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The Anasazi cliff dwellers of the 11th to 14th century were the ancestors of the Pueblo peoples of the American Southwest (Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado). A communal society, the Anasazi were known for basket-making and agricultural endeavors. Their architecture forms a lasting memory of prehistoric southwestern culture. Stonemasonry, sometimes referred to as adobe, was used for communal structures of cellular, contiguous, and flat-roofed rooms. The buildings were erected on mesas or built into canyon walls, and ranged in size from several small units to shelter a few families, to large, multi-storied apartment complexes, whose storage and living spaces accommodated thousands of people. Subterranean ceremonial chambers, called kivas, were the center of Anasazi religious and social life.
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