quite defensive and dismissed such claims. I tried to assure him I was not speaking disparagingly of the Anasazi or their Hopi descendants and that it could have been an act of desperation in the face of prolonged drought leading to starvation. At the time, I was not aware of the influence of Mesoamerican culture on the Anasazi. I can see how the pejorative label of “cannibal” would be offensive to the native tribes of the southwest. It’s a broad brush that can be used to limit these remarkable cultures with the simplistic label of “primitive.” However, dismissing compelling scientific evidence does no service to a more complete understanding of the the rich and complex cultures that serve to define what it means to be human.
When we were kids, grandma and grandpa told us not to walk on the broken pottery ( kitsiilii) or shattered pottery. Also we shouldn’t be walking on the anasazi ruins for it was a place of a grave. Before I took the sheep out to graze. Grandma used to tell me ” you better watch out for the little people, they come out of the woods. If you don’t keep alert they will get you” . These anasazi were mayans. The cliff dwelling ruins were built by the ones hiding from the mayans. Not just Pueblos, there were the navajos, the Zuni, the uses, and the apaches. They all pitched in to build the cliff dwellings.
21:26 He’s not saying that the current Native American tribes are cannibals. He’s saying that their ancestors may have been. He’s not dehumanizing them, he’s presenting the facts of what he’s finding. If a fellow tribe’s ancestors were cannibalistic, that doesn’t mean the current tribe is. I think, now, that scientists like the man at 21:26 are more concerned with political correctness that presenting facts. We as a united people MUST provide truth and understanding above all else. If we’re too concerned about how others feel about the truth, then we’ll all be providing lies to keep others’ feelings from getting hurt. History and one’s ancestors doesn’t define them
As a New Zealander of British descent, ‘read white’, I work alongside my Tongan, Samoan mates…..we often crack jokes about who’s next in the pot (it’s usually me, lol); apparently eating ‘long pig’ (human flesh) was quite common in Pacific Island cultures. My mates are always laughing and joking about how their ancestors ate mine…white meat etc. etc. We get along just fine, no one’s offended.
I’ve watched a lot of documentaries like this, and this is by far the most compelling evidence I have ever seen for an archeological theory. I don’t believe for a second that if they were cannibals that it says anything negative about their decedents. As others have pointed out, almost every person on earth today probably has at least one ancestor that engaged in cannibalism at some point. Plus, it is unfair to judge ancient societies that we don’t really understand by modern standards. But above all, I do not believe a person is responsible for the sins of their ancestors. I don’t believe the daughter of a serial killer is responsible for her father’s murders. Archelogy is about trying to find the truth no matter how inconvenient it might be, and accurately accusing an ancient society of cannibalism is not the same as accusing potential descendants of being cannibals.
Another aspect to this theory- is the presence of the hundreds of cliff dwellings that were built in this timeline. Many are clearly defensive postions – many in locations that were extremely difficult to access or attack. Was this a reaction by a more peaceful people to the theorized more violent newcomers?
My family has lived in Texas on the coast since the 1820’s. There was one tribe we were taught was feared above all the rest the Karankawa. They ingaged in religious cannibalism, in order to take power from their enemies. Or maybe like in the Jamestown Colony the people were starving. This was hundreds of years ago maybe we will never really know, but in times of desperation people turn to things they never do under normal circumstances.
I am Native American per my grandfather. Whatever my ancient ancestors did I won’t find fault with. Those were very different times. My brothers and sister humans are not ingesting each other today. That’s is all that matters to me. Perhaps to be eaten back then was a good and loving thing. Do we really know our ancient ancestors religious beliefs?
A Navajo elder, who has a website here on, YouTube, says the stories that were handed down through the generations by his ancestors were that the Anasazi came from the south, and discovered the pueblos and the Cliff dwellers (whom he called something like Dine) already there in Chaco Canyon. The Pueblo and Cliff Dwellers were peaceful when the Anasazi arrived. He says the Anasazi were very warlike and they enslaved the Pueblo people, but claims they only ruled for about 300 years and then destroyed themselves by mocking the Gods and all their slaves left and they couldn’t survive. I do not discount these tribal stories in any culture. They may add a little magic in the telling but it seems they are basically always true.
As myself being both of Zuni and Navajo descent, I believe these findings and conclusions are damn near accurate. The only question there is now is “was it because of severe starvation?” Or “for ceremonial purposes?” Some other religions on the other side of the world do such things as when an individual dies, their bodies would be heated til the skull pops and the bones open up releasing the deceased person’s soul. They believed doing so release the person’s soul. But I’ve also asked my elders to tell me stories passed down from generation to generation through oral traditions and they too speak of the Anasazi (the ancient ones) as being a race of such violent and aggressive behavior.
I thought this had been settled decades ago…and what the Navajo have to say about the Anasazi fits perfectly. They also say that there are no descendants of the Anasazi. It bothers me that there is such a large difference in what is claimed by people who’ve lived in that area for a very long time…whose story is true, or are they all wrong? How can I ever know?
