Summary

In Southwest America there was not just the collapse of one culture; rather, it was the demise of a series of cultures. These Southwestern cultures suffered from regional decline, debilitating reorganizations and wholesale abandonments at different locations and periods. This decline occurred before Columbus discovered the New World. The Anasazi did not vanish but blended into other Native American cultures such as the Hopi and Zuni.

One of the main causes of the regional collapse is that the U.S. Southwest has a very fragile environment in which agriculture does not thrive. Low rainfall, poor soil condition and slow forest re-growth all contributed to the region’s decline. Erosion and major droughts also played havoc with the Southwest U.S. which is an example of the debilitating impact of human activity and climate change. Archeologists and...