Chacoan Great Houses Research Articles

Ancient Grains: New Evidence for Ancestral Puebloan Use of Domesticated Amaranth

We report here the first domesticated amaranth (Amaranthus spp.) seeds to be identified at a Chacoan great house, from the northern New Mexico site known as Aztec North, where they were found in a context that dates to the mid to late twelfth century AD. Amaranth has long been recognized as an important prehispanic resource in this region, evidenced by the archaeological record of both wild and domesticated forms and by the traditional knowledge and practices of Indigenous communities. Wild amaranth and similar-appearing chenopod/goosefoot (Chenopodium spp.) seeds are routinely found in Ancestral Puebloan contexts. Recent archaeological testing at the Aztec North great house, a Chaco Canyon outlier associated with a post-Chacoan political center, has revealed the presence of uncharred domesticated amaranth seeds in a thin layer of ashy trash in a room at the rear of the great house. These seeds expand our understanding of domesticated amaranth in the American Southwest and suggest centuries of continuity of traditional amaranth cultivation within Puebloan communities.

Reading between the Lines: The Social Value of Dogoszhi Style in the Chaco World

Archaeologists have pointed to certain architectural or decorative designs as representing “elite styles” that mark status distinctions. We look at one such style—Dogoszhi—that was applied to several pottery wares across the Chaco World of the northern Southwest. Using a large database of ceramics, we test whether this style comprised an elite style or whether it signaled participation in a broader Chaco social network. We compare the distribution of Dogoszhi style to measures of settlement importance, including site size and network centrality, and we investigate whether this style occurs differentially at Chacoan great houses as opposed to small houses, or by subregion. We also compare its spatial distribution to an earlier style, called Black Mesa style, similarly applied to a number of different wares. Our results indicate that both styles were consistently distributed within Chaco communities (whether great houses or small houses) but variably distributed across subareas and most measures of settlement importance. We conclude that Dogoszhi style was used to mark membership in social networks that cross-cut great house communities, a pattern more typical of heterarchical rather than hierarchical social structures. Such variation questions the uniform category of “elites” and points to the ways that representational diversity may be used to interpret different regional histories and alliances.

Great houses for whom?: Chacoan monumental architecture in cross-cultural, cognitive, and ethnohistorical perspective

ABSTRACT This paper offers a new interpretation of Chacoan Great Houses, multistoried masonry structures of the 9th-12th century U.S. Southwest, using insights from animist ontologies, cognitive science, cross-cultural analysis, and ethnohistory. Throughout time and space, societies have constructed buildings to serve as dwelling places for animate, divine entities immanent in material objects. We call these structures god houses and briefly review examples from numerous societies across the ancient/extramodern worlds and indigenous U.S. Southwest. We then apply this understanding to argue that the architectural logic and material assemblages of Chacoan Great Houses, and especially Pueblo Bonito, suggest identification as god houses, a notion that rephrases the usual distinction between ‘domestic’ and ‘ritual’ interpretations of Great Houses to consider the nature of the beings that dwelled within them. Our argument enriches investigations of the Chaco world by highlighting the role of religion and relations with non-human beings in the development of monumental architecture, regional organization, and inequality in the precontact U.S. Southwest.

Network analysis of intrasite material networks and ritual practice at Pueblo Bonito

The Chaco World, centered on the San Juan Basin of New Mexico, in the Southwestern U.S.A., was organized largely around ritual activities, including the use and deposition of a wide range of rare and unusual objects. The great houses of Chaco Canyon were foundational in the development of these ritual activities. Biographical or assemblage-oriented approaches are well suited to studying ritual behavior and have been successfully applied to understanding religious ritual at Chacoan great houses, especially the site of Pueblo Bonito. While formal network analyses (and traditional statistical analyses) are typically used to evaluate relationships between archaeological sites, we argue that network analysis also has great utility in expanding existing biographical approaches to Chacoan ritual. Applying network methods to a network of general artifact classes (like turquoise or pipes) from different room contexts within Pueblo Bonito helps to understand the co-associations of objects grouped together through common use or deposition, likely in the course of ritual activities. These co-associations help expand our knowledge of ritual behavior within Pueblo Bonito, indicating distinctions between architectural spaces based on specialized ritual practices. This analysis also has important implications for Chacoan social organization, supporting existing arguments for a Chacoan house society model.

