Memory, Meaning, and Masonry: The Late Bonito Chacoan Landscape (original) (raw)

The Chaco Connection: Evaluating Bonito-style Architecture in Outlier Communities

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 1999

Because architecture shapes and is shaped by human actions and perceptions, architectural variability has the potential to provide information about relationships among prehistoric social groups. This study examines communicative and enculturative information contained in Bonitostyle architecture constructed in Chaco Canyon and outlying communities during the late eleventh century A.D. Does the appearance of Bonito-style architecture at outliers constitute direct involvement on the part of a centralized, Chacoan entity or could local people have been emulating Bonito-style architecture they saw at Chaco or in neighboring communities? These questions have implications for existing models of Chacoan social organization. To investigate, a comparative architectural analysis uses data from 61 great houses in 55 outlier communities. Analysis is based on the premise that outlier similarity should reflect a unified, direct Chacoan source for Bonito-style architecture, and diversity should reflect the converse. Because highly visible, external architectural characteristics can be emulated, five internal, low-visibility greathouse architectural attributes were selected for comparison. Results indicate substantial diversity is contained within the Chacoan world. A variety of relationships probably existed between outlier communities and Chaco Canyon, and a range of explanatory models is necessary. Bonito-style architecture is more likely to be associated with a struggle to legitimate social power than with spontaneous, cooperative communal activity. Competitive emulation may account for the appearance of Bonito-style architecture in outlier communities toward the local end of the outlier spectrum. . Not only are architectural remains perhaps the most durable and the most visible aspect of material culture subject to the archaeologist's gaze, but buildings provide a direct means for reconstruction of the interactive, recursive relationship between lived experience and the built environment. Prehistoric structures have been employed by archaeologists in the American Southwest in the construction of temporal, social, functional, and demographic knowledge Schlanger 1986). Architectural variability has the potential to provide information about relationships among social groups. Prehistoric builders made choices about materials, techniques, and structural configurations that cannot be reduced to functional concerns. Low-visibility or internal architectural attributes lack overt communicative potential and thus reflect the learning frameworks of the builders; patterning among internal architectural characteristics can be used to distinguish

Calendrical Stations in Chaco Canyon

Archaeologists differ about the relative importance of political power, ritual activities, trade, and pilgrimage in the Chacoan regional system. Nonetheless, there seems to be agreement that visual astronomy played a role, at least to provide a calendar for periodic events. We describe locations in Chaco Canyon that may have served as primary calendrical stations for establishing dates to anticipate and confirm the solstices as well as identify the full moon closest to solstice. Most of these sites are associated with December solstice and are contained in or close to Late Bonito structures such as Wijiji, Kin Kletso, and Headquarters Site A. The calendrical station at Piedra del Sol could have provided the dates of June solstice necessary for positioning the spiral petroglyph of the Fajada Butte three-slab site. The highest point of West Mesa as viewed from the great house of Casa del Rio may have been a very early winter solstice marker. An intriguing site for observing December solstice sunrise is close to two ruins that range in occupation dates from before A.D. 900 to 1200; these are located southeast of Wijiji and were excavated by Roberts in the 1920s. This site contains Puebloan and Navajo cultural material and may have been associated with Basketmaker III or early Pueblo I occupation of Shabik’eschee Village. A visual communication system supporting organization of calendar-driven community ritual may have extended from the shrines of West Mesa to the eastern edge of Chaco Canyon near Wijiji.

Ancestors and the sun: astronomy, architecture and culture at Chaco Canyon

Three architectural traditions with astronomical associations have been identified among the ‘Great Houses’ and ‘Great Kivas’ of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Great Houses and one Great Kiva built during the height of construction activity (AD 1020–1100), the Bonito Phase, include front-facing south-southeast (SSE) orientations, and cardinal north-south and/or east-west (NS/EW) alignments. We present ethnographic material supporting our previous proposal that the SSE orientation is probably linked to migration traditions and ancestor veneration. We also confirm that a majority of Late Bonito Phase Great Houses (built after A.D. 1100) exhibit a third astronomical tradition: five of the principal in-canyon Great Houses built at that time were positioned at or near observing locations that could have functioned as solstice calendrical stations. Through use of these locations for public ceremonies, the Chacoan elite could demonstrate astronomical knowledge and ritual power. These findings provide support for Van Dyke’s hypothesis that construction during this period was intended to reinvigorate a faltering system. One ‘Chaco halo’ Great House, Bis sa’ani, incorporates all three traditions. We suggest that temporal analysis of these traditions improves understanding of migration paths and shifting balances of power and social dominance among ancestral Pueblo culture groups.