Fascinating Documentary. It is a shame to see the denunciation of science and the concrete studies performed by Turner because it is “offensive” and “insensitive.” The facts are the facts, and all the facts point towards Turner’s conclusion. Bravo on Turner’s part for standing up for science and for pushing onwards against political correctness.
“Oh, it can’t be true because Native Americans get offended.” I have a severe grudge against individuals who want facts to be ignored because they aren’t convenient. People from all corners have been guilty of that and so the ‘politically correct’ one is a nice example of that. Whatever people did or didn’t do in the past has nothing to do with what you find convenient. Political correctness is fascism.
I am also 50% native american. I find it interesting that something happened to the Anasazi in the 1250s which is about the same time the Aztecs made their appearance in the valley of Mexico. Could it be that they Hopis and others in the area pushed them out of that northern area? Could it be that the ones that turned to cannibalism got shunned by their neighbors? The Aztec stories say that they came from a place called “Aztlan”. So many words with “AZ” in them. Coincidence? Maybe a few came from Meso American to influence them and after their practices were shunned they were guided to the valley of Mexico.
in the chronicles of cabaez de vaca, he came across quite a few different cannibalistic tribes while journeying from Florida’s gulf coast to the baja peninsula(pacific). I was surprised when researching his writings of his accounts of so many different tribes and customs. his writings were from the early 1500’s and some of the earliest accounts of native americans
It’s amazing how the truth can be staring people in the face, and they still don’t want to accept it. And then to top it all off, there are those “experts” who are purposely deceitful, and cover up the truth thru their purposeful ignorance(even lies). None of this is an attack on a certain people. There is a very true dark history to all mankind, which originated in sin, the powers of darkness and the evil one. This was a really good article!
Why even talk about how some tribes are offended? Of course they don’t like the idea of their ancestors having been cannibals at times, the whole idea of cannibalism has been utterly demonized in modern society. But what most people don’t realize is that cannibalism was a common practise in times of need in the past, even here in “civilized” Europe, our ancestors ate their kinsmen at times. People need to understand that they cannot apply modern sensibilities to the past. Same goes for the “barbaric” sacrifices of New World people, it’s not exclusive to the New World. Carthage sacrificed children, it is hypocritical to look at these western civilizations and awe at their achievements, but then call the civilizations of the New World barbaric because they did something that the previous civilizations also did.
My own background is Celtic, English ( Angle-ish and Saxon) with a touch of Maliseet. There is evidence that there is a scientifically (i.e. reality supported) supported body of evidence that human cultures have committed human sacrifice under circumstances unique to their culture, time and place. Surely, today we cannot be egotistical enough to think the scientists and documentors are finding evidence that is damning and dehumanizing of us personally today. It is just the opposite, it allows us to know the human story, our histories. This is the story of humanity in all its dark being enlightened by kinder minds. We as a human race must stop the “we are better than you” and meet this phenomenon with understanding, not umbrage and exception.
Interesting theory, there is a youtube article from a Navajo Elder where he says the Anasazi preyed upon their neighbors until they were overthrown and erased, their former victims becoming the Pueblo. History is probably somewhere between this and the stories the tribes tell themselves, as societies can be the result of former enemies forged into one by the fall of one civilization
I’m no archaeologist, but I theorize that one reason that the Anasazi built their shelters partially underground was to escape the heat. If you build shelters partially underground, you avoid most of the heat. If the shelters were 3 stories into the ground, it probably felt like modern day air conditioning down there lol
When i was a teenager i was obsessed with cliff dwellings. I had posters of the area on my wall. Well 30 years later we find my grandmothers mother was on the census for pueblo reservation. All i can say is “Wow”. This came up after dna test done by my sister stating over 60% native. We are mixed with other things as well but I feel like that small part of my history was calling me to remember something. ❤
I’ve just watched the movie “Bone Tomahawk “. Even they were very careful not to call them Indian the tribe in the movie was similar to Anasazi Indians. Interesting. It is what it is. You can’t ignore what science says just for political correctness. It’s strongly possible they were hunting and cannibalizing people out of their tribe
I’m Native American and I can accept that yeah, some tribes did practice cannibalism in rituals. No big deal, almost every society had cannibalism in it. The Russian Famine, the Donner Party, tribes in Papua New guinea etc. As long as scientists respect the tribe’s wishes (with their dead by not taking or digging up burial grounds without tribal permission, not taking ancient jewelry, gold and as an “artifact” if it’s on tribal land abide by the tribe’s wishes). And as a Native American I can also say that it’s honestly no one’s business how a tribe functioned if that tribe wants their business to be kept private from the outside world. We owe it to NO ONE if we say no to archeologist demands to exhume our sacred land and burial grounds, our family members are there. We already know our own history and we don’t need anyone to narrate what we already know. No means no. If a tribe obliges to archeologists and gives permission to dig up dead relatives, wonderful, have at it! But not all of us think the same and would like to keep our land as it is. I think that’s fair enough.