A total viewshed approach to local visibility in the Chaco World

The Chacoan great houses and great kivas of the U.S. Southwest are monumental, both in their scale and in conveying meaning. Visibility is key to understanding how and by whom that meaning was experienced. Although often discussed in Chaco studies, visibility has been infrequently tested. Here, the authors consider 430 great house and great kiva locations, and evaluate their visibility within their local landscapes. Using a total viewshed approach, they provide new evidence to suggest that great houses, but not great kivas, were often placed to be highly visible to individuals in the surrounding landscape. These patterns may speak to the social and physical properties of the structures.

The Kin Hochoi East Road

Kin Hochoi is a Chacoan great house community located in the Puerco Gap, a canyon eroded through the southern Chuska Mountains by the Puerco River. Within the Kin Hochoi community the “East Road” is defined by a 10-meter-wide linear swale connecting the great house to the great kiva, suggesting it was an integral part of the community architecture. Like many other Chacoan roads the Kin Hochoi East Road is excavated over a short distance and has not been previously identified as a longer feature. However, recent ground surveys of associated archaeological sites in the surrounding area indicate that the road extends at least 20 kilometers further to the northeast following a straight line through the Puerco Gap and Defiance Draw Valley. Based on ceramics at the site, construction at Kin Hochoi occurred over many centuries with the great house and great kiva constructed during the Pueblo II period. Smaller architecture and sherd scatters along the extended road to the northeast indicate that this part of the road was constructed and/or in use during the Pueblo II and Pueblo III periods. This supports the model that the short road formalized by excavation within the Kin Hochoi community is part of a longer and possibly regional route.

Investigation of Solstice Horizon Interactions at Chacoan Monumental Architecture

Multiple monumental structures built during the ninth through the twelfth centuries CE at Chaco Canyon, NM, are in locations where solstice sunrise or sunset visually interacts with horizon foresights. We report on the results of field survey and photo-confirmation of seven solstice foresight interactions at Chacoan Great Houses. These include two ‘Early Bonito phase’ (850–1040 CE) sites. A June solstice sunset (JSSS) horizon foresight is visible from Pueblo Bonito, including early (ninth century) portions of the structure. December solstice sunrise (DSSR) interacts with a foresight visible from Hungo Pavi kiva A. We also confirm solstice horizon foresights at five additional ‘Late Bonito phase’ (1100– 1140 CE) Great Houses. These include DSSR at Kin Sabe, DSSR at the Peñasco Blanco McElmo unit, DSSR at the proposed Chetro Ketl McElmo unit (west room block), December solstice sunset (DSSS) at Hillside Ruin, and June solstice sunrise (JSSR) at Rabbit Ruin. Hillside Ruin, the Chetro Ketl McElmo unit, and Rabbit Ruin also participate in inter-site alignments to the cardinal directions. Integration of this data with previous temporal analyses further highlights contrasting cultural intent between periods. A minority of Early and Classic Bonito phase Great Houses (850–1100 CE) are known to have been built at solstice foresight observing locations. During the Late Bonito phase, ten of thirteen (77%) newly built Great Houses are at such locations. Six of thirteen (46%) participate in inter-site alignments to the cardinal directions. Three of thirteen (23%) participate in both the inter-site cardinal alignment and solstitial foresight traditions. This provides direct evidence of common social intent and the growing importance of solar events for Late Bonito phase people at Chaco. These structures may indicate an interest in theophanies, i.e., conjoining the sacred sun at solstice with the cardinal directions and prominent features of the sacred landscape. They bolster the argument for either centralized leadership by an astronomically adept Late Bonito elite, or a religious revival among the Chacoan people after the severe drought of the 1090s CE. Under the terms of a U.S. National Park Service field research permit, some locationspecific site data has been deliberately withheld in this document, as required by the U.S. Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979.

