Hey, would you be willing to elaborate on that "disappearance of the Anasazi is bs" thing? I've heard something like that before but don't know much about it and would be interested to learn more. Or just like point me to a paper or yt video or something if you don't want to explain right now? Thanks!

I’m traveling to an archaeology conference right now, so this sounds like a great way to spend my airport time! @aurpiment you were wondering too—

“Anasazi” is an archaeological name given to the ancestral Puebloan cultural group in the US Southwest. It’s a Diné (Navajo) term and Modern Pueblos don’t like it and find it othering, so current archaeological best practices is to call this cultural group Ancestral Puebloans. (This is politically complicated because the Diné and Apache nations and groups still prefer “Anasazi” because through cultural interaction, mixing, and migration they also have ancestry among those people and they object to their ancestry being linguistically excluded… demonyms! Politically fraught always!)

However. The difficulties of explaining how descendant communities want to call this group kind of immediately shows: there are descendant communities. The “Anasazi” are Ancestral Purbloans. They are the ancestors of the modern Pueblos.

The Ancestral Puebloans as a distinct cultural group defined by similar material culture aspects arose 1200-500 BCE, depending on what you consider core cultural traits, and we generally stop talking about “Ancestral Puebloan” around 1450 CE. These were a group of people who lived in northern Arizona and New Mexico, and southern Colorado and Utah—the “Four Corners” region. There were of course different Ancestral Pueblo groups, political organizations, and cultures over the centuries—Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, Kayenta, Tusayan, Ancestral Hopi—but they generally share some traits like religious sodality worship in subterranean circular kivas, residence in square adobe roomblocks around central plazas, maize farming practices, and styles of coil-and-scrape constructed black-on-white and black-on-red pottery.

The most famous Ancestral Pueblo/“Anasazi” sites are the Cliff Palace and associated cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde in southwestern Colorado:

When Europeans/Euro-Americans first found these majestic places, people had not been living in them for centuries. It was a big mystery to them—where did the people who built these cliff cities go? SURELY they were too complex and dramatic to have been built by the Native people who currently lived along the Rio Grande and cited these places as the homes of their ancestors!

So. Like so much else in American history: this mystery is like, 75% racism.

But WHY did the people of Mesa Verde all suddenly leave en masse in the late 1200s, depopulating the whole Mesa Verde region and moving south? That was a mystery. But now—between tree-ring climatological studies, extensive archaeology in this region, and actually listening to Pueblo people’s historical narratives—a lot of it is pretty well-understood. Anything archaeological is inherently, somewhat mysterious, because we have to make our best interpretations of often-scant remaining data, but it’s not some Big Mystery. There was a drought, and people moved south to settle along rivers.

There’s more to it than that—the 21-year drought from 1275-1296 went on unusually long, but it also came at a time when the attempted re-establishment of Chaco cultural organization at the confusingly-and-also-racist-assuption-ly-named Aztec Ruin in northern New Mexico was on the decline anyway, and the political situation of Mesa Verde caused instability and conflict with the extra drought pressures, and archaeologists still strenuously debate whether Athabaskans (ancestors of the Navajo and Apache) moved into the Four Corners region in this time or later, and whether that caused any push-out pressures…

But when I tell people I study Southwest archaeology, I still often hear, “Oh, isn’t it still a big mystery, what happened to the Anasazi? Didn’t they disappear?”

And the answer is. They didn’t disappear. Their descendants simply now live at Hopi, Zuni, Taos, Picuris, Acoma, Cochiti, Isleta, Jemez, Laguna, Nambé, Ohkay Owingeh, Pojoaque, Sandia, San Felipe, Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, Tamaya/Santa Ana, Kewa/Santo Domingo, Tesuque, Zia, and Ysleta del Sur. And/or married into Navajo and Apache groups. The Anasazi/Ancestral Puebloans didn’t disappear any more than you can say the Ancient Romans disappeared because the Coliseum is a ruin that’s not used anymore. And honestly, for the majority of archaeological mysteries about “disappearance,” this is the answer—the socio-political organization changed to something less obvious in the archaeological record, but the people didn’t disappear, they’re still there.

Dear SJ, is there an age of sail visual dictionary or another resource you would recommend for someone wanting to learn what things are called on boats? I’m coming to appreciate just how much technical knowledge and terminology life on boats required.

Sorry for such a delay in answering this—I don’t have much bandwidth. And unfortunately I don’t have a catch-all answer for this, but maybe people who follow me do.

The Young Officer’s Sheet Anchor has some nice diagrams, but the descriptions can be rather inscrutable if you don’t know how boats work. There are a lot of diagrams on the Internet if you search for things like sail diagrams or rigging diagrams for different types of vessels. Googling ‘ship diagram books’ or ‘ship visual dictionaries’ also seem to yield a number of book results you could look into. Not visual, but I like the Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea as a general resource for What Things Are. And if you do ever get any opportunities to sail on a vessel, you’ll learn what things are called too.