It is encouraging to see such a staunch defense of science in the top comments section. The truth is the truth, and if it doesn’t suit your sensibilities or way of imagining history or reality, well that’s just the pits. Now I want to see the same reaction to documentaries about the modern religions that inexplicably continue to diminish and pervert humanity’s understanding.
I grew up in the 4 corner’s. Mesa Verde was literally my backyard. I can tell you now that natives, especially utes and navajos are not peaceful people and never have been. There is no doubt in my mind that the Anasazi where capable of cannibalism! Especially when you consider the years of drought when plant foods and game where scarce.
I am a native of navajo and apache ancestry. I’m also a scientist and the way they approached researching chaco canyon is textbook procedure. I believe the facts but I also keep my tradition and stories in my mind. But as they said, science is the pursuit of truth no matter how much we don’t want to hear it. The truth is unbiased and unapologetic, unlike morals which vary from person to person and from generation to generation. There are navajo stories of chaco canyon and we are taught to stay away from there but I have been there many times to hike and take in the history of the area. Again I believe that cannabilism did take place but at the time this was seen as the norm for many cultures and races.
I have heard the native people say that the Giants were the ones eating the Anasazi. I have also heard that some of your up town respectable people are eating babies in these mordern times. It’s evil that drives them. The truth will come to the light. Creepy stories to say the least. Good article, Thanks.👍🤗
There is an elder from the Dine, or Navajo, on this website who retells the story that the Anasazi came from the south. They were war like taking many slaves and practising cannibalism. They were greatly feared and loathed by the Dine and Pueblo. If I remember correctly he related that they inhabited the area for maybe a few hundred years and then disappeared. Their captives dispersed hiding from them for some time.
I saw a really good documentary about the Anasazi Indians, and what it claims is that there were giants there. And back then those were the red headed Giants that we have found bones of and so forth. And the Giants ate the Indians- not the other way around, the Indians didn’t eat the people….no the giants did. The Anasazi Indians disappeared dramatically and very quickly and the documentary was about that the Giants had eaten them and they have much folklore about it as well. It was a really good documentary.
Great Doc! I’ve been to Chaco Canyon several times. I’ve talked w- indigenous persons there who have said they are descendants and also think that cannibalism partly led to them disbanding. They told me that they believed that a group came up from the south and introduced cannibalism to the Anasazi. They also said that they believed that the Anasazi were changing the weather and that the power they were wielding was too great. I agree with others who have commented that we can’t judge the past on todays standards. I for one don’t believe that those of the past who were participating in cannibalism are less than human. People wanted to live. And if anyone has been out to Chaco Canyon you’d know there isn’t a lot out there. Trees used to build the structures in Chaco were found to come from as far as Oregon. The Anasazi are fascinating. Wish we knew more. I’m glad Dr. Turner cares to study them. Go there. Camp there. Maybe you too will see the people of the past in the shadows of the caverns. There is still incredible energy in Chaco Canyon. ❤️
In the early 70’s my uncle got to spend several seasons in those places. He also came to the conclusion the people had been cannibalize, but with a difference. The Hopi elders at that time told stories about how the Anasazi were living in the mountains to hide from a tribe of cannibalistic giants (around 8 ft tall, with red hair). The ancient ones disappeared about the time these cannibals were moving south. According to legend. He asked the scientists around him, a few years later, why no one would pursue this. He was told that acknowledging giants would give credence to the Bible, and therefore the story of creation, which would negate science. The refusal continues to this day, even though a reasoned mind could figure this is a silly excuse.
I’m Mexican and I learned about these rituals when I was at uni, I never felt offended, my ancestors killed and ate human flesh as part of religious ceremonies. What I find offensive is misinformation, the aztecs did not sell the flesh in the market, that would have been sacrilege. Human sacrifices can be compared to the catholic ritual of the mass, where you must believe that you are consuming the flesh and blood of a god or else you do not have faith in the sacrament. Those sacrified where, after the fact, compared to something as close to a god as humanly possible and were treated as such, which is why they were eaten.
Honestly, I find it odd that so many are offended by the assertion of cannibalism present in a society, especially when it has been observed, documented the globe over, across the ages, as well as various ‘races’ having participated in the practice. White Europeans had a fine practice of incorporating various body parts of their deceased into their ‘medicines’ and nobody seems offended by that practice. Just saying…
Unfortunately, some Native American groups have a hypersensitive and irrational tendency to summarily reject any findings regarding their history by “the White Man’s Science”. No one at any point has called the Hopi people “cannibals” but instead archaeologists are just seeking the answers to the incontrovertible evidence that has been found. And it shows a record of Humans being butchered and consumed. We’ve known since the early 90’s that the evidence points to an occupation by Peoples from the outside of the area with different cultural habits… like ritual cannibalism. Evidence points to Meso-America where such rituals were part of the cultures- most notoriously practices by the Aztecs; who incidentally, originated in Northern Mexico.
