A word or two about some of the terms and the organization of the materials we have used seems necessary. First, we have chosen to use the term "Ancestral Puebloans" rather that "Anasazi" (a Navajo word mearning "ancient ones"). This use is in keeping with current scholarly convention. Second, we have organized the study of these peoples into two broad periods--the Basketmaker Period and the Pueblo Period. We recognize that this simplifies the conventional chronological organization of these materials (compressing three or so basketmaker periods into one; compressing four or five pueblo periods into one). However, our justification for this simplification is that our intent is for this web site to be used primarily by fourth graders who probably would have missed or been confused by too fine distinctions between and among the conventional scholarly periodization.

     Finally, we have tried to include only links to reputable, high-quality web sites in the materials that follow. For a complete listing of the sites we have used (and some additional ones as well), with brief annotations of the sponsoring agency for each site, check the List of Web Sites.