[blam]

Christy Turner has done some very good work in the Chaco Area and nearly got the crap beat out of him. Read Below:

Bones Of Contention

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

PEOPLE FROM ALL over the world have admired the culture of the ancient Anasazi, believing them to have been deeply spiritual. But what if that peaceful image is wrong?

DANG but this kind of writing annoys me!

"Deeply spiritual" does NOT equal peaceful!

Carthaginians, Aztecs, Pawnee, Celts were all deeply spiritual. They were not, however, peaceful or even nice.

It is very possible for the Anasazi to be artistic and deeply spiritual and still be the most savage cruel sadistic demons in human form to ever walk on planet earth.

/rant.

I agree with Turner for the most part I will have to read more of his work to see if I totally agree.

The problem I have always had with the "peaceful people" bit is how they built their houses. You don't build houses where they did unless you have enemies. You don't build your home in such a way that a granny with a sharp stick can defend it unless you think that it could be necessary. You don't booby trap your ladders so that starting up the wrong way leaves you hanging hopelessly stuck until you fall to your death unless you expect something real nasty to come calling.

Something out there scared them.

[P.O.E.]

Could both the abandonment & the cannibalism have a common cause (e.g., a virulent madness)?

[SteveH]

Fascinating...

See also the movie, Ravenous .

[SteveH]

If, as Turner believes in the article, "Cultists and warriors of the Quetzalcoatl overwhelmed the local residents," then I wonder if there would be a DNA match between Chaco Canyon resident burials and Aztecs.

Likewise, it would be interesting to see if there was a DNA match between Aztecs and earlier inhabitants of the region (ie, pre-Anasazi). That would seem to help validate or help invalidate the MeCHA claim that the ancestral homeland of the Mexican people is in the southwestern U.S.