Someone mentioned “not judging people in the past by modern values.” (Let people in our age face survival through cannibalism, or death by starvation, and see just how well our “civilized, modern values” hold up. From shipwrecked whalers adrift in the Pacific, to the Donner Party, to airline passengers wreched in the Andies Mountains, there are plenty of examples of our “Values” not enduring.) But the native A’s are doing just that. And then becoming angered and offended by the suggestion than long gone people had broken our “Modern” values that makes cannibalism a taboo.
“…it’s a really.. sensitive subject. He’s so removed from it, it’s so abstract for him. How could he possibly understand the sensitivity of it?…” Feelings and facts do not mix well. Feelings are irrational and can even be destructive and a hindrance to forward progress in some cases and therefore have no place in matters of politics, justice, or science. This is also why you shouldn’t do things like allow those who make informed decisions based mostly on their feelings near a voting booth or judge’s chair or any other seat of power (for that is a recipe for tyranny), but I digress. If the evidence shows cannibalism was a part of an ancient culture, than cannibalism was a part of that ancient culture until PROVEN otherwise, feelings be damned.
I’ve read quite a bit about the Anasszi in older National Geographic magazines and books. That region was able to support a sizeable population due to ample rainfall that allowed them to irrigate their crops. Then in 1130 AD a prolonged drought began that lasted for 50 years. The archeologists figured that the elites and wealthy traders began moving out to where water was readily available with more eventually following as the drought persisted. Some stayed behind since they did receive enough rain to raise enough crops for a much smaller population but now had to contend with bands of raiders in search of food as they migrated elsewhere. The articles mentioned the dismembered skeletons laying around that showed all the signs of being cannibalized. The acheologists figured they were too stubborn to leave and were forced to eat their dead or bands they killed when attempting to raid their community for food. The Apache and Navajos showed up much later since they began migrating south from Canada from 1200 AD to 1500 AD. Their bands raided the Hopi and Zuni with some settling the region to grow crops before the Spanish first arrived.
The navajo people named chaco canyon as chaco hazaa which means “the place of crying” or “the place of great unhappiness” both cultures used to trade beans, red clay, shell and turquoise, there is also a navajo story in their oral tradition known as “the gambler” a young navajo man who won on a bet many slaves from chaco hazaa (chaco canyon). Many old navajo stories tell the anasazi people owned slaves and they built those walls in the cliffs in order to keep them in.
What is not considered in this article: There are many many stories from native Americans about giants who preyed upon (and ate) humans in North America. Those stories also told how the humans joined forces to exterminate those giants, which is one reason the giants are extinct. Is it possible this site predates the Anasazi? Their ancestors strongly deny their forefathers were cannibals.
In one of your other documtaries on krakatoa volcanic eruption, you expressed how the eruption changed history and brought down empires in Asia and possibly America,through failed crops,and ash blocking out the sun.And showed how through archeological evidence,ash cover a lot of North and south America…which would have been devastating for crop and animal farming and food supply,forcing migration to other areas around the same time period.Do you think this could have caused the Anastasi civilization to fail?, as it did with the mongels,forcing them to migrate to eastern europe,as thier grazing land was devastated,and the horses digestion couldn’t handle poor vegetation,like cattle.
I guess this film is about 20 years old. Today, we can no longer say “Anasazi” because it’s Navajo for “ancient enemy” and it offends modern Pueblo people. Fair enough, but its “Ancestral Puebloan” replacement is ridiculously clumsy. Let the modern Pueblos tell us their own name for their ancestors. BTW, one likely reason the cliff dwellings were abandoned was because the inhabitants had cut all the trees within a three-day walk, and the resultant change in surface albedo altered the mesas’ microclimate, rendering dry farming no longer feasible. They simply used it up and moved on.
Hmm… I actually knew Bruce Bradley back in the 80s when I spent 3 summers working at an archaeological field school focusing solely on the Anasazi. There were nightly seminars, but not once did the question of cannibalism arise. I see the evidence here, but while it was found at places in and around Chaco Canyon, we didn’t come across it in Colorado near the four corners. Interesting, to say the least. Anyone looking to delve into the dirt, contact Crow Canyon Archaeological Field School for high school and college students and adults and you will have an absolutely astounding experience. Bruce, by the way, was an expert at the art of making arrowheads and tools from chert and obsidian. Unbelievable man!
When I was working Archaeology in the Early to mid- 1970’s, the Tree Rings detected a severe drought between 1199 and 1226. The Population of the Southwest was way too high to support or sustain that population during a 27 year long drought. The tale at the time is that they moved to Pueblos along the Rio Grande River where agriculture was possible by ditches feeding the water to the crops along the land parallel to the Rio Grande River.
