Since I went to Mesa Verde when I was young in the 70's I have been fascinated by the Ancestral Puebloans and have been studying their Ruins and artifacts ever since. Dr. Lekson really opened up my understanding of the region and wrote a history that I think is the most accurate representation of the American Southwest. In my lifetime the Anasazi have transformed from simple egalitarian farmers, to a rich and sophisticated Mesoamerican polity that dominated this region so long ago. I want to thank Dr. Lekson for writing his theories down and opening the true history of the Ancestral Puebloan peoples. (I have read all his books...To anyone even slightly interested in the Anasazi, please read "A History of the Ancient Southwest")
@@robertgotschall1246 You won't regret it Robert, Mr. Lekson's books are eye opening. I have been to Mesa Verde 4 times, the last time for a full week just before the Plague hit, I have hiked just about every hike in the park and have been to every ruin a visitor to the park can get too. My favorite place in the world. If you would like a truly eye opening experience please visit Chaco Canyon...If you ever wanted an insight into how majestic and powerful the Anasazi were, there is no better site. Thanks for commenting.
What distinguishes Chaco and the Anasazi I’d they sacrificed humans, and ate them. No other Pueblo Ruins has this feature. Their livelihoods were made by slave trading. Chaco is unique, closer to Aztec, orcToltec.
@@uberkloden I wont dispute that there was evidence of possible Cannibalism at Chaco, It was much more widespread however. Christy Turner wrote a book titled "Man-Corn" which is a scientific study of exactly that throughout the Southwest. I believe that for around a 200+ years or so, when Anasazi society imploded a lot of really dark stuff took place. I believe there was a nasty civil war that took place....notice when the mass migrations took place and the 4 corners region was abandoned, The Anasazi abandoned the religion they had followed for a long time and started the Kachina religion. I think with the drought that took place, that started a rebellion against the religion that existed , and the peoples migrated towards the Rio Grande region and turned their back on the old ways and they then became the Puebloan Peoples. There is another book titled "Prehistoric Cannibalism at Mancos" which covers this as well. As far as sacrifice and all that? Not a lot of direct evidence of it, but there is evidence of "Mistreated peoples". At Chaco there are what I call "Important people burials" that were buried with grave goods and carefully buried and then there were people that were buried in trash piles (Middens) with no grave goods....Were they sacrificed?...maybe, but no direct evidence has been found that any peoples were religiously sacrificed at Chaco. It's an unknown really....but obviously there was a lot of violence and evidence of a lower class of people. I believe Pueblo Bonito was the site of "Kings" or "Emperors", much like they had further south. I could babble on but I think the important thing (To me) is that the people were sick of the old ways, and I think they fought against "Kings" and said screw this, were migrating out of here and converting to the new religion we have heard of that doesn't require Kings and all the other bad stuff that was happening. Same sort of thing happened to the Maya as well. If you are interested, pick up Christy Turners book...pretty hard to argue about the findings, especially at the "Cowboy Wash" site.
T-door - Two part door. Top section closed allows air flow in for fire, easily regulated with a smaller second door. And as long as you have a big doorway, make the hats big with all those feathers. I'm sure you can make them hang all over your shoulders as well.
We were assigned this lecture as part of a North American Archaeology class and I'm so glad we watched it. It's a great supplement to the text book that we're using!
I look forward to getting some of the books, intriguing history worth a closer study. New World archaeology is as interseting as any elsewhere in the world. Great lecture Sir!, thank you.
Another fascinating lecture! I've watched some others here on the RUclips and decided to buy Dr.Lekson's book "Chaco Meridian" on the politics. Being a matrilineal descendant of the Ancestral Puebloans I'm extremely curious about the way they lived.
If I remember correctly there is a T - door at Acoma, somewhere near the main road / pathway up. Then there are Fergoliths! They are T-shaped but solid.
