ANT 351 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Animas River, True North, Pochteca
The Chaco Phenomenon
Overview of the Chaco Phenomenon
- Chaco Phenomenon refers to a distribution of archaeological sites and
features concentrated in northwestern New Mexico and extending into parts
of Utah, Arizona, and Colorado
oThe center of this distribution lies in a short stretch of Chaco Canyon,
located about 50 miles south-southeast of the modern city of
Farmington, New Mexico
o there are 12 “Great Houses,” which are compact, multi-storied pueblos
built according to a carefully engineered plan
oAccompanying the great houses, Great Kivas, which are very large, round
subterranean rooms that also have special features
oOutward from Chaco, wide and exceedingly straight “roads,” made
by clearing paths across the high desert surrounding Chaco
continue for dozens of miles and traverse in straight lines across
landscape
oif these roads entered canyons then elaborate stone staircases have literally
been carved into the canyon walls
-Chacoan Outliers: which are Chaco-style Great Houses and accompanying
Great Kivas spread across the landscape outside of Chaco Canyon
-built during a relatively brief period between the mid-800s AD and the mid-
1100s AD, with most of the activity associated with Chaco taking place in the
AD 1000s and the first two or three decades of the 1100s. Much of Chaco
Canyon was abandoned beginning about AD 1130, when a prolonged drought
set in and made corn farming much less productive.
-After 1130, the center of the Chaco Phenomenon shifted to the north, where
large pueblos were built along the San Juan River and its tributaries
- Why a phenomenon ? archaeologists do not agree about what these
archaeological remains might represent
omilitaristic empire
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oadministrative center for the redistribution of food and other resources
o regionally powerful political organization,created by the organizational
demands of developing irrigation system
oa place of pilgrimage, where people from a broad surrounding region
came to practice highly formalized rituals, observe astronomical events,
and feast
o Mesoamerican outpost
-now preserved as the Chaco Culture National Historic Site
Environmental Context for the Chaco Phenomenon
- The center of the Chaco phenomenon is Chaco Canyon in northwestern New
Mexico
-part of the San Juan Basin
- about 22 miles long and about 50 to 150 feet deep
-The north half of the canyon is considerably steeper than the south side
-The uplift on the north side is known as Chaco Mesa
-The south side of the canyon rises more gently into an adjacent mesa known
as Chacra Mesa
o an impressive isolated erosional remnant known as Fajada Butte sits on
the south side
-Chaco Canyon has been created by the erosive force of Chaco Wash,
a seasonal drainage that captures runoff from the Chaco Basin
-This wash can flow with considerable power when it floods
-During the time of prehistoric occupation, the wash was not entrenched
but meandered through a wide floodplain that likely supported a relatively
lush growth of riparian vegetation
- It is believed that Chaco Wash could have been tapped by irrigation canals
-The bottom of Chaco Canyon lies at an elevation of about 6,100 feet above
sea level
-Summer and winter temperatures can be extreme
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o106 degrees Fahrenheit to 37 degrees below zero
-It has been estimated that Chaco Canyon has only about 100 and 120 frost-
free days per year, barely adequate for farming of corn
-Annual precipitation at Chaco Canyon averages only about 8.9 inches, with
about 15 inches of snow contributing to that total
-Chaco Canyon and the surrounding area are not endowed with abundant
natural resources that would have supported human habitation
-the residents of Chaco Canyon did exploit a wide variety of wild plant and
animal foods
-The most important subsistence activity within Chaco Canyon was agriculture.
oExtensive fields were cultivated in the canyon bottom
oA number of agricultural fields and irrigation ditches have been
identified from aerial photographs and on-the-ground surveys
-These lands could have provided enough maize to support between 1,000 and
4,000 people
oThe canyon’s total population has been estimated at between 2,000
and 5,800 people
o if intermediate figures are accepted, Chaco Canyon would have been
self-sustaining
-According to the dendroclimatological sequence from Chaco, the time period
from AD 900 to 1130 was relatively wet and warm, with greater summer
rainfall. Beginning in AD 1130, there was a 25-year long period of below-
average rainfall
-archaeologists Tom Windes and Dabney Ford that major episodes of building
at Chaco Canyon are correlated with periods of increased precipitation, which
might have fostered food surpluses
o AD 850 and 864; 887 to 899; 910 to 919; the AD 940s; the AD 960s; the
AD 1020s; the AD 1060s; AD 1071 to 1081, and AD 1110 to 1120
oThe decline of construction at Chaco Canyon coincides with the
downturn in precipitation that begins in about AD 1130.
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Document Summary
Chacoan outliers: which are chaco-style great houses and accompanying. Great kivas spread across the landscape outside of chaco canyon built during a relatively brief period between the mid-800s ad and the mid- 1100s ad, with most of the activity associated with chaco taking place in the. Ad 1000s and the first two or three decades of the 1100s. Canyon was abandoned beginning about ad 1130, when a prolonged drought set in and made corn farming much less productive. After 1130, the center of the chaco phenomenon shifted to the north, where large pueblos were built along the san juan river and its tributaries. The center of the chaco phenomenon is chaco canyon in northwestern new. Mexico part of the san juan basin about 22 miles long and about 50 to 150 feet deep. The north half of the canyon is considerably steeper than the south side. The uplift on the north side is known as chaco mesa.