There’s a Navajo elder here on YT who does short articles explaining Navajo history, cosmology, language – a delightful wise old gent doing the Great Work of preserving oral history & worldview in both English & his native tongue together. What a complicated language, BTW! He is much disappointed that youth are not learning the old language & cosmology. He often refers to the old name for his peoples (many groups) as Dine (din-Eh) & makes frequent reverent reference to a benefactor Holy People who came & left, but also another temporary group that made him all dark – the Anasazi. Navajo are academically considered to be descendants of Anasazi – he says no, his ancestors were the Dine. He said the Anasazi were violent slavers & that many cliff dwellers & Puebloans were refugees during the 300 years Anasazi dominated the region, but came back to their homelands after the Anasazi left. The Navajo elder implied their abhorrent practices included blood-sacrifice & cannibalism. The Anasazi were a predatory warrior clan – unlike the clans they exploited. The Toltec shared these dark practices.
I’ve heard this before. About the Aztecs, mostly. It was part of the Aztec’s warrior caste system. Their social system. More than confirmed, apparently, by various archeologists searching in different time periods. Their warriors would consume the warriors of the apposing team, in a manner of speaking. Been on PBS’ NOVA and ‘Secrets of the Dead,’ a number of times. Clan against clan or tribe against tribe? Historically, then, the folks of old in the New World are regrettably no better or no worse than historical folks of the Old World. See PBS NOVA’s episode ‘The Violence Paradox?’ Found the scientific evidence, well, conclusive.
There’s also an ancient place in South Dakota. The crow creek massacre eight hundred years ago was attacked and killed also destroyed by a 1,200 arikara’s Indian warrior’s party on a peaceful Mandan Indian village of over 240 people. The burial ground is on top of a tall hill along the Missouri River 16 miles southeast of Fort Thompson SD on the crow creek sioux indian reservation. The oldest plains Indian massacre on the great plains. The science researchers found the sight about over 40 years ago.
I’m from NM, aleays been fascinated with this place. Until i made native friends and learned. The AhNA A SAZA to weren’t nice people either. Quality be hoy speakers & inspired teacher’s are talking about these people these days. Good article’s. The Navajo Be Hoy are private people. Thier languages are sacred. Great article Ty.
Indigenous legends of the southwest do warn about cannibals who once practiced bad medicine, in villages that were ultimately destroyed by good people tired of being terrorized by them, and whose accursed ruins are avoided by all except for evil sorcerers. It would indeed be slander to say that this was normal or accepted, but you don’t develop a word for something that you don’t know exists.
Such a good show.im native (navajo) from the four corners.i remember the last time I took my kid to chaco canyon they told us there was human coperlites(feces) with human dna,and bones that had tool Mark’s on them.was always told these were people from south America that brought slaves with them to sacrifice,eat.backed up by feathers from parrots and sea shells not native to north America.
What a great documentary…I visited the region of the Anisazi in Colorado and Even made it through some of their passage ways to wondrous balconies…thanking all of those who gave these people peace after such a long time..my gut always felt like what had been said about them was very misrepresented…and untrue …thanking all those who took the time and effort to clarify and uncover the TRUTH!
I am a Cree native from Canada and I believe that what people, any people, will do in a dire situation needs to be looked at and recognized. Not to slander a certain culture but to add to our historical records. If it was for hunger, sacrifice, new influence or because a recent settler couldn’t cope with the new environment they were in…it still needs to be documented. How do you think the families felt, and thought of, when they heard that, most of, the Franklin expedition crew had to resort to cannibalism?! Even the northern natives remembered the winter that never ended, when summer never came, and that was for at least 4 years and even the surrounding aboriginal communities were starving. They remembered hearing stories, and telling the next expedition that came 10 years laters, about being told by a remaining commanding officer not to go anywhere near the tent site that was situated on land, King Edward Island, because they were eating their dead. It’s amazing what a person will do in a dire situation but there was/is a definite divide in regards to cannibalism. BUT, if it was for sacrifice and then eaten to scare enemies, control your new ‘neighbors’ and/or satisfy your Gods will?! I can’t comprehend it.
The one guy against the idea saying it dehumanizes them, or that people kill in self-defense or such and that saying they ate them is another thing really bothers me. It was centuries ago. We’ll never be sure of how they lived, what they were thinking, what could have pushed them to cannibalism. If you’re not able to admit and understand that you have to be objective and consider all the options when it comes to history, then you can’t argue and make a point… To me it’s just like people shocked to learn that dogs and cats are/were eaten in some parts of Asia because they have this idea and vision that those animals are pets and nothing more than that. They can’t be open-minded and understand that they probably started to consume them at times of poverty and starvation, and dogs and cats reproduce extremely fast. It’s another culture, it’s another part of history we don’t really know about because we were not there, so completely refusing a theory because he has a specific idea of how things were is stupid. His arguments also don’t make sense. People have killed for pleasure, vengeance, for religious practices and yes, to eat. The idea is gross but when everything points to that, saying that it’s not true until we have a proof that the flesh was actually consumed (which is probably impossible to prove) is stupid, because he also can’t prove that it wasn’t.
