Anasazi Pottery: Then and Now

(Note: I have used the CE meaning Common Era and BCE, Before Common Era.)

Anasazi pottery has been made from 700 CE to the present. The great civilization of the Anasazi haunts and intrigues people and the beautiful pottery is much sought after.

Anasazi is a Navaho word meaning "Ancient Ones." It also has a loose, vague sense meaning "Ancient Enemy." The Anasazi were the people who built the famous cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde. They existed from about 500 BCE to 1200 CE and settled in the Four Corners area of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. They were variable and decentralized with different linguistic and political groups. Despite this, their pottery is instantly recognizable.

Before making pottery, the Anasazi made equally beautiful basket ware.
They began making pottery around 700 BCE The people settled in villages and grew squash, corn, and beans. They domesticated the turkey and supplemented their diets by some gathering and hunting. Trading was widespread. The Anasazi reached their peak around 1050 and began leaving their homes around 1200. By 1300, the great cliff dwellings were abandoned. It is thought that the people left due to severe droughts and attacks by the Navaho. The Anasazi are believed to be the ancestors of the Hopi, the Zuni, and the Pueblo. That they never really disappeared is shown by the unbroken creation of their pottery. With the coming of the Europeans, pottery making went into a decline, although women continued to make some. With the coming of the railroad and tourists production, quality, and prices went up.