The earliest inhabitants of the Colorado Plateau belonged to a nomadic culture archaeologists call ΓÇ£Desert Archaic.ΓÇ¥ These people roamed the canyonlands perhaps as early as 1000 B.C. and left little evidence of their passing. Beginning about 100 B.C., the culture which the Navajo would call Anasazi, also referred to as ΓÇ£Ancestral Puebloan,ΓÇ¥ began to develop in the Four Corners area. This includes the canyons generally east of the Colorado River.
The Fremont people, with close ties to the Anasazi, occupied portions of the canyon country generally west and north of the river. By 1000 A.D., the Anasazi culture had developed into what could culminate in the classic pueblo building period of Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, Hovenweep, and more. This ΓÇ£urbanizationΓÇ¥ may
