Anasazi

American  

[ah-nuh-sah-zee] / ˌɑ nəˈsɑ zi /

noun

plural

Anasazis,

plural

Anasazi

1. a Basket Maker-Pueblo culture of the plateau region of northern Arizona and New Mexico and of southern Utah and Colorado, dating probably from a.d. 100 to 1300.

2. a member of the people producing this culture.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of this culture or its people.

   the Anasazi communities.

Etymology

Origin of Anasazi

Term introduced in 1936 by U.S. archaeologist Alfred V. Kidder (1885-1963) < Navajo ʾanaasází ancient inhabitants of the Pueblo ruins, literally, aliens' ancestors (' anaa- enemy, alien + -sází ancestor(s), ancestral)

Example Sentences

Coerte Voorhees had tapped Kilmer, who died of pneumonia last year after years of battling throat cancer, for "As Deep as the Grave," about the pioneering archaeologist Ann Morris, a co-discoverer of the Anasazi civilization.

From Barron's • Mar. 18, 2026

Rock formations turn trippy in the 40,000-acre Valley of Fire State Park, a wonderland of red Aztec sandstone with petrified logs and Anasazi petroglyphs.

From Washington Post • Jun. 10, 2022

Similarly, a 300-year drought ended the Anasazi civilization about 1,000 years ago in what is now Colorado and Utah.

From Salon • Aug. 5, 2021

The county is home to tens of thousands of ancient Anasazi archaeological sites, spread across a territory the size of Connecticut.

From Slate • Aug. 25, 2020

Ancient Anasazi potsherds mingle in the sand with rusty tin cans discarded by tum- of-the-century stockmen, who grazed and watered their animals in the canyon.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer