Why might the anasazi have built the type of buildings they did?

Answer 1

The modern Pueblo people are the direct descendants of the so-called Anasazi. There is no break in the tradition. They are often now called the Ancestral Pueblo peoples. All the cultural artifacts, not just the houses, that we can find, are in an unbroken line. They also all have stories, that are assumed to be true, of which clans came form which now abandoned "Anansazi" ruins. And some Pueblos people still go and do rituals in those places. The changes in location probably have to do with prolonged drought and changes in timing of rainfall that happened around 1250-1300. These weather changes also appear to have caused cultural upheaval. The also may have been problems with down-cutting of streams and lowering of water tables do to cutting too many trees. The people moved to areas with more reliable water sources for farming and brought the building technology with them.

Answer 2

These pueblo-style dwellings are perfectly adapted for the high desert environments of the Four Corners area. As the Anasazi moved from being nomadic hunter gatherers to being sedentary they started to build larger group dwellings. These pueblo dwellings were typically sited in alcoves within the sandstone where they were somewhat sheltered from the elements. Toward the end of the Anasazi period (about 1150-1300 AD) the dwellings were sited in highly defensible positions further up the canyon walls

Answer 3

The Anasazi built buildings as they did so they could have defense. Ladders were pulled up at night.