How did the Anasazi live in such a hot place?
If you’ve ever been to the Colorado Plateau, you’d realize that it’s not exactly a desert (in fact, they’ve already had snow there this year!). The environment is what’s called a “high desert,” and it’s considerably wetter and cooler than the Sonoran desert in southern Arizona or the Mojave in California. Still, it is dry enough that farming is a challenge, especially since the winters can be long and cold. Another problem with high deserts is that the weather patterns are very unstable; some years may have lots of rain, while there may be a period of many years where there is barely any rain at all. These challenges no doubt shaped Anasazi culture in many interesting ways, from the necessity to develop cooperative relationships with neighbors, to the focus of many of their religious activities on rituals calling for rain.
