Anasazi
/ˌanəˈsɑːzi
/noun (plural same or Anasazis)
A member of an ancient American Indian people of the south-western US, who flourished between circa 200 bc and ad 1500. The earliest phase of their culture is known as the Basket Maker period; the present-day Pueblo culture developed from a later stage.Now, students of the ancient Anasazi to the north are reaching a consensus that this people as well, far from the docile agriculturalists they have usually been cast as, were also capable of great violence....
- The ruins of the Anasazi or ‘Ancient Ones’ date back to the time of Christ.
- The period also induced a severe, decades-long drought that may have brought on the demise of the Anasazi culture of North America.
Origin
From Navajo, 'ancient one' or 'enemy ancestor'.