Once we pass on to a time which is separated from our own by hundreds instead of thousands of years we are on firmer ground. Two main _basic cultures_ have been differentiated by archaeologists and it now seems probable that two more may be recognized. The best known and the first to be considered is often called the Anasazi. This is a Navajo name for the “ancient ones” and is applied to the prehistoric inhabitants of the plateau area of the Southwest which includes the drainages of the San Juan, Little Colorado, Rio Grande, Upper Gila and Salt Rivers, much of Utah and some of eastern Nevada. The term _plateau_ must not be interpreted as referring to a plain. Actually, it is a vast expanse of territory with a greater elevation than the surrounding areas, but with many drainage sources which have formed gorges in the tableland. It contains prairies, mountains, and terraced mesas. The Anasazi cultural sequence is a continuous one but can be divided into successive horizons: the earlier of which are called _Basketmaker_ and the later ones, _Pueblo_. The end of the Basketmaker era is placed at approximately 700 A. D. in most areas, but it is as yet impossible to give any beginning date for it. The earliest date provided by tree-rings for wood from a Basketmaker site is 217 A.D.,[122] but the culture was well established by that time. Some charred wood found in a primitive Basketmaker site near Durango, Colorado, has yielded information which is still considered tentative but which seems to indicate occupation well before the birth of Christ.[95] The beginning date for the Pueblo era coincides with that given for the end of the Basketmaker period which preceded it. No terminal date may be given, for Pueblo Indians still live in New Mexico and Arizona. THE BASKETMAKER PERIOD[1] The first evidence of the Basketmaker people was discovered in 1893 when ninety bodies accompanied by a great many finely woven baskets were found in a cave in Butler Wash in southeastern Utah. It was apparent that these people were older than the builders of the cliff houses, and of a different culture, and the profusion of baskets led to the term, Basketmakers, being applied to them to differentiate them from the later people. The name soon found its way into scientific literature and has continued to be used. It soon became apparent, however, that all the Basketmakers were not of the same age, and archaeologists found that they had to have names to distinguish the different cultural periods. [Illustration: Fig. 5—Map of the Southwest showing sites, towns, and areas referred to in Chapter III.]