The Anasazi (or Ancestral Puebloans) were an ancient Native American culture that spanned the present-day Four Corners region of U.S, including northeastern Arizona. They lived in a range of structures that included small family pit houses, larger structures to house clans, grand pueblos, and cliff-sited dwellings for defense. These sophisticated tribes occupied a complex network that stretched across the Colorado Plateau linking hundreds of communities and population centers. They held a distinct knowledge of celestial sciences that found form in their architecture. The kiva, a congregational space that was used chiefly for ceremonial purposes, was an integral part of this ancient people’s community structure.

The Ancestral Pueblo people crafted a unique architecture with planned community spaces. They consisted of apartment-like complexes and structures made from stone, adobe mud, and other local material, or were carved into the sides of canyon walls. Developed within these cultures, the people also adopted design details from other cultures as far away as contemporary Mexico. In their day, these ancient towns and cities were usually multistoried and multipurposed buildings surrounding open plazas and viewsheds. They were occupied by hundreds to thousands of Ancestral Pueblo peoples. These population complexes hosted cultural and civic events and infrastructure that supported a vast outlying region hundreds of miles away linked by transportation roadways.

The Anasazi, as with other Native American cultures, have a deep spiritual connection to the land and elements, such as water, animals, plants, earth and stone. Respecting these elements means understanding how these stones can bring spaces to life when applied with deliberation and excellence.