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The Chaco Wash is an arroyo cutting through Chaco Canyon, which is located in northwestern New Mexico on the Colorado Plateau. Another arroyo known as Escavada Wash is a tributary that feeds in from the northeast, near the western end of Chaco Canyon. Chaco Wash flows northwest to become the intermittent Chaco River. It is a tributary of the San Juan River.
Una Vida is an archaeological site located in Chaco Canyon, San Juan County, New Mexico, United States. According to tree rings surrounding the site, its construction began around 800 AD, at the same time as Pueblo Bonito, and it is one of the three earliest Chacoan Ancestral Puebloan great houses. Comprising at least two stories and 160 rooms, it shares an arc or D-shaped design with its contemporaries, Peñasco Blanco and Pueblo Bonito, but has a unique "dog leg" addition made necessary by topography. It is located in one of the canyon's major side drainages, near Gallo Wash, and was massively expanded after 930 AD.
Chetro Ketl is an Ancestral Puebloan great house and archeological site located in Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico, United States. Construction on Chetro Ketl began c. 990 and was largely complete by 1075, with significant remodeling occurring in the early and mid-1110s. Following the onset of a severe drought, most Chacoans emigrated from the canyon by 1140; by 1250 Chetro Ketl's last inhabitants had vacated the structure.
Pueblo del Arroyo is an Ancestral Puebloan great house and archaeological site located in Chaco Culture National Historical Park, in New Mexico, United States.
The Hyde Exploring Expedition, sponsored by brothers Talbot and Fred Hyde Jr., and directed by Dr. George H. Pepper, conducted excavations in Chaco Canyon from 1896 to 1901, when accusations of impropriety levied by Edgar L. Hewett put an end to their archeological surveys. A subsequent investigation by Steven Holsinger of the US General Land Office vindicated the Hydes and their partner, Richard Wetherill.
Kin Ya'a is a Chacoan great house and the center of a significant Ancestral Puebloan outlier community. It is located near Crownpoint, New Mexico on the Dutton Plateau, 25 miles (40 km) south of Chaco Canyon.
Francisco Hosta was the civil governor of Jemez Pueblo in 1849. He acted as a guide for several archeological expeditions to the Ancestral Puebloan ruins in Chaco Canyon, including the Simpson group in 1849, one led by Dr. Oscar Lowe in 1874, and in 1877 he guided photographer William Henry Jackson, who named Hosta Butte in his honor. He might have also guided José Antonio Vizcarra during his 1823 campaign against the Navajo people, during which Vizcarra re-discovered Chaco Canyon.
Atlatl Cave is an important archaeological site that contains organic evidence of occupation by Archaic North Americans c. 900 BCE. It is located at the west end of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico at an elevation of 1910 meters. During the 1970s, archaeologists discovered corn, beans, squash, a yucca fiber sandal, a variety of different kinds of miniature beads made from juniper, basketry, juniperus monoserma and juniperus scopulorum twigs, pseudotsugamenziesii wood fragments, and fabric made from rabbit fur in the cave. The breaths of the Archaic-age maize pollen grains are significantly larger than Puebloan and present maize pollen. They also found part of an atlatl, or spear-thrower, from which the site got its name. Atlatl Cave is important because unlike most Archaic sites in the canyon, the shelter protected the organic materials inside, which allowed for accurate radiocarbon dating.
Bis sa'ani is an Ancestral Puebloan great house and small house community and archeological site. Located in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, United States, it contains thirty-five rooms and lies near the south of Escavada Wash 8 miles (13 km) from Pueblo Bonito. While outside the canyon, it is not considered an outlier, but included within the core group of ruins. There are several small house sites in the area, but no great kiva. Bis sa'ani was occupied during the early 11th century.
The Cerrillos Turquoise Mines are Ancestral Puebloan turquoise mines located in the Cerrillos Hills, 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Archeologists believe that most of the turquoise found at Chaco Canyon was mined in the Cerrillos Hills. Many modern Pueblo people claim to have ancient rights to these mines. In 1977, neutron activation analysis linked an artifact from Chetro Ketl to the Cerrillos mines.
The Chaco Meridian is a theoretical north-south axis on which lie the Ancestral Puebloan sites, Aztec Ruins and Chaco Canyon, as well as Paquime at Casas Grandes in northern Mexico. Archeologist Stephen H. Lekson developed the theory, which suggests the location of these sites on the same approximate line of longitude (107°57'25") was intentional, and represents a ceremonial connection between them. Lekson (2008) noted James Q. Jacobs discovered the meridian. Jacobs named it in 1990.