From great kivas to great houses: Community formation and social dynamics in the southern Chuska Valley, New Mexico

Understanding the sociopolitical contexts behind the construction of outlying Chacoan great houses requires a close examination of the relationships between great houses and their neighboring communities. Changes in household-ritual organization and socioeconomic interactions within the Figueredo great house community are used to examine the emergence of social complexity in the southern Chuska Valley. Long-term trends observed in settlement and economic organization are evaluated using a competition model to understand the social dynamics of local community development. Various lines of evidence suggest the residents of the Figueredo community comprised a multiethnic population that maintained a series of diverse socioeconomic interactions across the Four Corners region.

Another possible source of archeological maize found in Chaco Canyon, NM: The Tohatchi Flats area, NM, USA

Understanding the linkage and relationship between Chaco Canyon and its residents to surrounding communities has been a primary research question for several decades. This research has focused on identifying the Chacoan road systems, similar architectural designs, and the sourcing of economic and non-economic goods to outlier communities of origin. Extensive fieldwork has been completed to identify potential source regions of Chacoan corncobs, but the San Juan Basin and surrounding regions are vast and many potential agricultural features remain uninvestigated. One such region is the Tohatchi Flats, located near modern day Gallup, New Mexico. This paper uses 87Sr/86Sr ratios from synthetic soil waters, rabbit brush, and modern maize to investigate if this region is consistent with ratios obtained from archeological cobs from Chacoan great houses. Data results demonstrate that Tohatchi flats 87Sr/86Sr ratios are consistent with ratios from Pueblo Bonito cobs prior to AD 1130 but not after. Additionally, this study demonstrates that rabbit brush can serve as a modern proxy for maize, despite a small 87Sr/86Sr ratio offset, which this study concludes requires additional biogeochemical modeling and investigation to understand.

The Chaco Pilgrimage Model: Evaluating the Evidence From Pueblo Alto

AbstractMost recent attempts to understand the complex nature of the prehispanic occupation of Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico often have postulated that the canyon was a center for pilgrimage fairs and ceremonies that attracted hundreds if not thousands of individuals from the surrounding region who may have resided in the canyon for significant periods of time. Scholars first proposed this model in the 1980s based on what they perceived as the unusual nature of Pueblo Alto, a Chacoan great house. In particular, they suggested that normal household activity and refuse disposal could not explain the deposition patterns in the Alto trash mound, the unusual number of ceramic vessels, and characteristics of the fauna recovered from the settlement. We evaluate this argument focusing primarily on the ceramic and faunal evidence and conclude that neither the ceramic nor the faunal data support the occurrence of periodic fairs, festivals, dances or pilgrimages of the scale that have been postulated.

A DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGICAL STUDY OF HATCHED CERAMICS: TRACKING CHACOAN MIGRANTS IN THE MIDDLE SAN JUAN

This study addresses the relationship between two well-excavated Chacoan great houses in the Middle San Juan (MSJ), Aztec and Salmon, and great houses in Chaco Canyon. We examine a common ceramic database to ascertain whether technological features o f paste and temper in conjunction with a design symmetry analysis of patterns in the Chaco Design System (CDS) show evidence for an initial migration of Chacoan craftspeople north into the MSJ and later emulation of Chacoan ceramic traits by local potters. Our results indicate that about half the vessels with hachured designs within the CDS at these two great houses were made somewhere in the Chaco-Cibola production area, suggesting they were brought to the sites. The remaining half were made with local clay and temper resources in the MSJ, indicating that they were either made as copies of Chaco designs or made by immigrant Chacoan potters.

A BIGHORN SHEEP TRAP AT EL MALPAIS NATIONAL MONUMENT, NEW MEXICO

This paper examines an unusual series of features inside a lava tube that may have been used for trapping bighorn sheep, once prominent on the Grants, New Mexico, lava fields. The lava tube reveals both prehistoric and historic use, although the bighorn sheep trap cannot be directly dated. Dendrochronological samples from the various features suggest that the trap could date as early as the puebloan settlement of the area in the A.D. 900s and 1000s, when the Chacoan greathouse and great kiva were established at nearby Las Ventanas (Marshall et al. 1979:187-190; Powers and Orcutt 2005:74-81). Subsequent use of the trap is also indicated, and it may have survived use into the early historic period in the A.D. 1700s and later.

