Revealing Cannibalisms In Utah's Past: Horrific If True

Were the Anasazi What We Think They Were?

The Anasazi lived in the southwest including Utah over a thousand years ago. They thrived and built towns that have been found by settlers and archeologists. At one point in history, the entire civilization disappeared. Where did they go and what were they like?

The story has been that they were a peaceful people that thrived for a time and may have left because of a change in the environment. It could have been drought that drove them from the southwest. A group of scientists who have studied the archeological evidence think that it might be a different story.

Were The Anasazi Cannibals?

Over a hundred years ago when the ruins of the Anasazi were being discovered by white settlers, they found piles of bones. These weren’t just animal bones, but included human remains of men, women, and children.

In a documentary from the World History Channel the case is laid out that the Anasazi performed human sacrifice and ate other humans. It is a controversial claim. Those natives who believe they descend from these people find it very offensive to say these things about their ancestors.

On the other hand, the evidence for cannibalism is compelling. A professor in Arizona, Physical Anthropologist Christy Turner, shows evidence of skulls broken in a violent way, scraping of the bones to remove marrow, and human myoglobin found in the remains in feces piles at some sites.

Where Did the Anasazi Come From?

Turner also found evidence that a people came from Mesoamerica in Mexico to the southwest about 800 years ago and brought their culture of human sacrifice with them. They conquered the people living here and imposed their ways on them. This would explain where they came from and maybe where they went.