1. Before 2000 years ago, the people in Utah got all their food by hunting animals and gathering plants they found. But then they learned how to grow their own food. How do you think the invention of agriculture would change their lives?

a. They would stop traveling as much and would spend more time at home tending their gardens.
b. They could build stone houses.
c. They could start to get and keep more "stuff"—like pots, tools, and jewelry.
d. They might have to make dams and irrigation ditches to get water to their crops.

2. What are the people growing?

a. corn
b. peaches
c. roses
d. squash

3. Why did the Anasazi give up the old spears and atlatls and start using the newfangled bows and arrows?

a. A bow and arrow was a chick magnet— and much cooler than carrying a spear.
b. The leader of the village decided to upgrade the weapons system.
c. A hunter could aim better and shoot faster with a bow and arrow.
d. It was easier to kill animals with a bow and arrow.

4. Where does that ladder go?

a. A secret cave where the Anasazi kept all their gold.
b. An energy home (cool in the summer and warm in the winter) called a pithouse.
c. A jail cell.
d. A bomb shelter.

5. A woman is wearing a necklace made of shells from the ocean— 800 miles away. How did she get them?

a. She found them during her summer vacation to Malibu.
b. A giant tidal wave washed the shells into Utah.
c. We don't know for sure.
d. Her boyfriend bought them on the internet.

6. Why did the Anasazi build their houses high on cliffs?

a. Developers could get a better price for condos with a view.
b. They wanted a place where they could just throw their garbage off the edge.
c. They liked the thrill of climbing to a dangerous place.
d. They wanted to protect their homes from attacks by other people.

7. What do the designs on the pot tell us?

a. That the Anasazi valued beauty.
b. That some Anasazi potters were skilled artists and craftspeople.
c. That the Anasazi used their pots as flower vases.
d. That the Anasazi had a potmaking factory that employed young women.

Answers
1. a, b, c, and d. Agriculture affected almost everything?

2. a and d. They also grew beans and cotton. They didn't have quite the variety of food that we do.

3. c and d. Bows and arrows were an invention that made hunting much easier.

4. b. Besides pithouses, the Anasazi built underground, circular rooms called kivas, which they probably used for ceremonies and meetings.

5. c. Maybe the Anasazi had a system for trading with people far away. Maybe a traveler brought the shells back from the ocean. Maybe people just swapped them from person to person until they reached Utah. But somehow shells got here, because archaeologists have found them in Anasazi villages.

6. d. The Anasazi started building houses on cliffs during a time of drought— so there was less food to go around. They wanted to be safe from thieves and attackers, so they built little "fortresses" on the cliffs. (Actually, since the houses were high up, it was convenient to throw their garbage off the edge, and the Anasazi did. Archaeologists have learned a lot about the Anasazi just by looking in the garbage heaps.)

7. a and b.