What Caused So Many Cultures To Disappear In 1400 AD?

I’m an archaeologist— drought leads to a struggle for resources, which leads to warfare, which leads to disease and destruction of culture and abandonment of regional homelands.

This may be seemingly unrelated, but what I write can have had a impact on the Northern hemissphere. I am a historian and vulcanologist. In 1308 till 1362 there was a long series of volcanic eruptions on Iceland that impacted Europe. In 1340 - 1345 a deadly pandemic of the black plague took away inhabitants in many villages in Europe. In 1362 the biggest eruption in the Northern hemisphere erupted. Oreifajokull caused an enormous tidalwave that flooded the low countries, areas of Great Brittain (erasing 79 villages of Dorset) and ended in a vulcanic winter that brought winterconditions in spring and autumn and brought wet conditions in summer. This lasted at least ten years. The population in Europe was reduced by a third as a consequence. On Greenland, somebody in this comment section reports that the population of Greenland disappeared. I believe that when people migrate, they take their culture with them. This seems not to have happened in the report in this video. Just like in Europe, many areas in the Americas were depopulated. In the past we have seen similar repeats of collapse. Around 10.000 BC climate change caused hunter gatherers to start adopting agriculture. 1500 BC we see the Bronze Age Collapse. The story about the biblical Jacob takes place in this time. Kanaan was mostly depopulated and the people of Israel migrated here. Then 1300 - 1400 CE brought astoroids impacts, vulcanic eruptions, tidal waves, volcanic winter, pandemics, warfare and abandonement of settled areas. These mentioned times are the only times when worldwide population decreased by a third. The only other time I know this happened is with the eruption of Toba supervolcano 74.000 ago. The human race was almost extinct. A new type of human emerged then: Homo Sapiens Sapiens, cultural man. Us! The story of Adam and Eve in the bible is from that time. Nature rebounded after 6 days in the area that now is called Aden (pronounced Eden). Preceding the Bronze Age Collapse was the eruption of the Akrotiri volcano 1650. Most collapses commenced with volcanic eruptions or impacts of meteors. Then occurs climatic upheaval. Then famine happens. Then pandemics spread. Than happen migrations and reduction of population. Then cultural changes and cultural renewal happen. Wars often occur in the process.

I love that 1.) you admit you don’t know 2.)you invite comments from people to narrow in on the truth 3.) the people with the comments are offering valueable insights. Good work setting a great example for the finding of truth and a great example of how the world should run.

Populations in Europe also declined 8% between 1250-1400AD. Ice core records suggest very large volcanic activity that may have continued for a long time causing widespread cold climatic conditions (LIA), crop failures, and disease. For a culture that was highly dependent on corn that could no longer be reliably grown the effect would have been devastating. This may have caused the breakdown of social order, tribal warfare, and abandonment of a way of life. 1250- when Atlantic pack ice began to grow, a cold period that was possibly triggered or enhanced by the massive eruption of the Samalas volcano in 1257[19] and the associated volcanic winter. 1275 to 1300- when the radiocarbon dating of plants shows that they were killed by glaciation 1300- when warm summers stopped being dependable in Northern Europe 1315- when rains and the Great Famine of 1315–1317 occurred This is the best explanation I have yet read for the global depopulation and complete abandonment of the great southwest civilizations.

There was Volcanic activity near Flagstaff that deposited ash and cinder that was feet deep over vast areas of land. This would have contaminated not only the landscape and water sources in that area but also water sources downstream and south of Flagstaff. Your map showing the areas depopulated (6:37) looks suspiciously like a volcanic plume. I am building a home near Flagstaff and every time I dig for drain pipe or foundation work I run into a layer of cement-like material around 3 ft. down that is 6"-12" thick. Definitely volcanic in origin.

I'm an Architect by profession and i have travelled extensively in that region and have studied the Architecture and i believe the Architecture tells the tale. Everything was defensively built. They built lookouts on the high places, and food storage was hidden. As the population grew and drought more severe, it became survival of the fittest. Until even the last ones standing saw the place as haunted and cursed.

As an archaeologist working in the Southwest I have found evidence for warfare, five times it was sites where the people were killed and left unburied, and yes the buildings were burned down on top of them. One of these was just below Tonto National Monument. Two people lying face down on the floor of a room; site dates to the early to mid 1200s. One had the back of the skull fractured, probably by a club. The building was burned and the roof collapsed on them, but there was only burning on the bones where the skin is thin, so they never had time to decompose. The roof collapsed on the bodies, one was completely covered and intact, except one hand was intact, but 90 degrees from the wrist. The other body was only partially covered and dogs or coyotes had torn the upper part of the body to pieces, leaving a trail of body fragments, many with canine chew marks from the buried body to the door of the room. There was less than 2 foot of adobe left in the door jamb, even so we found multiple projectile points embedded approximately horizontally in the adobe, probably shot at the people inside. Definte evidence of warfare. I have excavated 4 other such sites in my career, with equally convincing evidence.