@8:38 ive been here and climbed up to this grainery, its in the middle of nowhere - had to drive 30 minutes off a paved road to find it - actually saw it by accident when i was driving around a corner
"My father went to Culhuacan" and from there he went north,he ment Culhuacan (not Culiacan) Culhuacan is what they Called "The Place of our ancestors" (The Bent Hill) Culhuacan is located at the west side of Chapala Lake in Jalisco The book Asentamientos Perdidos de los Aztecas explains it in detail!! that was the route the Aztecs fallowed from Aztlan to Valley of México.
That's the Mexica Aztecs. Von Humboldt and the Mexico City people said they went from Casas Grandes to Hueicolhuacan, which was Culiacan. Maybe some other Aztecs? There were many different groups from "out of the North" = Aztec.
Watch Indiana Jones give a lecture, then watch Dr. Lekson. Maybe I'm nuts, but a sense of humor makes the archaeological points very, very interesting to me. I need to get a copy of his "Study".
What is the History of what is now called Witch Wells and even more specifically also the Hardscrabble Wash/Canyon with Petroglyphs located directly west of what is now called Hwy 191? This location is within and on the borders of what you've discussed.
Chaco seems to have similarities to ancient Mycenae, elite burials and palace, walled in for defense, the commoners with their agrarian lifestyle, surrounding the palace, interesting stuff.
The key doors are where you arrive at the pueblo you look at older pictures of the natives today you will see them using yokes to carry there burdens, they mite have used yokes back then. The key doors would have allowed them to pass through with out having to drop there burden out side. then they would brake down there load to the separate houses, and pay there tribute to the leader.
Mogollon is how archaeologists refer to the culture and people who lived from about 200 CE - 1450 CE in what is now central Arizona, west-central and southern New Mexico, western Texas, and northern Sonora and Chihuahua.
Take it from someone who is currently working as a professional archaeologist... you are much better off as a plumber. Professional archaeology is not a very good way to make a living. If these topics are interesting, you can self-study/research, and if you're really motivated, you can volunteer to assist archaeologists working on various projects in your local area.
Currently activists are demanding apology for unmarked graves at Canadian NA residence schools. But a Pueblo in New Mexico that I visited the graves were unmarked. How did Native Americans deal with their dead before europe influence?
@Evan Hodge it is partly a social movement. unfortunately, social movements attract political activists. Someone looking to divert the passion toward their own goals unrelated to original social movement. Pick a social movement, you will find someone trying to bleed off of that movement. It happens everywhere. You just have to be aware.
Made up noble titles do not designate different ethnicities. Are you a different ethnic group of your shred noble communal relations just cause they say so?
@Evan Hodge Would you please ask this group why they can't excavate recent artifacts and why they are limited to prehistoric only? (This is what I'm understanding, and I was told why.)
@Evan Hodge BCE is vast and cannot be a range as determined for funding. And, if you know what they are dating what they proclaim, with figurines that couldn't have been formed prior to 1810, unless they had a kiln. I mention because I was told to heat the flames from a fire there were tin cans used. And, probably given to them as Mormons made their way west as well as anyone else. Tin cans were invented in 1810 in France. They didn't arrive in New York until (see my documentary), in reference to cargo). There are many facts surrounding fraud, not simply suspicion I confirmed with the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs).
Admirable scholarship with facts and figures disorganized. Poor presentation skills. He should be the presentation and let the PowerPoint be the visual aid. I struggle with his opinions because he fails to state a point, support it with facts and figures and move on. Muddled - I find this to be the same with all his videos. Probably a nice guy, but we don't learn as much as we should given our intestment of time.
@@GettinJiggyWithGenghis You're not dumb. You're less ignorant than I am certainly. At least you marshalled through one video three times; whereas, I gave up. Anthropology, as in any sxience, stands on the research shoulders of previous researchers, but this presenter simply negates his forebares as if they had no clue and he has all the answers. He judges in ways that are, to me, tiresome and inappropriate. In fifty years when more information and discovery has modified or negated his own opinions, I hope future scholars will not treat him as he treats his older collegues. I must, however, stand by my opinion that the presentation skills are substandard. To read PowerPoint slides is to bore the audience. He probably thinks the "presentation" is his slide show, but in truth, slides are visual aids, not the presentation. I have coached two TED presenters, and the first thing they happily discovered was that they, not the screen, were the presentation. I appreciate your comments, believe me. Many thanks, Philip
@@philipburton9518 I enjoy his presentation style, I understand it so I enjoy it. He’s in a lot of uncharted waters working along side colleagues who continue down the beaten path of empty research. He such a great point regarding anthropologists and I’ve always thought this. They put every one and every thing in categories and stamped them with times and theories forever and ever amen. This guy isn’t into it, he’s actually over it. So he presents in a way that shows he has a ton of research but it’s not like he has references. Do you get what I mean? He’s pioneering a new way of thinking. And so far it sounds great. The other people talk inside of a very well known and established discipline. He’s trying to break the bonds that hold down what is southwestern history.