Recent Research on Chaco: Changing Views on Economy, Ritual, and Society

Journal of Archaeological Research, 2002

Current research on Chaco Canyon and its surrounding outlier communities is at an important juncture. Rather than trying to argue for the presence or absence of complexity, archaeologists working in the area are asking different questions, especially how Chacoan political, economic, ritual, and social organization were structured. These lines of inquiry do not attempt to pigeonhole Chaco into traditional neoevolutionary types, but instead seek to understand the historical trajectory that led to the construction of monumental architecture in Chaco Canyon and a large part of the northern Southwest in the 10th through 12th centuries. This review discusses the conclusions of current research at Chaco including definitions of the Chaco region, recent fieldwork, histories of Chaco archaeology, chronology, paleoenvironmental reconstruction, demography, political organization, outlier communities, economic organization, social organization, ritual, violence, and the post-Chacoan reorganization. Although many issues are hotly debated, there is a growing concensus that power was not based in a centralized political organization and that ritual organization was a key factor in the replication of Chacoan architecture across a vast regional landscape. Exactly how ritual, social, and political organization intersected is a central question for Chaco scholars. The resolution of this problem will prove to be of interest to all archaeologists working with intermediate societies across the globe.

The Astronomical Context of the Archaeology and Architecture of the Chacoan Culture

Astronomical analysis of 10th to 12th century A.D. cultural evidence at Chaco Canyon New Mexico began in the 1970s. Published work includes a variety of proposals including horizon calendars, solar calendrical constructs in architecture, cardinal North-South and/or East-West (NS/EW) alignments of architecture and roads, building alignments to lunar standstills or June solstice sunrise, wall alignments to equinox sunrise or sunset, and the positioning of structures at observation points for horizon calendrical stations. Within the published archaeoastronomy work attention to Pueblo ethnography, archaeological evidence including temporal data, statistical significance, and the consideration of multiple hypotheses has varied widely. The sample of Chacoan Great Houses assessed for astronomical associations was unchanged from the mid 1990s to 2007. There is active debate among archaeologists regarding the relative importance of political, ritual, and economic factors in the Chacoan regional system. Past archaeoastronomy work has had limited influence on such debate. Nonetheless, there is general acceptance among archaeologists of the idea that visual astronomy had a role in Chacoan culture, if for no other reason than to provide a calendrical system. This research expands on previous samples of Chacoan Great Houses to include all those identified within “downtown Chaco,” as well as a small sample of “halo” and “outlier” Great Houses. The field work, conducted under National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management permits, included compass survey, theodolite survey, and photography at a total of 28 sites. Survey results were assessed in the context of positional astronomy, Pueblo ethnography, and the archaeological record including published construction dates for the sites. I found no convincing evidence for previously proposed architectural alignments to lunar standstills, June solstice sunrises, or equinox events. I have found that a majority of the studied Chacoan structures to conform to one or more of four architectural traditions that have astronomical associations. These include front-facing south-southeast (SSE) orientation, front facing east-southeast (ESE) orientation, alignments to the cardinal directions of North-South and/or East-West (NS/EW), and the construction of Great Houses at workable calendrical stations with horizon foresights for solstice dates. Multiple Great Houses exhibit two of these traditions in combination. A single case is identified that may incorporate three of the traditions. The “halo” Great House at Bis sa’ani includes a cardinal North-South and East-West (“NS/EW”) structure, a possible SSE-facing room block, and a June solstice sunrise horizon foresight. Building upon Hayes’ and Lekson’s assessments of orientations, temporal analysis of these four traditions may improve our understanding of shifting patterns of multi-cultural collaboration and dominance among ancestral Pueblo groups. A majority of the Great Houses built before A.D. 1000 are front-facing to the SSE. The SSE orientation tradition continued during the peak of Bonito Phase construction activity (A.D. 1020-1100). Most of the putative lunar standstill and June solstice sunrise alignments comprise a subset of this SSE facing group. During the same period, the first cardinal NS and EW architectural alignments were also completed. Four ESE facing Great Houses were constructed within and in proximity to Chaco between A.D. 860 and A.D. 1090. This third orientation tradition may represent some form of cultural affiliation with contemporary Rio Grande Valley people based upon comparison to previous orientation studies conducted by Lakatos, or it may perhaps represent an alternative cosmological intent. The “new” Great Houses built during the Late Bonito phase at Chaco after A.D. 1100 are all either involved in inter-site cardinal NS alignments, or positioned at or in proximity to observing locations that can function as solstice calendrical stations. Workable solstice horizon calendars are now confirmed at Casa Chiquita, Kin Kletso, Headquarters Site A, Wijiji, Bis sa’ani, and 125 m from Roberts Small Pueblo at 29SJ 2538/2539. A potential calendrical station located in the vicinity of Peñasco Blanco’s McElmo ruin is yet to be confirmed. The Late Bonito “calendrical” Great Houses may have been intended as pilgrimage destinations where people could witness a dramatic solstice sunrise or sunset. During the same time period, SSE orientation was dominant in the Totah region to the north at sites including Aztec and Chimney Rock. The astronomical evidence presented supports the idea that people with at least three distinct cosmological intents collaborated at Chaco; it also supports Van Dyke’s hypothesis that Late Bonito phase construction at Chaco represented an attempt by a weakened ritual elite to reinvigorate their legitimacy and power. The consistency of cosmological and solstitial references among Late Bonito Phase Great Houses at Chaco indicates that the Late Bonito Chacoan elite’s power may have rested in part on esoteric astronomical knowledge, and an elevated cultural status for solar events. Under the terms of a U.S. National Park Service field research permit some location- specific site data has been deliberately redacted from this document, as required by the U.S. Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979.

