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The Ancestral Puebloans were a prehistoric Native American civilization centered around the present-day Four Corners area of the Southwest United States. Archaeologists still debate when a distinct Anasazi culture emerged, but the current consensus, based on terminology defined by the Pecos Classification, suggests their emergence around 1200 B.C., the Basketmaker II Era.

The civilization is perhaps best-known for the jacal , adobe and sandstone dwellings that they built along cliff walls, particularly during the Pueblo II and Pueblo III eras. The best-preserved examples of those dwellings are in parks such as Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Mesa Verde National Park, and Canyon De Chelly National Monument . These villageA village is a human settlement commonly found in rural areas. It is usually larger than a hamlet and smaller than a town or city. Villages have been the normal unit of community living in most areas of the world throughout its history, up until the Induss, called puebloFor the town in Colorado, see Pueblo, Colorado Pueblos are traditional Native American communities of the Southwest. Though some pueblos have few standing adobe buildings, the commuities are recognized worldwide for adobe buildings, which are also sometims by MexicanThis article is about the country Mexico. For other meanings, see Mexico (disambiguation The United Mexican States or Mexico ( Spanish: Estados Unidos Mexicanos or Mexico regarding the use of the variant spelling Mejico see section The name below) is a co settlers, were often only accessible by rope or through rock climbing.

They also left behind a lot of petroglyphA Petroglyph is an image recorded on stone, usually by prehistoric peoples; the word comes from the Greek words petros meaning "stone" and glyph meaning "to carve". This term is often used to refer to images painted on stone. However, the terms "Pictograps and pictographs.

The Ancestral Puebloans also made some unique pieces of pottery which are very valuable for their rarity.

The Ancestral Puebloans disappeared for as yet undetermined reasons. Many have speculated that a change in local climate and resulting agricultural failures may be the reason; for example, the San Ildefonso Pueblo people used to live in Mesa Verde and Bandelier .

See also: kiva, sipapu, Kokopelli, Matrilocality, Hopi, Zuni, Taos Pueblo, Cliff Palace