Excuse me? You sound like a person who is jealous and can't stand someone whose been successful. I understood him right from the get go and always think he puts on a tremendous talk with excellent points, 💯% understood.
Since I went to Mesa Verde when I was young in the 70's I have been fascinated by the Ancestral Puebloans and have been studying their Ruins and artifacts ever since. Dr. Lekson really opened up my understanding of the region and wrote a history that I think is the most accurate representation of the American Southwest. In my lifetime the Anasazi have transformed from simple egalitarian farmers, to a rich and sophisticated Mesoamerican polity that dominated this region so long ago. I want to thank Dr. Lekson for writing his theories down and opening the true history of the Ancestral Puebloan peoples. (I have read all his books...To anyone even slightly interested in the Anasazi, please read "A History of the Ancient Southwest")
Got to Mesa Verde in 58. I was 11 years old. Been poking around the Great Basin ever since. I'm looking forward to reading up on it.
@@robertgotschall1246 You won't regret it Robert, Mr. Lekson's books are eye opening. I have been to Mesa Verde 4 times, the last time for a full week just before the Plague hit, I have hiked just about every hike in the park and have been to every ruin a visitor to the park can get too. My favorite place in the world. If you would like a truly eye opening experience please visit Chaco Canyon...If you ever wanted an insight into how majestic and powerful the Anasazi were, there is no better site. Thanks for commenting.
What distinguishes Chaco and the Anasazi I’d they sacrificed humans, and ate them. No other Pueblo Ruins has this feature. Their livelihoods were made by slave trading. Chaco is unique, closer to Aztec, orcToltec.
@@uberkloden I wont dispute that there was evidence of possible Cannibalism at Chaco, It was much more widespread however. Christy Turner wrote a book titled "Man-Corn" which is a scientific study of exactly that throughout the Southwest. I believe that for around a 200+ years or so, when Anasazi society imploded a lot of really dark stuff took place. I believe there was a nasty civil war that took place....notice when the mass migrations took place and the 4 corners region was abandoned, The Anasazi abandoned the religion they had followed for a long time and started the Kachina religion. I think with the drought that took place, that started a rebellion against the religion that existed , and the peoples migrated towards the Rio Grande region and turned their back on the old ways and they then became the Puebloan Peoples. There is another book titled "Prehistoric Cannibalism at Mancos" which covers this as well. As far as sacrifice and all that? Not a lot of direct evidence of it, but there is evidence of "Mistreated peoples".
At Chaco there are what I call "Important people burials" that were buried with grave goods and carefully buried and then there were people that were buried in trash piles (Middens) with no grave goods....Were they sacrificed?...maybe, but no direct evidence has been found that any peoples were religiously sacrificed at Chaco. It's an unknown really....but obviously there was a lot of violence and evidence of a lower class of people. I believe Pueblo Bonito was the site of "Kings" or "Emperors", much like they had further south. I could babble on but I think the important thing (To me) is that the people were sick of the old ways, and I think they fought against "Kings" and said screw this, were migrating out of here and converting to the new religion we have heard of that doesn't require Kings and all the other bad stuff that was happening. Same sort of thing happened to the Maya as well.
If you are interested, pick up Christy Turners book...pretty hard to argue about the findings, especially at the "Cowboy Wash" site.
T-door - Two part door. Top section closed allows air flow in for fire, easily regulated with a smaller second door.