Turner treated this as a ‘WHAT HAPPENED’ mystery when he should have been looking for ALL the possible ‘WHO DONE IT’ and not just the Aztec. It happened only at the very “PEAK” of Anasazi civilization only because that is when they and their civilization came to an abrupt halt…and that was scarcely odd because, just like the Walrus and the Carpenter, the Apache ate them all. Well, a lot of ’em, anyway. The Apache tribes came late into the areas where the Pueblo and the Hopi were long established and it was only the intrusion of the interdicting Spanish Conquistador ( regardless of smallpox ) that saved the Hopi and the Pueblo from being exterminated by the Apache… not that the American Indian Bureau would ever care to teach their well indoctrinated wards such a thing. The Apaches are known to have arrived in the Southwest somewhere roughly between A.D. 1000 and 1400. The name APACHE most likely came from the Zuñi word APACHII, meaning ENEMY. It was probably those Apaches that were the ones guilty of snacking on their hapless Human victims.
As for the “dehumanising” argument brought up about halfway through: evidence of neolithic and bronze-age Britain has been known for years. The same goes for loads of other places Europe. Often it coincides with indications of shamanistic belief systems with strong elements of sympathetic magic. Extreme inter-group violence often correlates strongly with cannibalism, all over the world. Magical beliefs along the lines of “by eating this, you absorb (part of) its spirit” are all over the place in the records. Wasn’t there a tradition in many native American cultures that the hunter credited with a kill in a communal hunt got to eat the first cut raw and on-site, typically a sliver of liver or tongue? And was that because still-warm raw liver is so yummy or for magical-ritual reasons? It’s the same here. Cannibalism is a magical ritual hunter-gatherer and neolithic cultures tend to come up with at some point in their history. Then, most of the time, something happens and the descendents don’t like to be reminded of it.
This was really interesting and informative. Good on that guy for sticking to truth and facts and not cowering and tucking his tail between his legs just because people dont want to face or hear the truth, much less acknowledge it. Truth of the matter is i dont care what race you are, everyone of our ancestors did terrible things. Sadly thats just human sin nature. Not excusing it at all, but if we keep on ripping eachother to peices because “your ancestors did this” “well your ancestors did that” then all that will accomplish is all of us tearing eachother down, just like what we claim to be so appalled by what was or wasnt done by those who came before us.
I appreciate an elder (and this goes the same for scientists) telling of the history of his people – no matter what the culture. But archeological and forensic evidence is not the same as a tradition. Europeans have moments of having to confront their own “traditional” memory and what is actual fact as well. It should not be shameful. It’s just something to learn about and to learn FROM.
Like he said “the clans that we know of” none of the clans they KNOW OF participated in cannibalism. It’s almost ignorant to truly believe that there couldn’t have been hidden/lost tribes or just disconnected tribes that had different beliefs than the majority. Cannibalism might not have been among the “majority” but when there are scientific facts pointing to the fact that there was some degree of it, you have to take into consideration that there might have been.
There are oral stories from Native Americans, like the Paiute, who tell tales of their people fighting giants, who often engaged in cannibalizing them. I’m a believer that myth is rooted in some type of reality. It is very possible that the Anansazi may have been invaded and the very same thing done to them.
If you look back at the stories and memories of the different tribes, these findings could be further proof/evidence of what happened thousands of years ago to the early Native Americans. Its obvious that they were eaten, and I don’t mean by their fellow Native Americans either. Its just that no one wants to pay attention to the stories or believe them. While others who do know the truth want to hide it… Being in the Four Corners area is in the perfect place for certain legends that were passed down through the generations too.
It saddens me greatly that humans were treated like this,. To me it doesn’t matter how long ago it happened, the fact is it did happen and it makes me sad that my sisters and brothers went through this horrif ordeal and the tyranical control over the ppl is just as abhorent having to live is such fear and dread.Thank you for this doc.
My Grandfathers ancestors left a book of things they had seen and it was horrible and it was amazing that some of his ancestors that still hold those truths close to them and are horrific in nature and survived .They don’t tell the stories to anyone but the family has seen this book that came from my grandfather’s ancestors which were many from the 1200s to the 1600s 1700s and 1800s and he was from the Hoppie tribe’s It horrified them the stories that came from the abomination that the ancestors had done..
Tree ring data show mega droughts occurred in the southwestern USA. These correlate to 1100 and 1500 AD. When studying he basketmaker periods in the four corners area you find that a moderate pit house took 180 trees. The rivers show how the denuding of the slopes in the canyons caused the levels of the rivers the steeply declined. Ecology matters.
We have a saying here in Ireland which is a play on words of sorts, “Denial isn’t just a river in Egypt”, and the hostile response to Turner’s exhaustive work is a clear case in point. In spite of overwhelming physical evidence pointing almost conclusively towards cannibalism having taken place, it does seem that some of these scientists/anthropologists are completely unwilling to accept it as a possibility, and primarily for reasons of not wanting to cause offense to native Americans as cannibalism is a taboo subject and no one wants to be associated with it. But facts are facts, no matter how unpleasant.
