Final answer:
The Anasazi, also known as Ancient Puebloans, inhabited the Four Corners area of the United States between 700-1300 CE. They built sophisticated architectural structures like cliff dwellings and kivas, and were involved in extensive trade networks.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Anasazi, also known as the Ancient Puebloans, lived in the Four Corners area of the modern United States, which includes southwestern Colorado, northwestern New Mexico, northeastern Arizona, and southeastern Utah. They were prominent from around 700 to 1300 CE and are renowned for their architectural accomplishments, including cliff dwellings at places like Mesa Verde and large, complex towns. These structures provided living spaces and storage for the crops they grew, such as corn. The Anasazi were also known for their kivas, which were ceremonial centers important to their culture.
In addition to their remarkable architecture, the Anasazi were also sophisticated in trade, having a large network of roads extending into the countryside for economic exchange with other regions, as evidenced by luxury items discovered at archaeological sites. The decline of the Anasazi civilization was influenced by factors like climatic change, which included a period known as the Great Drought, socio-political changes, and migrations that eventually absorbed the Anasazi into what became the modern Pueblo cultures.