Anasazi

I was appalled that Craig Childs ["Aching Fingers, Concrete Toes," Dec. 28] not only entered an unguarded Anasazi ruin in Arizona but spent the night. Rather than "leave it be," they wandered through a "hive of ancient rooms." Many of our national treasures have been damaged by such thoughtless action. Walking on the rubble can damage the artifacts and structures that can give archeologists insight into ancient and extinct civilizations. Indeed, entering Anasazi ruins is prohibited on public lands.

SAN DIEGO -- We're far from any sea or any tranquillity in Howard Korder's "Sea of Tranquility," running through Feb. 10 at the Old Globe Theatre. Seen Saturday, this turbulent, two-act, 14-character psychodrama asks provocative questions about our ability to change for the better or escape the past even by running away and starting over. The very first line ("How was Hanukkah?"

Re "Detective Work That Leaves No Footprints," Nov. 16: When the Getty Trust created the Getty Conservation Institute it made a wonderful transition in art conservation--from museum art to cultural heritage. Everything from the pictographs and houses of the Southwest Anasazi to structures along Asia's Silk Road have benefited. It has been a gift to the world. ELDEN E. HUGHES Whittier

I was appalled that Craig Childs ["Aching Fingers, Concrete Toes," Dec. 28] not only entered an unguarded Anasazi ruin in Arizona but spent the night. Rather than "leave it be," they wandered through a "hive of ancient rooms." Many of our national treasures have been damaged by such thoughtless action. Walking on the rubble can damage the artifacts and structures that can give archeologists insight into ancient and extinct civilizations. Indeed, entering Anasazi ruins is prohibited on public lands.

Editor's note: Wild West columnist Christopher Reynolds is spending the first week of his holiday ankle deep in cold Mississippi mud. He'll return on Jan. 11. Today's columnist, Craig Childs, is the author of four books on the Southwest, the most recent being "The Way Out: A True Story of Ruin and Survival." Childs lives in Crawford, Colo., at the foot of the West Elk range and the staging point for his numerous forays into Anasazi country.

SAN DIEGO -- We're far from any sea or any tranquillity in Howard Korder's "Sea of Tranquility," running through Feb. 10 at the Old Globe Theatre. Seen Saturday, this turbulent, two-act, 14-character psychodrama asks provocative questions about our ability to change for the better or escape the past even by running away and starting over. The very first line ("How was Hanukkah?"

The Semai people of Malaysia never fight. Whenever two tribe members have a conflict, it is resolved with words--lots of them. The village leader calls a meeting to discuss the dispute. Anyone with an opinion can speak up. And they do. The meetings can last for days. When the talking finally stops, the village leader makes a ruling. Then he orders everyone present never to speak of the dispute again, and that is the end of it.

The June 11 article about Christy Turner's "Man Corn" thesis that the Anasazi were either cannibalized by the Toltec or were cannibals themselves is bound to disturb or otherwise stir up a lot of people. It should be remembered that this is an academic thesis, and even though such theses purportedly deal with knowledge, they are also dealings in the high-stakes game of "Remember, you heard it here first!" Morality doesn't enter into the interpretation of data, especially when it concerns a dead civilization.

Newly discovered evidence is shedding light on the movements of the Anasazi, a group of agricultural people who farmed the arid section of the Southwest from roughly AD 1 to AD 1300. Researcher Stephen Lekson of the University of Colorado said he and his team linked three southern New Mexico ruins to the Anasazi and found evidence of a swift migration by entire villages of Anasazi around the year 1300. Research indicates a major drought began in the region about 1150.

The Archaeological Conservancy is offering a San Juan River adventure through the heartland of the Anasazi world to see ancient cliff dwellings and rock art panels. The tour, June 20 to 27, will be spent rafting the "goosenecks" stretch of the San Juan River, with its unusual geological formations and occasional rapids, from Bluff to Lake Powell in southeastern Utah.

Editor's note: Wild West columnist Christopher Reynolds is spending the first week of his holiday ankle deep in cold Mississippi mud. He'll return on Jan. 11. Today's columnist, Craig Childs, is the author of four books on the Southwest, the most recent being "The Way Out: A True Story of Ruin and Survival." Childs lives in Crawford, Colo., at the foot of the West Elk range and the staging point for his numerous forays into Anasazi country.

Delayed by a threatening forest fire and a daily climb up a sheer cliff, archeologists excavated and cataloged a seasonal rock dwelling they say may have been used 1,500 years ago by an ancient Indian family. Warren Lail, a 51-year-old attorney-turned-archeologist, has headed University of Oklahoma excavations at the Philmont Scout Ranch for two successive summers. He's focusing on a little-known area occupied by eastern Anasazi, believed to be ancestors of several Indian tribes.

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.

The Semai people of Malaysia never fight. Whenever two tribe members have a conflict, it is resolved with words--lots of them. The village leader calls a meeting to discuss the dispute. Anyone with an opinion can speak up. And they do. The meetings can last for days. When the talking finally stops, the village leader makes a ruling. Then he orders everyone present never to speak of the dispute again, and that is the end of it.

Newly discovered evidence is shedding light on the movements of the Anasazi, a group of agricultural people who farmed the arid section of the Southwest from roughly AD 1 to AD 1300. Researcher Stephen Lekson of the University of Colorado said he and his team linked three southern New Mexico ruins to the Anasazi and found evidence of a swift migration by entire villages of Anasazi around the year 1300. Research indicates a major drought began in the region about 1150.

The most compelling evidence yet that some Native Americans practiced cannibalism has been discovered by researchers studying a small Anasazi settlement in southwestern Colorado that was mysteriously abandoned about AD 1150. As many as 40 sites scattered across the Southwest contain human bones that show distinctive evidence of having been butchered and cooked--signs consistent with cannibalism.

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.

Here in the southwest corner of Colorado, schoolchildren and other amateurs are digging alongside archeologists for clues to the mystery of the Anasazi people, who disappeared from the region more than 600 years ago. Stuart Struever, a self-styled archeologist-entrepreneur and founder of the Crow Canyon Archeological Center, calls the operation a kind of "intellectual Outward Bound," alluding to the wilderness program that challenges people to test their physical limits.

The June 11 article about Christy Turner's "Man Corn" thesis that the Anasazi were either cannibalized by the Toltec or were cannibals themselves is bound to disturb or otherwise stir up a lot of people. It should be remembered that this is an academic thesis, and even though such theses purportedly deal with knowledge, they are also dealings in the high-stakes game of "Remember, you heard it here first!" Morality doesn't enter into the interpretation of data, especially when it concerns a dead civilization.

It has been called one of the great prehistoric anthropological puzzles: What caused the Anasazi people--who over centuries had developed one of the most sophisticated civilizations in North America--to abandon their beautiful stone cities? What event transpired in the mid-12th century that caused families to walk away, seemingly in great haste, leaving behind food cooking over fires and sandals hanging on pegs?