“Here there be Giants?” We are all becoming more and more aware of the history of violence between the Red-haired Giants of North America & the Native American Indians. The Giants hunted them and ate them; thus the population was diminished to the point that all Native American Indians put aside their differences and joined forces. It had to be done, or they would soon have become extinct. It was either a mass genocide of the Giants, or become a statistic of their own genocide. The Giants were wiped out for the most part, but a few survived here in America, in the US. An even larger number survived in Eastern Europe. Still less in Western European Countries, with a slew of them in the Middle East, living in caves during the heat of the days, and attacking at night. Because of their belief in the Djinn, the deaths of middle eastern humans was soon attributed to the evil beings: not human, not demon, but somewhere in-between. A type of evil entity who causes pain and sorrow in humans whenever possible. At any rate, there are still Giants living in Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon, and in the caves throughout the caves in Palestine, Israel, and the entire Sinai Peninsula. They cannibalize the countries, eating human beings whenever it is possible. They have been killed by both sides during the many wars that have raged endlessly in the area, and all military personnel were told not to repeat the story of any giants killed at the risk of court-martial. That’s why we all know about these giants today.
My degree is biology with a minor in sociology, so you can imagine how fascinating this subject is to me. What I find perplexing isn’t as much that modern minds reject the evidence because they find it offensive; it’s why they find it offensive. Why would it be more repugnant for a people to kill others for their flesh in order to survive, than to kill them for their gold, their land, or (nowadays) their oil? I could see being horrified if there was strong evidence that the Anasazi just raised humans like livestock, perusal them grow and interacting with them yet not seeing them as individuals just like themselves, maybe even placing arbitrary social tiers within their own societies so that the children of the lowest caste would be designated for food. This would indicate a level of accepted and PLANNED laziness to acquire non-human foodstuffs or migrate to somewhere with more abundance, a laziness so profound as to trump any sense of right and wrong. But perceiving outgroups, nearby villages, as both competitors for food to be eliminated AND potential resources of food themselves, this strikes me as not long-term lazy logic but emergency desperate logic, and is therefore much more forgivable, certainly more forgivable than killing for abstract wealth.
I just watched a article a couple days ago from a indigenous elder who makes YouTube articles and he says that he was taught by their elders that the anastasi were cannibals and that they did a ceremony to bring the rocks in the canyon down upon the structures to break them because they were cannibalizing their tribe
7:05 – listen very carefully, and it’s quoted below: “First of all, on the issue of violence and cannibalism …we do have, some memory…of different types of violent behavior, inflicted upon Hopi people. We do not have any traditions about any of the sixty or so clans…that we know, once existed, of inflicting any kind of behavior that extreme against any of the Hopi clan. So while there is memory of such violence inflicted upon the Hopi, no traditions of such violence among the Hopi, themselves. Make of that what you will.
My utmost and very sincere thanks to this website and especially to Dr. Turner for this documentary. I’m absolutely fascinated about ancient cultures/civilizations/history/archaeology. I always feel like I’m “living in those places and time-frame and all of my dreams are always of ancient times. I even “smell” their homes, food and participate in the hunting . Unfortunately I didn’t had the opportunity to study Archaeology or even visit a site. Dr Turner, I wish I could meet and join you on your expeditions . Thank you!!
As a German, do I get defensive when people talk about what the nazi’s did?? Heck no! We’re talking about the acts of an entirely different person. I don’t have any association with that persons actions. I may have some bloodline association but that doesn’t mean i’m gonna be sensitive when one talks about what they did.. THEY did it, not me. I don’t support it in any way. With that said, I realize that the natives cultures revolves around their ancestors. They are primed to be sensitive about this topic, but they must think through it.
The actions of our ancestors do not reflect on who we are today. We cannot be held responsible for whatever actions they may or may not have done however, despicable they may be. Neither should we be forced to atone for the actions of our ancestors. All people living today have ancestors that may have practiced cannibalism. Even people’s European ancestors practiced it.
There’s a legend of red headed giants who ate native Americans before, during and after the existence of the Anasazi. These giants lived predominantly from Arizona to Idaho. Four corners New Mexico isn’t far from there. Different tribes were tired of being attacked and eaten and they banded together to chaise them into a cave somewhere near Lovelock Nevada and covered it with brush and lit it on fire killing all the giants. Years later this cave was discovered and giant skeletons were displayed in a museum but have since disappeared. You can read about this story from the testimony of Winnemucca, daughter of a chief and she had a buckskin dress adorned with the braided hair of red headed giants given to her by her grandmother who was there when the giants were killed.
No one (oral tradition or academic study) has the complete story of what took place in the past. What has been dug up is but a small fragment of the history of the area. There’s a Mexican connection to the area of the Four Corners. Objects like cacao, macaw feathers, macaw skeletons, & copper bells have been unearthed at Chaco. Also there’s been great advances in DNA studies on the bones of people from all around the world. One has wonder why so many are against the DNA testing to trace human migrations too. Probably because it would obliterate their tribal history and oral tradition thru scientific fact. The past isn’t always a pretty one. But people need to come to terms, learn from it, and move forward.