During my time in the Marine Corps, I befriended a Sergeant of Diné descent who shared an intriguing version of the Skin-Walker legend, passed down from his elders. According to his account, the Skin-Walkers were remnants of a previous population, cursed for betraying their own families and tribes. My sergeant, a well-read and educated individual, interpreted this to suggest that the Skin-Walkers were survivors of a brutal conflict marked by acts akin to war crimes. He speculated that although the Skin-Walkers continued their old ways upon the arrival of the Diné, they were too few to overpower them. Nevertheless, the unconventional warfare waged by the Skin-Walkers left a profound impact on the Diné, giving rise to the enduring legend. This interpretation, while speculative, does not conflict with established facts.

The Fremont and Moqui cultures further north in Utah also dimished or disappeared around the same time frame. So this mystery was more widespread than just Arizona. Also this was the same time frame the Aztec culture was begining to grow and rise so dramaticly, according to them and archeologists they came from the north. I've had the same questions as you for many years, and hoping someone can make a positive connection about this issue.

“Anasazi” is a Navajo word to describe these natives the famous area being Chaco Canyon. The Navajo’s knew they were into slavery and avoided them even saying terrible things were going on in that area.

I read a very compelling book, "1421. The Year China Discovered America." It was subsequently supplemented by unusual things found in the Americas by other archeologists that support the theory. It's possible their interactions with coastal people, who then traded inland, brought disease. This interaction could cause the die-off of large numbers of people. Just a thought and worth the read regardless. Great episode. Love it.

For more than 450 years, Norse settlers from Scandinavia lived—sometimes even thrived—in southern Greenland. Then, they vanished. Their mysterious disappearance in the 14th century has been linked to everything from plummeting temperatures and poor land management to plague and pirate raids. Now, researchers have discovered an additional factor that might have helped seal the settlers’ fate: drought. Reason would say some world wide event happened during this time too.

I'm not an archeologist, but I am studying to be one, and I do agree that the sudden vacating of the region was too large to simply be coincidence. Personally, I think it may have been a combination of factors. A natural disaster in one area leading to refugees seeking shelter - the sudden increase in population being an excellent vector for disease, leading to more depopulation and seeking shelter elsewhere. Natural resources start to get depleted, and conflict becoming more likely, until eventually everyone had left the region and their cultures absorbed into the surrounding regions. It's possible we may never know exactly what happened. But it is food for thought. Especially when compared to similar instances in other parts of the world. The Bronze Age collapse of the fertile crescent being one instance that we're starting to understand more, and which might have some similarity to what happened here in the US. Great Video, Andy! Thank you!

Cahokia, near the Mississippi River, was depopulated around that same time also.

The Salado of the San Pedro river valley had definitely shifted to a defensive posture just prior to their disappearance - this is amply demonstrated in the strong fortification features found at their last few consolidated villages such as Leaverton Mesa, 111 Ranch and and High Mesa. "Migrants and Mounds - Classic Period Archeology of the Lower San Pedro" makes for an interesting read on this marked cultural shift just prior to their departure from the San Pedro.

There's a channel called Navajo Traditional Teachings here on youtube, the presenter is a Navajo historian/elder named Wally Brown. He has several videos where he speaks about the traditional stories of the Navajo about the Anasazi, which he sharply distinguishes from the Ancestral Puebloans and other groups of the region. As he relates it, the Anasazi were an outsider group who arrived fairly suddenly and remained for only a relatively short period, being centered in Chaco Canyon. Supposedly they went out raiding, conquering, and enslaving the other peoples, and even conducted human sacrifices, but were ultimately punished with a great wind that toppled their cities and dried up their water sources. During and after their reign of terror, the ancestors of the Navajo and the other groups fled the area to hide in cliff dwellings. I can't fully speak to how closely these stories align with the archaeological record, but they certainly seem to fit the main theories for the depopulation, especially if a period of prolonged violence coincided with a major drought. I could imagine a group attempting to impose something like mesoamerican style social and religious customs on the area, i.e. large stone cities, conquest of neighboring groups, blood and sacrifice focused religious rites, etc. could've caused such a depopulation.

So solado pottery just stops completely in 1400? That seems very strange because up until that point, when Pueblo groups move into a new area, their pottery shows up in the record.

Great video Andy , three reasons I don't believe they disappeared because of warfare. 1)No tribe had the amount of people it would of took to March the length & breath of Arizona through rough, hot,desolate terrain and wipe out all the other tribes that they encountered 2) Consider logistics all the food ,water, weapons and equipment you would of had to carry by foot since there were no horses till the Spanish reintroduce d them in the 1500s. 3)What did an invading army have to gain? Most of these tribes were dirt poor and had nothing of value to warrant such destruction.4) Tribes were not dictated to by a Chief,look at plains tribes they went on war parties if they wanted to for horses and glory they never wiped out whole tribes . Perhaps a paleoclimatolgist who studies droughts in past history could shed some light on past climate changes at that time. M T Cassidy Professor Native American Studies. Keep up the Good work

Thanks Andy, you obviously put a lot of work into this. Since Native Americans have such a strong oral history, I would be interested to hear what their stories are. Nice work.

An uncle of mine lived in Globe AZ. He taught history at the local community college and found some ruins in his half acre backyard. He passed in the early 1990s. I miss you, uncle Don.