ca. 2,000 B.C.

• The arrival of the Anasazi in the North American Southwest dates back as early as 1,500 B.C. They seem to have been at first nomadic hunters, using wooden clubs, hunting sticks and spears called Atlatl.
  

• They lived chiefly in houses called kivas with adobe floors and learned to grow corn and squash, probably from southern neighbors in Mexico. As they developed more extensive agriculture, such as cultivation of corn, they dug pits and lined them with stone for grain storage. Later, they built substantial dwellings lined with slabs of stone. They were the ancestors of the Pueblo Indians.

1500-1200 B.C.

• 
  The Olmec culture developed and flourished within the northern Tehuantepec region of Mexico. The Olmecs established several larger ceremonial centers. The Olmec is regarded by archaeologists as one of the most artistic and advanced technological cultures in ancient Mesoamerica. This culture emerged in the lowland swamp region of Mexico. Without benefit of draft animals, the wheel or tools, the Olmec produced monumental sculptures, elaborate ceremonial centers and complex water management systems that required the organization of time, materials and labor on a grand scale. A rich artistic tradition suggests that many specialized trades existed in their very complex and stratified society.

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Life in the Southwest

Sunlight illuminates the interior of a kiva

Pictured (left): Small bust carved in rare blue jade, c.1200 B.C The actual size of the piece is under three inches tall! (Smithsonian Timelines of the Ancient World)