Astronomy and the Design of Late Bonito Great Houses at Chaco Canyon

The six Late Bonito Great Houses of Chaco Canyon stand apart from the Classic Bonito structures due to their single-phase construction to planned designs. During the 1970‘s it was determined that two were placed to complete formal lines of cardinality through the center of the canyon. Research during the 1990‘s determined that two were sited and designed to operate as December Solstice calendrical stations. Cardinality and solsticial alignments demonstrate intentional application of astronomical observations to architectural design. New findings extend the association of astronomy and architectural design to the full set of Late Bonito Great Houses at Chaco.

Great Houses, Shrines, and High Places: Intervisibility in the Chacoan World

Phenomenological archaeologists and GIS scholars have turned much attention to visibility—who can see whom, and what can be seen—across ancient landscapes. Visible connections can be relatively easy to identify, but they present challenges to interpretation. Ancient peoples created intervisible connections among sites for purposes that included surveillance, defense, symbolism, shared identity, and communication. In the American Southwest, many high places are intervisible by virtue of the elevated topography and the open skies. The Chaco phenomenon, centered in northwestern New Mexico between A.D. 850 and 1140, presents an ideal situation for visibility research. In this study, we use GIS-generated viewsheds and viewnets to investigate intervisible connections among great houses, shrines, and related features across the Chacoan landscape. We demonstrate that a Chacoan shrine network, likely established during the mid-eleventh century, facilitated intervisibility between outlier communities and Chaco Canyon. It is most likely that the Chacoans created this network to for communication and identity. We conclude that the boundaries of the Chaco phenomenon are defined in some sense by intervisibility.

The Chacoan World: Light and Shadow, Stone and Sky

Oxford Handbook of Light in Archaeology, 2017

In the southwest United States, high altitudes, open vistas, and cloudless skies create a visual atmosphere where the light is legendary. I focus on the role of light for the people of Chaco Canyon-a 1,000-year-old pilgrimage centre in the San Juan Basin of northwest New Mexico. Here, worldviews and cosmologies involved the dualistic juxtaposition of light and dark, visible and invisible, sun and moon. The movements of celestial bodies in a clear sky, and the presence of open sightlines with distinctive peaks, contributed to the creation of a complex cosmography. Sun and moon, visibility and invisibility, light and darkness opposed one another and revolved around Chaco Canyon-the centre of the ancient Chacoan world.