Dr Turner Im on your side. People not modern did not share the ‘prehistoric’ sense of boundaries and laws, they did what they did to survive and though modern tribes are surely related, the proof of who was who then seems fuzzy. The word prejudice means to pre judge. People who are judging Dr. Turner are ALL purely emotional in position. This is what happened to Copernicus and Gallileo. Science wins this race, Turner is the champion. Emotions must subside.
Cannibalism was extremely common in the Victorian era as a form of medicine (what Victorians thought was medically helpful at the time). In all honesty, I don’t particularly understand why cannibalism itself is considered so barbaric in the first place. The Mayans did it (sometimes consensually) with their human sacrifices to the gods. The famous African tribe (idk the name of the specific tribe) did it as a sign of love and respect at funerals for their deceased loved ones (stopping around the 1950s – i think the ’50s anyway – after a nuerilogical illness was passing around by eating brains infected by it; though they now have an immunity to it do to rapid evolution). The real life case in Germany that inspired a horror film about cannibalism – i think “silence of the lambs” – was 100% consensual by both parties involved (proven consensual legally) and the man who ate the other man was deemed sain by the court AND he only was going to do it with someone who wanted it. People eat other people to survive if needed. The legend of the Wendigo from many native American tribes and first nation tribes (mostly on the boarder of usa and canda) is a monster that causes someone to cannibalise others – an actual culture based psychosis called “Wendigo psychosis” by modern psychology standards. Other species of animals do it A LOT. Honestly, understanding other cultures and why they do things is literally what Anthropology is! Can’t handle that, pick a different interest!
In my opinion, it wasn’t the tribes doing this to themselves, it was being done to them. Especially, since the evidence shows, that the cannibalism was only found to have happened in about half of discovered sites. To me, that dictates that it is being done to these tribes, not by them. For him to say there is no other explanation, shows that he already has his mind made up. If this was a cultural phenomenon it would be at every site, in every village, period. I think they need to keep exploring and looking for the correct answers. What about the stories, of the red hair giants? Many stories were passed down in memory that they were cannibalizing all the tribes? Is that even being looked at?
I had a friend growing up… super tall, dark completes, reddish brown hair. Himself and his two brothers were all born with six fingers and six toes I. Each hand and foot, having the extra fingers removed at birth but still having the extra toes. Thought it was cool and unusual as a child. Knowing what I know now…
I years ago wandered into a canyon lined with cliff dwellings. Looking through the rubble, I noted that the corn cobbs were tiny. The Anasazi used up all the nitrogen in their soil and starved to death. If any cannibalism happened, it was because they were starving and desperate, just like at Donner Pass.
I have a question to the archeologist and researchers? Has there been any DNA research to isolate the tribes of the bones? My vague understanding of cannibals is that most of them would eat the flesh of their enemy vs their own people. What would cause the people to evacuate the ruins and not return? This article does provide a lot of evidence proving cannibalism. But it doesn’t provide a timeline that includes geological conditions or possible invasion. With all the tools you have. I hope that your goal is the truth.
Have you ever heard the stories about giants that lived in the land and that they were attacking the natives and eating them so the natives finally chased them into a cave and lit fires at the entrance and killed them. Apparently there have been many giant Skelton’s found but the Smithsonian took them all and now they have all dissapered. In the Bible there were quite a few stories about giants. There beds were 13 ft long. Just some trivia for you.
Interesting. I was wondering early on if maybe the Anasazi were invaded by people from outside and not eating each other. I think I remember reading that in the past it was believed by some people that eating the flesh of certain animals gave them the power of that animal. That, for some might include consuming human flesh. In the case of the Anasazi, it looks like it had more to do with keeping the Gods happy.
Mayans have similar situations. Aztecs also have problems too. I am not sure of the history but just remember. Humans evolve. And the Native Americans evolve better than any others because of their love for Mother Earth and the care between Spirit and this Planet. Let’s remember this when being with Native Americans and other indigenous cultures.
This evidence of warfare, conflict, and cannibalism is hotly debated by some scholars and interest groups. Suggested alternatives include: a community suffering the pressure of starvation or extreme social stress, dismemberment and cannibalism as religious ritual or in response to religious conflict, the influx of outsiders seeking to drive out a settled agricultural community via calculated atrocity, or an invasion of a settled region by nomadic raiders who practiced cannibalism.
It’s well known that the Caribs, the Aztecs and their ancestors were cannibals. Is there evidence that the early Anasazi were conquered by the Aztecs or their ancestors, and then oppressed by a cannibalistic ruling class? This would explain the dichotomy between the pacifistic Pueblo tribes and the cannibalistic Anasazi. Could the sudden abandonment of the Anasazi ruins have been the result of a rebellion?