The Stable- and Radio-Isotope Chemistry of Western Basketmaker Burials: Implications for Early Puebloan Diets and Origins

The timing and degree of reliance on maize agriculture in the Four Corners region of the American Southwest has been a central issue in studies that examine the origins of Puebloan society. Both diffusionist (various, but see Wills 1995) and migrationist (Berry and Berry 1986; Matson 1991) models have been proposed to explain the processes responsible for the movement of maize (Zea mays) north into the Four Corners region. This paper reports bone collagen stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values with paired accelerator radiocarbon dates on a large collection of human remains from western Basketmaker II/III sites in Marsh Pass and other areas of northeastern Arizona, as well as data on a small number of Puebloan remains including Chacoan Great House burials. The results make clear that Basketmaker II people were heavily dependent on maize by 400 B.C. Moreover, their degree of dependence is similar to that of Pueblo II and III farmers of the Four Corners region. These findings and the apparent rapidity of maize dependence support a migrationist model for the origins of maize farming in the northern Southwest.

87Sr/ 86Sr sourcing of ponderosa pine used in Anasazi great house construction at Chaco Canyon, New Mexico

Previous analysis of 87Sr/ 86Sr ratios shows that 10th through 12th century Chaco Canyon was provisioned with plant materials that came from more than 75 km away. This includes (1) corn ( Zea mays) grown on the eastern flanks of the Chuska Mountains and floodplain of the San Juan River to the west and north, and (2) spruce ( Picea sp.) and fir ( Abies sp.) beams from the crest of the Chuska and San Mateo Mountains to the west and south. Here, we extend 87Sr/ 86Sr analysis to ponderosa pine ( Pinus ponderosa) prevalent in the architectural timber at three of the Chacoan great houses (Pueblo Bonito, Chetro Ketl, Pueblo del Arroyo). Like the architectural spruce and fir, much of the ponderosa matches the 87Sr/ 86Sr ratios of living trees in the Chuska Mountains. Many of the architectural ponderosa, however, have similar ratios to living trees in the La Plata and San Juan Mountains to the north and Lobo Mesa/Hosta Butte to the south. There are no systematic patterns in spruce/fir or ponderosa provenance by great house or time, suggesting the use of stockpiles from a few preferred sources. The multiple and distant sources for food and timber, now based on hundreds of isotopic values from modern and archeological samples, confirm conventional wisdom about the geographic scope of the larger Chacoan system. The complexity of this procurement warns against simple generalizations based on just one species, a single class of botanical artifact, or a few isotopic values.

Wood deterioration in Chacoan great houses of the southwestern United States

‘Great houses’ built by the Ancestral Puebloans (Anasazi) (900–1200AD) still contain thousands of pieces of wood used as beams, secondary roof supports and lintels. The wood is an integral part of the surviving Chacoan architecture and has served as a valuable resource for determining the exact age of the structures and for obtaining information about raw material production, procurement and harvesting methods. An assessment of wood deterioration at the great houses in Aztec Ruins National Monument and Pueblo Bonito, Pueblo del Arroyo and Chetro Ked located in Chaco Culture National Historic Park in New Mexico have revealed that both microbial and non-biological deterioration was taking place. The major type of decay found throughout the structures was caused by soft-rot fungi. Cavity formation in secondary walls of conifer woods and an erosion of cell walls in aspen woods was prevalent. A brown-rot type of wood degradation was also found, primarily associated with areas of subterranean termite damage. Another form of deterioration present in some of the woods was a chemical de fibration of wood. This corrosive attack, caused by high concentrations of salts, destroyed the middle lamella between cells, resulting in a stringy mass of loosely attached fibres. Reburial of great house structures as an effective conservation strategy will require an environment that is not conducive to decay, since active wood-destroying fungi are present in the prehistoric woods. If moisture and other conditions suitable for decay exist, the wood will be destroyed and this important historical resource lost.

Ancient maize from Chacoan great houses: where was it grown?

