North American Indian civilization that developed from 0441; AD 100 to historic times, centring on the area where the present-day boundaries of the U.S. states of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah intersect.
Anasazi is the Navajo word for "Ancient Enemy"; the Hopi prefer the term Hisatsinom, meaning "Ancient People." Anasazi is the term most commonly used to refer to the ancestors of contemporary Pueblo Indian peoples. Anasazi civilization is customarily divided into several periods: Basket Maker (AD 100500), Modified Basket Maker (500700), Developmental Pueblo (7001050), Classic Pueblo (10501300), Regressive Pueblo (13001700), and Modern Pueblo (1700the present). As among present-day Pueblo peoples, religion in the Anasazi culture was highly developed and centred on rites partly conducted in underground circular chambers called kiva s. The best-known Anasazi ruins are the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde (Colo.) and Chaco Canyon (N.M.).