The theory just states that we were premature in attributing a fortress mentality to the Anasazi. They could just have been preserving the top of the mesa for crops and didn't build on the canyon bottom because of floods. That left the cliffs themselves for housing." Ten grunted. "What did the professorial types say about the signal towers on top of Mesa Verde? They were used to pass the news of births, right?" Diana gave Ten a sideways look, but he appeared to be engrossed in the red potshards she was finding and carefully placing in front of him. Already he had found two to glue together and was positioning a third. "The towers could have been used to welcome visitors," Diana said neutrally, "or to show the way up onto the mesa for people who were from other areas." "People from other areas tend to be strangers and strangers tend to be unfriendly." "Perhaps the Anasazi believed that strangers were simply friends they hadn't met yet." "That would certainly explain how the Anasazi died out so fast," Ten said sardonically. "In some academic circles, your point of view would be considered philosophically and politically retrograde," Diana said without heat.
