The Oshara Tradition: Origins of Anasazi Cutlure

Some of the most intriguing problems in the p re his to r-y of the New World concern the origins and development of the sophisticated sedentary town-dwelling Indians of the Southwestern United States, particularly the Pueblos. Seventy five 'years of extensive research have yielded a considerable amount of infor- matron on the immediate background of these native Pueblo peo- pl es , whose prehistoric representatives archaeologists group under the term Anasazi Culture. However, almost all of this research has focused on the development of Anasazi (Pueblo) culture, from the beginning of the Christian Era until present, after the introduction of agriculture and largely after the rise of settled village life. Knowledge of the relevant events which led
up to this period has been until recently very limited and f rag - mented. There were relatively few data on the critical questions concerning the adoption of domestic plants, the role of climatic change, the slow evolution of society from a hunting and gathering way of life toward sedentarism, and the growth of the complex social and religious organization characteristic of the Puebloans.
In addition, it is evident that an understanding of the Southwestern situation could shed light on more general and large scale ques- tions about the origins of settled life on a world-wide basis. At present research in other critical areas for the development of sedentarism (Near East, Meso -Arne rtca) has far outstripped that carried out in the Southwest.