In one such test Dr Axtell and Dr Epstein have collaborated with George Gumerman, an ar chaeologist from the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico, to model theAnasazi society.
According to research published in the journal Science, theAnasazi -- the ancestors of modern Pueblo Indians, who built elaborate stone and adobe structures in the American Southwest -- also may have succumbed to decades of intense drought and cooler temperatures during the 13th century, in addition to factors like warfare and religious turmoil.