1982, Color, Odyssey Series, 52 minutes
Summary
Beginning in about 500 AD, people began to move into Chaco Canyon, mostly hunting and gathering, but growing some corn, beans and squash. With pit houses as their initial dwelling, they also started to construct kivas. By 850 AD, they started to build above-ground dwellings as part of what archaeologists call Anasazi. Their stone slab masonry astounded the first Euroamerican explorers. Richard Wetherhill, a local rancher, and Navajo workers began to dig Pueblo Bonito, but was shut down by the government under accusations of pillaging. In 1921, Neil Judd of the National Geographic Society began to work, uncovering more than 800 rooms in an arc, with living areas as well as additional structures like kivas in front and storage areas in back. By 1150 AD the site achieved its 3-4 story height and its D-shape. Chetro Ketl and another dozen towns thrived in the canyon.
As well, Chaco Canyon people had spread their influence over many square miles in the San Juan Basin. The discovery of roads that led as much as 300 miles away from Pueblo Bonito changed the way archaeologists understood the culture. Outlying communities and structures were part of a large network of ceremonial structures and trade. Archaeologists try to understand how this achievement was accomplished in a difficult environment and why the complex began to decline. Experimental archaeology looks at the communication system.
Key Questions
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larry-zimmerman@uiowa.edu
University of Iowa Anthropology
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