The Anasazi

 Beginning as nomads, the Anasazi, or "The Ancient Ones" are believed to be ancestors of the modern Pueblo Indians. They took on a traditional life-style of hunting and gathering in southwestern Colorado, southern Utah, northwestern Mexico and northern Arizona from A.D 200 to A.D 1300, until their efforts in agriculture (corn) and storing large amounts of crops resulted in their more permanent settlements of small villages as farmers. Below, ten artifacts have been chosen that both represent and impacted the life of these ancient people.

 Kiva: An underground chamber usually made from logs, adobe, and stone, these ancient buildings are still in use for religious ceremonies or meeting places in the villages on the Hopi Reservation today. Their unusual structure is meant to imitate the portal through which their ancestors entered at the beginning of the Fourth World (earth). Kivas were and still are strictly used by the men of the village, performing rites concerning hunting, rain, healing, while the women rarely enter. Ceremonies and dances are centered around these structures.
Source: http://www.warpaths2peacepipes.com/native-american-culture/kivas.htm

 Shell Necklace: Anasazi jewerly, usually made of seashells (as shown in this particular image), but also varying with turquoise, feathers, and copper, are evidence toward interacting and trading with various tribes. Jewerly such as this also indicates possibility in status.
Source: http://www.nps.gov/meve/learn/education/artifactgallery_necklace.htm

Cradleboard: These packs were soft, flexible, and varied in decoration and were meant to carry young children on a parent's back, most likely used when the mother was working. During A.D 770 many babies' skulls flattened due to the use of a more solid board for the cradleboard.

Source: http://www.nps.gov/meve/learn/educatio/artifactgallery_cradleboard.htm

 Mano and Metate: Typically made of stone, these tools were meant for grinding corn before cooking. More advanced than their original hunting-gathering methods, this artifact begins to show the shift toward agriculture and domestication, as the Anasazi became more efficient in their diets; they relied on dryland farming for easily maturing plants such as corn. The generations to come would soon be called Anasazi Pueblo, as they were more inclined toward deliberate change in their hunting-gathering tradition.

Source: http://www.nps.gov/meve/learn/educati/artifactgallery_manometate.htm

Woven Baskets:Made out of yucca and other various plants woven together, these baskets were light enough to carry around. All of the Anasazi baskets were in various sizes and incorporated intricate geometric patterns to the plaiting, perfecting an art at a time when pottery was being unveiled in several other tribes, therefore earning their name, Basketmakers. These woven objects were not only used in food preparation, burials, and held ceremonial possessions, they also were aided in sifting seeds and flour, carrying water, and possible head cover.

Source: http://www.desertusa.com/ind1/du_peo_ana.html

Stone tools: Originally, the Anasazi hunted with spears, using what we call the atlatl (increases leverage of spear, and velocity of throw), but between A.D 450 and A.D 750, the bow and arrow and stone hunting spears were common, since they proved to have more accuracy. Even knives, used for preparations of food, and constructing gained advantages by being converted to stone, indicating that the Anasazi were evolving and discovering new techniques and new tools.

Source: http://www.nps.gov/meve/learn/education/artifactgallery_spearknife.htm

Anasazi Sandal: Because this ancient people's strengths were in woven clothing and baskets using flexible plant fibers, it's no surprise that they created sandals through the same means through looms. As geometric patterns and size were involved during their making, this artifact is both intriguing and evidence of strength in textiles. Original sandals had a square shape, and evolved from scalloped toes and colorful fibers, to a more natural foot shape and cord to wrap around the ankle.

Source: http://rangecreek.nhmu.org/pageview.aspx?id=20386  http://www.crystalinks.com/anasazi.html

Petroglyph: These are images engraved or "pecked" onto a rocky surface. Very much like the rock art of any hunting-gathering tribe, the Anasazi used petroglyphs to record oral stories that encompassed the Native American religion, and beliefs, such as one that they were visited and connected to aliens or "Star People" and they were meant to be permanent, though several have been destroyed by fires.

Source: http://www.nps.gov/meve/learn/education/artifactgallery_petroglyph.htm

Duck Effigy Pot: Some of the first examples of the use of clay, these abstract pots (also painted in black and white) maintained several shapes, most in the form of a duck (as seen above). It is believed that they were used to carry the power to bring rain, as ducks were seen as having powerful properties of water. 

Source: http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/ahc/artifact_gallery/duck_effigy_vessel.html

Corrugated Jar: Created around A.D 1100-1300, the Anasazi used a specific style of coiling up the clay to create most of their pottery, giving it distinct ridges. They were mainly used in cooking or storage purposes, perhaps used over fires. At this time, pottery seemed to be in more use than woven products.

Source: http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/ahc/artifact_gallery/corrugated_pottery.html

If you're interested in more information about these ancient people, here's a link to take a look at:) http://www.desertusa.com/ind1/du_peo_ana.html OR http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/ahc/who_were_the_anasazi.html