Did The Anasazi have a written language of any kind or keep any records of their life? What language was spoken?
No, the Anasazi did not have any written language; in fact, none of the prehistoric inhabitants of North America above Mexico had any writing in the sense of being able to convey complex messages using a common set of known symbols. However, the Anasazi did leave behind a lot of rock art: petroglyphs pecked or carved into rock and pictographs painted onto rock. The images are most often representative rather than completely abstract, although abstract forms do appear, and many of the images appear to represent unreal entities. Anasazi rock art no doubt had important meanings to the Anasazi, and may have even been used to convey various messages. However, determining these meanings is a very difficult task for archaeologists. A few scholars have pursued innovative studies in which living Pueblo descendents of the Anasazi are queried for rock art meanings, under the assumption that Pueblo interpretations of the symbols would be very similar to the Anasazi’s own meanings. Using this appro