And as long as you have a big doorway, make the hats big with all those feathers. I'm sure you can make them hang all over your shoulders as well.
Separation of church and state is as important as separation of anthropology and archeology! Great talk! With Love, From Aztec
Such a refreshing honest talk. Wish we had more of you around.
We were assigned this lecture as part of a North American Archaeology class and I'm so glad we watched it. It's a great supplement to the text book that we're using!
I look forward to getting some of the books, intriguing history worth a closer study. New World archaeology is as interseting as any elsewhere in the world. Great lecture Sir!, thank you.
New World archaeology? Is this like the New World...meaning, what? Please explain.
This guy is the best I just love him
Another fascinating lecture! I've watched some others here on the RUclips and decided to buy Dr.Lekson's book "Chaco Meridian" on the politics. Being a matrilineal descendant of the Ancestral Puebloans I'm extremely curious about the way they lived.
Very good program.
The T shaped doors make me think of a doorway with extended arcs of fire in a defensive event.
If I remember correctly there is a T - door at Acoma, somewhere near the main road / pathway up. Then there are Fergoliths! They are T-shaped but solid.
Yes, there's one at Acoma! I've never asked 'em about it, but I should. Fergoliths are great; no idea at all what they are. Ask Al?
@8:38 ive been here and climbed up to this grainery, its in the middle of nowhere - had to drive 30 minutes off a paved road to find it - actually saw it by accident when i was driving around a corner
This is the only archeologist I've ever encountered who isn't a Marxist. Very refreshing.
Groucho Marx was a genius
And you have responded to the opposite of what I wrote. Imagine the irony
I agree, I actually enjoyed this presentation. Everything he said makes sense.
Agreed, Marxism is a plague in modern archaeology.
Archaeology is plagued by Marxism.
"My father went to Culhuacan" and from there he went north,he ment Culhuacan (not Culiacan) Culhuacan is what they Called "The Place of our ancestors" (The Bent Hill) Culhuacan is located at the west side of Chapala Lake in Jalisco The book Asentamientos Perdidos de los Aztecas explains it in detail!! that was the route the Aztecs fallowed from Aztlan to Valley of México.
That's the Mexica Aztecs. Von Humboldt and the Mexico City people said they went from Casas Grandes to Hueicolhuacan, which was Culiacan. Maybe some other Aztecs? There were many different groups from "out of the North" = Aztec.
Watch Indiana Jones give a lecture, then watch Dr. Lekson. Maybe I'm nuts, but a sense of humor makes the archaeological points very, very interesting to me. I need to get a copy of his "Study".
Well Montezuma did tell his people to go north to their ancestral homeland with their gold.
What is the History of what is now called Witch Wells and even more specifically also the Hardscrabble Wash/Canyon with Petroglyphs located directly west of what is now called Hwy 191? This location is within and on the borders of what you've discussed.
Sorry, no idea. All I know about Witch Wells is where it is on a map.
It trikes me that the T doors could be related to the legend of the witch with the meteor turtle shell to enter through symbolically.
My god Steve. The last time I saw you (1973) you had hair down to your shoulders.
I could imagine it 🤣 I bet it looked great!
Chaco seems to have similarities to ancient Mycenae, elite burials and palace, walled in for defense, the commoners with their agrarian lifestyle, surrounding the palace, interesting stuff.
The key doors are where you arrive at the pueblo you look at older pictures of the natives today you will see them using yokes to carry there burdens, they mite have used yokes back then. The key doors would have allowed them to pass through with out having to drop there burden out side. then they would brake down there load to the separate houses, and pay there tribute to the leader.
pueblo mans hair style/cut represented by t door
🤔 Interesting.
Leskon come on, who were the people?
What’s Mongollon?
Mogollon is how archaeologists refer to the culture and people who lived from about 200 CE - 1450 CE in what is now central Arizona, west-central and southern New Mexico, western Texas, and northern Sonora and Chihuahua.
I love this stuff, I should have been a archeologist or anthropologist instead of a dam plumber 😏
Nah. You are much better off. Promise.
