MYSTERY of the ANASAZI
by Edward J. Fraughton
Price: $10,000
Status: Available
Size: 18 inches high
Media: Cast Bronze
The word Anasazi means
"ancient ones" or "old people" to the modern Pueblo, Navajo
and Zuni apartment dwellers of the American Southwest. With their bare
hands, these great, great grandparents "...of the land, and of the people,"
constructed elaborate cities throughout the spectacular sandstone cliffs.
Then, without explanation, they suddenly disappeared.
Behind, the Anasazi left inspiring petroglyphs, pictographs,
elaborate tools and pottery so well preserved they could have been built
and used yesterday. As a practical matter, the sophisticated stone and
mud dwellings constructed inside the eroded cliffs and canyon walls provided
protection, not only from the weather, but against hostile enemies and
other unseen dangers that may have lurked around at the time. During the
warm spring and summer days, the Anasazi tilled land on top of the mesas
and in the drainage lands that lay beneath their homes. To suppliment a
diet which included meat, their crops mainly consisted of corn, grains,
nuts, barries, rooted plants, squash and pumpkins. The Anasazi were also
extremely successful at growing fruit trees, a great accomplishment in
the dry desert climate.
The inspiration for this sculpture was born
in my childhood years where, at the age of 13, I traveled to Mesa Verde,
Colorado, with boy scout troop. Remnants of the ancient ladders and unexplored
portions of the ancient ruins were evident at that time. My curiosity was
piqued as to where the Anasazi went, and why, a question which still remains
a great mystery to this day.
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