An Introduction to Anasazi Puebloan Societies

An Introduction to Anasazi Puebloan Societies Anasazi is the archaeological term used to describe prehistoric Puebloan peoples of the Four Corners region of the American Southwest. This term was used to distinguish their culture from other Southwestern groups like the Mogollon and Hohokam. A further distinction in Anasazi culture is made by archaeologists and historians between Western and Eastern Anasazi, using the Arizona/New Mexico border as a fairly arbitrary divide. The people who resided in Chaco Canyon are considered Eastern Anasazi. The term Anasazi is an English corruption of a Navajo word meaning Enemy Ancestors or Ancient Ones. Modern Puebloan people prefer to use the term Ancestral Puebloans. Current archaeological literature as well tends to use the phrase Ancestral Pueblo to describe the pre-contact people that lived in this region. Cultural Characteristics Ancestral Puebloan cultures reached their maximum presence between AD 900 and 1130. During this period, the landscape of the entire Southwest was dotted by large and small villages constructed in adobe and stone bricks, built along the canyon walls, the mesa top or hanging over the cliffs. Settlements: The most famous examples of Anasazi architecture are the famous Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde National Parks. These areas contain settlements constructed on the mesa top, at the bottom of the canyon, or along the cliffs. Cliff dwellings are typical of Mesa Verde, whereas Great Houses are typical of Chacoan Anasazi. Pithouses, underground rooms, were also typical dwellings of Ancestral Puebloan people in their earlier times.Architecture: Buildings were usually multistory and clustered near the canyon or cliff walls and were reached through wooden ladders. Anasazi constructed typical round or squared structures, called kivas, which were ceremonial rooms.Landscape: Ancient Puebloan people shaped their landscape in many ways. Ceremonial roads connected Chacoan villages among them and with important landmarks; staircases, like the famous Jackson Staircase, link the bottom of the canyon with the mesa top; irrigation systems provided water for farming and, finally, rock art, such as petroglyphs and pictographs, dots the rocky walls of many sites surrounding, testifying to the ideology and religious beliefs of these peoples. Pottery: Ancestral Puebloans crafted elegant vessels, in different shapes, such as bowls, cylindric vessels, and jars with distinct decorations typical of each Anasazi group. Motifs included both geometric elements as well as animals and humans usually portrayed in dark colors over a cream background, like the famous black-on-white ceramics.Craftwork: Other craft productions in which Ancestral Puebloan excelled were basketry, and turquoise inlay works. Social Organization For most of the Archaic period, people living in the Southwest were foragers. By the beginning of the Common Era, cultivation was widespread and maize became one of the main staples. This period marks the emergence of the typical traits of Puebloan culture. Ancient Puebloan village life was focused on farming  and both productive and ceremonial activities centered around agricultural cycles. Storage of maize and other resources lead to surplus formation, which was re-invested in trading activities and feasting celebrations. Authority was probably held by religious and prominent figures of the community, who had access to food surpluses and imported items. Anasazi Chronology The Anasazi prehistory is divided by archaeologists into two main time frames: Basketmaker (AD 200-750) and Pueblo (AD 750-1600/historic times). These periods span from the beginning of settled life until the Spanish takeover. See the detailed Anasazi timelineSee details on the Rise and Fall of Chaco Canyon Anasazi Archaeological Sites and Issues Penasco BlancoChetro KetlPueblo BonitoChaco CanyonKivaChaco Road System Sources: Cordell, Linda 1997, Archaeology of the Southwest. Second Edition. Academic Press Kantner, John, 2004, Ancient Puebloan Southwest, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. Vivian, R. Gwinn Vivian and Bruce Hilpert 2002, The Chaco Handbook. An Encyclopedic Guide, The University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City Edited by  K. Kris Hirst

Pythagorean Therom essays

Pythagorean Therom essays When the name Pythagoras is mentioned, most people (who have taken a geometry or another higher mathematics course) automatically think  ¡the Pythagorean Theorem ¡. But what many people do not know is that Pythagoras contributed a lot more than just  ¡a theorem ¡ to the world of mathematics. From traveling to many cities near and far from his birthplace in Samos, Ionia (569 B.C.), to having a mysterious unknown death, Pythagoras has been placed above many mathematicians as the  ¡ first pure mathematician. ¡ (Cajori, 17) Details of Pythagoras ¡ life are not of those, which have been documented by him, instead information about Pythagoras ¡ life comes from early bibliographies, which were written by authors whom had grown very fond of Pythagoras and his work(s). The information in this paper was pieced together by various sources that had many major facts that repeated throughout the sources. Some resources have other in order facts about Pythagoras that were not found in any supplementary texts or Internet sites. The research that I chose to incorporate in my paper about Pythagoras was based on what seemed valid and credible. Pythagoras ¡ traveling and learning began at an early age, when he would travel out of Samos with his father to conduct business. The childhood of Pythagoras is like that of a lost treasure at the bottom of the ocean ¡s floor. It is almost as if Pythagoras was bore to his parents, but really did not starting living his life until he was between the ages 18 and 20. During those years, Pythagoras was introduced to the  ¡ancient ¡ Thales and his apprentice Anaximander who both lived on Miletus. It is said that Thales did not teach Pythagoras much, however he was the one person to get Pythagoras ¡ interested in mathematics and astronomy. (www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history) During direct instruction, under Thales, Pythagoras was advised to trek to Egypt and teach the citizen...

John Lockes Possible View of Kantian Theory and Utilitarian Theory Essay

John Lockes Possible View of Kantian Theory and Utilitarian Theory Evaluations - Essay Example This established basis of the social contract to ensure peace and order. The Kantian theory identifies rules as a basis for ethics. Established rules define individual’s obligations and an ethical act is one that is consistent with stipulated duty. This identifies a center of power, real as a body that establishes rules or virtual through socially or traditionally created rules. The Kantian theory would demand compliance with established rules that govern patents and respect for rules that established the patenting authority and would justify Grace’s operations under the existing patent (Brooks and Dunn 182- 185; Waluchow 121- 124). The utilitarian theory, however, focuses on consequences of actions and justifies actions that offer net benefits to a majority of members of the society. The theory justifies an act when the act offers net benefits and to more people. Even though the case identifies the development of a beneficial product, patenting the product protects one entity’s rights and prohibits other people from free benefits of the neem product as an insecticide. It also limits use among individuals who could have been using the product in its crude form, under the patient's physical jurisdiction and would, therefore, be unjustified under utilitarian ethics. John Locke would, therefore, support the Kantian evaluation that justifies the rule-based ethics because of the corresponding respect of power in the Kantian theory and Locke’s theory of social contract. The theorist would, however, undermine utilitarian theory’s evaluation because of its susceptibility to selfish interest, based on altruism, which only leads to chaos (Brooks and Dunn 182- 185; Waluchow 121- 124).