In this article, we compare chemical (87Sr/86Sr and elemental) analyses of archaeological maize from dated contexts within Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, to potential agricultural sites on the periphery of the San Juan Basin. The oldest maize analyzed from Pueblo Bonito probably was grown in an area located 80 km to the west at the base of the Chuska Mountains. The youngest maize came from the San Juan or Animas river floodplains 90 km to the north. This article demonstrates that maize, a dietary staple of southwestern Native Americans, was transported over considerable distances in pre-Columbian times, a finding fundamental to understanding the organization of pre-Columbian southwestern societies. In addition, this article provides support for the hypothesis that major construction events in Chaco Canyon were made possible because maize was brought in to support extra-local labor forces.

Differentiating Aspen and Cottonwood in Prehistoric Wood from Chacoan Great House Ruins

Accurate taxonomic identification is an essential part of archaeological wood analysis. However, making identifications more precise than the genus level is usually not possible since species within the same genus typically possess very similar cellular morphology. This paper describes a method for distinguishing aspen (Populus tremuloides) from cottonwood (Populus fremontii, Populus angustifolia, Populus acuminata) in samples of wood collected from the San Juan Basin in northwestern New Mexico and southwestern Colorado. This method is then applied to archaeological wood samples from the Anasazi great house at Aztec Ruins National Monument in Aztec, New Mexico. The results of this study demonstrate that quantifiable differences do exist between aspen and cottonwood species and that the technique can be used to separate archaeological specimens of Populus wood.

Going against the Grain: Wood Production in Chacoan Society

Wood used in the construction of Chacoan great houses represents a class of bulk artifact collected and prepared for use in buildings that can be reasonably argued to be public structures. The organization of production is generally held to be within the framework of a corporate chiefdom, as defined by cross-culturally inspired position papers for the "Organization of Production" symposium on the Chaco phenomenon. The organizational requirements for the acquisition, processing, and transport of construction elements are discussed through the examination of harvest schedule, the description and comparison of beam treatments, and labor investment for the processing, transport, and stockpile management of the beams. The timing of harvest and the labor effort invested in construction wood is found to be different and more intense than in a sample of comparable-scale non-Chacoan buildings but within the means of self-paced, corporately motivated task groups operating under the parameters of seasonal household schedules. Because of the consistency of handling, and quality of treatment, we envision the development of skilled task groups, perhaps at the level of a formal fraternal society, under the guidance and organizing skill of a limited number of leaders or specialists. More centralized corporate direction may have been an aspect of organization for only a brief period after A.D. 1070.

Space Syntax Analysis at the Chacoan Outlier of Guadalupe

Space syntax analysis is a popular method for investigating social processes by quantifying the relationships among architectural spaces. Identification of spatial patterns is straightforward, but interpretation is less so. In this study, segregated spatial patterns were assumed to indicate the presence of social inequality. A space syntax analysis was conducted for Guadalupe Ruin, an excavated, outlying Chacoan great house with three well-dated construction episodes. The study investigated great house function and social context. Results seemed contradictory until room function and pueblo layout were incorporated into the interpretation. The great house can be understood as an group of separate but equal household units accessible primarily through the roof and plaza. Analyzed as a discrete entity, Guadalupe Ruin appears to have been a domestic building rather than an administrative or ceremonial facility. However, topographic restrictions and other differences with the surrounding community of small sites need to be explored through an expanded study at the community level. Comparison of the Guadalupe study with other great house space syntax analyses supports the recognition that Chacoan great houses varied considerably across time and space.

The Andrews Community: A Chacoan Outlier in the Red Mesa Valley, New Mexico

A number of explanatory models perceive Chaco Canyon, New Mexico as the hub of a centralized social agency that expanded outward in the latter half of the 11th century A.C., during Anasazi times. Such arguments are based in part on the appearance of architecturally distinctive Chacoan great houses in outlying communities during this era. The Andrews community, an outlier located in the Red Mesa Valley 80 km south of Chaco Canyon, was occupied from the A.C. 880s to the A.C. 1070s; a great house was constructed in the midst of the settlement at around A.C. 1020. Several lines of evidence suggest that the Andrews great house need not have been constructed by an expansionist Chaco Canyon presence but rather might have been built by the inhabitants of the community for local purposes involving competitive emulation and/or the staging of ritual events. This finding weakens explanatory models that rest upon the assumption of centralized Chacoan control of the San Juan Basin or a centralized Chacoan source for all great house architecture.