IN PERSON The Little Ice Age and Indian Migrations in North America Around 1300 A.D.

PROGRAM ROOM B

Learn about why the ancestral Puebloans (formerly known as the Anasazi) came to Mesa Verde (Colorado), why they eventually built very defensive homes in the surrounding cliffs, and why they abandoned the area around 1300 AD.  Because of the “Little Ice Age” and minor changes in our climate,  Indians throughout North America from Alaska to Colorado to Illinois left very developed cities and headed south….to warmer parts of the country.  There have been many explanations….but modern forensic anthropology and dendrochronology offer a lot of answers.

Presenter: Local Resident Bruce Schundler and his wife, Sara, worked as National Park Rangers at Mesa Verde NP for two summers, and this program was one of Bruce’s evening amphitheater programs.