Section 3. Recognizing the main idea.
1. All cultures change, even modern ones.
As a matter of fact, change occurs most rapidly in modern cultures, since science brings us so many new discoveries every day.
It is rather difficult to follow these changes clearly, since they happened so fast.
The civilization that I'll discuss today is easier to observe.
2. No formal history was written for these early Indians, but Navajo Indians who came along later found evidence of their great civilization.
The Navajos called these prehistoric people the Anasazi, which means the Ancient ones.
3. Descendants of the Anasazi still live in the Southwest, and many aspects of their culture are similar to ancient times.
Today these people are called Pueblo Indians.
4. There are four different time periods in the development of the Anasazi.
Scientists have looked for the one most important theme in this story, a kind of unifying idea to organize all the facts.
The most critical and influential improvement in their lives was the way they used containers to cook, store, and carry food and water.
5. The most important job of the man in the society was to learn, teach, and perform the religious ceremonies associated with farming.
Women worked in the fields and prepared all the food, women also wove baskets out of yucca fibers.
6. We don't know what the final problem was.
It might have been enemy attack, sickness, lack of rain, or over-farmed soil.
But in the year 1300, the last of the Anasazi left the cliff dwellings, never to return again.
They left behind their beautiful pueblos, which still stand as a monument to them.