I’m loving your Ancient Greek lit blogging

thanks!!! it's because I'm taking a mythology class for my fine arts credit in uni but the readings gave me brainrot for real

Manny what is the aubreyad (I am pronouncing this like Iliad I hope that is correct) and possibly who is Aubrey. I could look this up but I won’t because I’m afraid

Hello!! OK, SO: disregard much of my past posting. I am frequently saying diuers insane things. Here’s my objective description:

The Aubreyad, also known as the Aubrey-Maturin series, is a series of 20 novels set during the Napoleonic wars following the adventures of two guy best friends over about a decade (or more; 1813 is six years long. Do not worry about this.) One of the friends is Jack Aubrey, hugelarge boat guy extraordinaire, captain in the Royal Navy who is very capable at sea and prone to social blunders on land. The other friend is Stephen Maturin y Domanova, a physician, who works aboard Jack’s various vessels but doesn’t have a sailing bone in his body. He is the brains of the friendship, as well as a naturalist, spy, Irish republican, Catalan independentista, and a weapons-grade weirdo. Jack opposes Napoleon because rah rah England, while Stephen considers Napoleon a tyrant and a traitor to the better ideas of the revolution. Another character I love is Diana, who initially has a belle dame sans merci thing going on with Stephen, and then a marriage.

These books are written by Jane Austen’s #1 fan, eminent boat sicko Patrick O’Brian, who cares very much about end of 18th to start of 19th century history/politics/science and will make you care too.

They met at a concert when Stephen told Jack off for tapping the beat wrong on his knee and almost dueled about it, but then the next day Jack bought Stephen dinner because he was in a better mood and Stephen had zero money. Stephen stained his good coat by putting lamb chops in his pockets for later. Another time, Jack was in danger of being arrested so Stephen put him in a female bear costume and made him walk across France on a leash. Crazy shit keeps happening to them. This isn’t even .05% of it.

Silna for @aurpiment

Eyelashes frozen shut, thawed with a kiss.

A while back @aurpiment made a comment about Genly and Estraven based on The Kiss, as a concept. And? Fellas, I had to

Can you explain for someone not as familiar with the work of Cato the younger what makes him particularly submissive and breedable?

he's not at all submissive and breedable but he IS barefoot and pregnant. cato was known for walking around barefoot and he died by disembowelling himself. or in the analysis of esteemed scholar @aurpiment:

Zero Context Tag Game

If you’re tagged, make a new post and share 1-2 (a few) sentences from your most recent unposted WIP(s) with zero context – Let your followers guess!

Tagged by my dearest @glowing-blue-feathermage - thank you friend!

Here's an excerpt from chapter 3 of Thy Heart Torments, my transmasc!Stephen Maturin AU!

They had been sitting together on the starboard lockers of Surprise's great cabin enjoying each other's company in relative silence - Stephen with a Malay phrasebook he had picked up in Bombay and Jack writing in his serial letter to Sophie - all that afternoon, the sun shining into the cabin as it sank towards the horizon behind them. Stephen had dozed off, it seemed, for he awoke in slow stages in that honey-coloured heat belowdecks to find himself using Jack's bosom as a pillow, pinned to the larger man's side with an arm about one shoulder and resting on his waist.

Tagging @aurpiment @sesamie @chiropteracupola and anyone else who would like to play! (Pls do not feel pressured to, and please please please tag me if you do play - I want to see!)

tagged by @evil-perfervid (in a round-about manner...) to post 5 songs that I have on repeat!

羽生まゐご — 我愛メイデ

Twice — Set Me Free

Twice — Talk That Talk

Ado — Backlight

Nuna Asiilasooq

In this I now tag @vriskakinnieaynrand @kata4a @270828 @deaths-accountant @aurpiment

9 favorite films that i watched (for the first time) in 2023 😁

I was tagged by @cinemaisgay (thanks I love doing these 😂)

I'm tagging @aurpiment @abvfluxing @notsoterriblymisanthropic @chavdog @sttrinians2007 @was-taylorgoldsmiths @idlestry @welcometothesass @spectrumcore @maeamian and anyone else who wants to do it, give some ideas for things I haven't watched!

Got tagged by @aurpiment to do this picrew and post the last song I listened to, which was "Wyt Ti'n Clywed?" by Sŵnami (absolute banger and generally 11/10 song for Snapping Out Of It)

I'll tag @no-passaran, @minglana, @quimerathetraveler, @kutyozh, @salvadorbonaparte, @spraakentusiast, and anyone else who wants to, go wild <3

@anathenma tagged me ty bb!!!!

just a forewarning this is going to be a profoundly mentally unwell list. i have basically only been using spotify to refine & relisten to a very specific concept playlist

shuffle your ‘on repeat’ playlist and list the first 10 songs that play, then tag 10 people

arcadia - ramona lisa

the mad stone - everything everything

strange weather - anna calvi & david byrne

the fiery pit - rael jones

as a man - anna calvi

mother stands for comfort - kate bush

my manic & i - laura marling

fear the future - st vincent

the magic place - julianna barwick

redacted for embarassing :)

tagguing @gablehood @radgepacket @aurpiment @dykejohnmilton @raffaella-cerullo @charlottecordays @sankta-lucia @musicandmasochism @macbethwitches @zaegreus

Happy birthday Bolo!!

thanks !!

Sending Tumblr hate mail for you.

thank you king

Here is the um the terror chibi fanart throw pillow from the thrift store. Isn't it something

sweet jesus this will certainly be even funnier after i actually get into the show. hey @aurpiment get a load of this

@aurpiment we are thinking the same thinks