The Chacra Face Road is one of eight Ancestral Puebloan roads that enters Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. It enters the canyon through a break in the Chacra Mesa called the Fajada Gap, and ends at the great house Una Vida. It probably connected Una Vida to an eastern Puebloan community, Guadalupe Outlier.
Coyote Canyon Road is an Ancestral Puebloan road that leads from South Gap in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, to the southwest region of the San Juan Basin. The road is believed to lead to the Grey Ridge community north of Gallup, New Mexico, but only segments of it have been identified. A segment of the road was discovered between the great houses Kin Klizhin and Kin Bineola.
Dune Dam is a long sand dune that lies at the western end of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, near the confluence of the Chaco and Escavada Washs. The dune was created by winds that brought sand up the Chaco River. When the dune was large enough, it dammed the Chaco Wash and created a small and shallow lake near the Ancestral Puebloan great house, Penasco Blanco. Archeological evidence suggests that the dune was breached around 900 CE. Chacoans filled the breach with masonry sometime in the early 11th century, and built an accompanying reservoir lined with stones that was visible until 1920. The dam stopped Chaco Wash from further deepening, which helped raise the water table in the canyon, aiding Chacoan farming. The absence of a lacustrine plain behind the dam led geologist Stephen A. Hall to question this interpretation.
Gallo Cliff Dwelling is a pair of Ancestral Puebloan room blocks that lie under a cliff in Gallo Canyon, New Mexico. Located adjacent to the National Park Service campground, the site includes a central room that features a multi-storied wall and a five-room structure with kiva that was probably occupied during the early 12th century by Mesa Veredans, who built in a distinctive McElmo masonry style. The inhabitants of these dwellings dates from 1150 to 1200 AD, or the late Chacoan Period. National Park Service excavations there during the 1960s uncovered a quantity of perishable items, including sandals and baskets, from the rooms.
Halfway House Outlier is a small, twelve-room, one-story Ancestral Puebloan great house and archeological site located in New Mexico, United States. It lies halfway between Chaco Canyon and Salmon Ruins, on the Great North Road. Halfway House appears to have been built in relation to the road, and was probably an orientation point used during the road's construction.
The Great North Road is an Ancestral Puebloan road that stretches from Pueblo Alto, in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, to Kutz Canyon in the northern portion of the San Juan Basin. It is thought to follow Kutz Canyon to the San Juan River and Salmon Ruins. Several archeological sites along the road are thought to have been ancient way stations, including Halfway House Outlier, Pierre's Outlier, and Twin Angels Outlier. The Great North Road is one of the best studied Chacoan roads, and includes four parallel roads along some segments, as well as low masonry features thought to be curbs. Herraduras are often found along segments of the road system.
McElmo Phase refers to a period in the late 11th and early 12th centuries, when drastic changes in ceramics and masonry techniques in Chaco Canyon appeared. During this period the Ancestral Puebloans living in the canyon started using painted black-on-white pottery versus their standard grey ware, and the masonry and layout of great houses built during the McElmo phase, which was the last major construction era in the canyon, differ significantly from those built during the early parts of the Bonito Phase, which overlaps with the McElmo Phase. Archeologists initially suggested that the McElmo influence was brought to Chaco Canyon by immigrants from Mesa Verde, but subsequent research suggests that the developments were of local origin. Archeologist R. Gwinn Vivian notes, "The jury is still out on this question, a problem that poses intriguing possibilities for future work."
Hosta Butte is an ancestral site southwest of Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico. Along with Gobernador Knob and Huérfano Mountain, it forms part of the Dinétah, considered to be the birthplace of early Navajo culture. The mountain, with an elevation of 8,622 feet (2,628 m), is in close proximity to Crownpoint, New Mexico. Due to its prominence in the cosmography of Native tribes in the area, the mountain contains a number of small shrines. In 1877, photographer William Henry Jackson named the butte in honor of Francisco Hosta, who guided him to the Ancestral Puebloan ruins in Chaco Canyon.
Mexican Springs Road is an Ancestral Puebloan road that parallels Coyote Canyon Road. It runs from South Gap in Chaco Canyon to the southwestern portion of the San Juan Basin. It has only been identified through aerial photography, and no physical trace of it is visible from the ground. The lack of pueblos along its path has led some to question its designation as a Chacoan road.
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- ↑ Vivian & Hilpert 2012, p. 126.