Take it from someone who is currently working as a professional archaeologist... you are much better off as a plumber. Professional archaeology is not a very good way to make a living. If these topics are interesting, you can self-study/research, and if you're really motivated, you can volunteer to assist archaeologists working on various projects in your local area.
Currently activists are demanding apology for unmarked graves at Canadian NA residence schools. But a Pueblo in New Mexico that I visited the graves were unmarked. How did Native Americans deal with their dead before europe influence?
@Evan Hodge it is partly a social movement. unfortunately, social movements attract political activists. Someone looking to divert the passion toward their own goals unrelated to original social movement. Pick a social movement, you will find someone trying to bleed off of that movement. It happens everywhere. You just have to be aware.
I would like to ask anybody: did the indigenous population mark their graves?
No
Simply put to memory and passed down through time, indigenous don't need a diary or map to remember where anything is or was..
Dang, you don’t talk to the Indians.
It's a mud fossel with house cut into it
the earth is one living, breathing organism, its shell is the fossil
I would be too embarrassed to even write the words “intermediate society”
Lesken, talk about the people, come on
Made up noble titles do not designate different ethnicities. Are you a different ethnic group of your shred noble communal relations just cause they say so?
Stop, these artifacts are not prehistoric.
@Evan Hodge Would you please ask this group why they can't excavate recent artifacts and why they are limited to prehistoric only? (This is what I'm understanding, and I was told why.)
@Evan Hodge BCE is vast and cannot be a range as determined for funding. And, if you know what they are dating what they proclaim, with figurines that couldn't have been formed prior to 1810, unless they had a kiln. I mention because I was told to heat the flames from a fire there were tin cans used. And, probably given to them as Mormons made their way west as well as anyone else. Tin cans were invented in 1810 in France. They didn't arrive in New York until (see my documentary), in reference to cargo). There are many facts surrounding fraud, not simply suspicion I confirmed with the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs).
Admirable scholarship with facts and figures disorganized. Poor presentation skills. He should be the presentation and let the PowerPoint be the visual aid. I struggle with his opinions because he fails to state a point, support it with facts and figures and move on. Muddled - I find this to be the same with all his videos. Probably a nice guy, but we don't learn as much as we should given our intestment of time.
He’s a great presenter IMO, I’m dumb so it took me too many views to get what he’s positing but now that I get it it’s crystal clear, it’s obvious.
@@GettinJiggyWithGenghis You're not dumb. You're less ignorant than I am certainly. At least you marshalled through one video three times; whereas, I gave up. Anthropology, as in any sxience, stands on the research shoulders of previous researchers, but this presenter simply negates his forebares as if they had no clue and he has all the answers. He judges in ways that are, to me, tiresome and inappropriate. In fifty years when more information and discovery has modified or negated his own opinions, I hope future scholars will not treat him as he treats his older collegues. I must, however, stand by my opinion that the presentation skills are substandard. To read PowerPoint slides is to bore the audience. He probably thinks the "presentation" is his slide show, but in truth, slides are visual aids, not the presentation. I have coached two TED presenters, and the first thing they happily discovered was that they, not the screen, were the presentation. I appreciate your comments, believe me. Many thanks, Philip
@@philipburton9518 that seems to be the norm in southwest archeology lmao!
@@philipburton9518
I enjoy his presentation style, I understand it so I enjoy it. He’s in a lot of uncharted waters working along side colleagues who continue down the beaten path of empty research. He such a great point regarding anthropologists and I’ve always thought this. They put every one and every thing in categories and stamped them with times and theories forever and ever amen. This guy isn’t into it, he’s actually over it. So he presents in a way that shows he has a ton of research but it’s not like he has references. Do you get what I mean? He’s pioneering a new way of thinking. And so far it sounds great. The other people talk inside of a very well known and established discipline. He’s trying to break the bonds that hold down what is southwestern history.
Excuse me? You sound like a person who is jealous and can't stand someone whose been successful. I understood him right from the get go and always think he puts on a tremendous talk with excellent points, 💯% understood.
totally wrong !
I believe that the “T door” phenomenon has been recorded in Bears Ears (Nine Mile Canyon) recently