The Chacoan Great Kiva in Outlier Communities: Investigating Integrative Spaces Across the San Juan Basin

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn the Pueblo Southwest, great kivas are considered to represent communal, public architecture—spaces where groups of people came together to perform ceremonies, discuss matters of concern, and conduct social or economic transactions. Great kivas are geographically widespread and assume a variety of shapes and sizes. This study examines the distribution and size of Chacoan great kivas constructed in outlier communities in the San Juan Basin during the Late Pueblo H period or Classic Bonito phase (A.D. 1040–;1120). Great kivas are less common in outlier communities near Chaco Canyon, suggesting that people living close to Chaco used integrative facilities located in the canyon. Great kiva area does not appear to be related to population size in Chaco outlier communities, suggesting that the iconographic form of the great kiva was more important than structure size. Great kiva spaces were more than containers for activities. In order to understand their meanings in Chacoan social contexts, it is necessary to examine the ways in which these spaces were experienced and perceived.