In this semi-arid region, prehistoric people survived by making the best of what the landscape offered. The Anasazi, or Ancestral Puebloans, found tillable soil and enough water to grow corn, squash, and beans, and they lived in this area from approximately 1 to 1350 A.D. The Hopi call their ancestors the Ancestral Puebloans, or Hisatsinom, while the Navajo call them the Anasazi. All present day tribes feel a strong reverence and connection to the prehistoric peoples who inhabited this region. Lands too high in elevation for farming provided historic peoples with other vital resources, and on the Skutumpah Terraces east of here, Archaic, Anasazi, Paiute, Ute, and Navajo peoples hunted wild game and collected plants to supplement their diet. Undisturbed archaeological sites and artifacts can tell archaeologists a great deal about these prehistoric cultures. Many years ago, people who traveled the Skutumpah Road through Johnson Canyon regularly used inscriptions as a means of communication. Unlike prehistoric petroglyphs or pictographs, inscriptions are usually at least 50 years old and use both the alphabet and pictures or symbols. They could advertise, leave messages, or record who had passed by.