Some call Chaco Canyon in New Mexico the "Las Vegas" of the Anasazi. Last year I read House of Rain by Craig Childs. He visited many of the Anasazi ruins, studied literature and theories to try to piece together what happened to this culture. He hiked and climbed into ruins deep in canyons rarely visited and climbed to almost inaccessible ruins high on canyon walls throughout the southwest and even into northern Mexico. He makes a case for a constant migration of the Anasazi, moving north and south, depending on weather and growing conditions. Chaco was the cultural center for a few hundred years.
No matter what the reason, Chaco Canyon was different than the others. Chaco is centrally located amongst thousands of sites. Here in the canyon is a collection of pueblos with massive numbers of rooms. Pueblo Bonito, the largest of the several pueblos in Chaco, when finished, was four stories high with more than 600 rooms and 40 kivas. At the same time Pueblo Bonito was being constructed so were two other large pueblos. More were added later.
Roads 30 feet wide radiated out from Chaco towards other ruins. Was this a ceremonial center? for trade? Most archaeologists now think that Chaco Canyon had a small number of people who lived here year-round but at times had thousands of people gather there. They have found macaw feathers buried in the ruins which had to come from Mexico or even further south. (pictured)
Most of the ruins we've visited have been located in protected areas- built into alcoves on canyon walls where they were not easily accessed. Look at the ones in Mesa Verde, as an example. They were defensible because an intruder would be exposed on the canyon wall - and you needed to know which foot and hand to put in the first hand- and footholds or you could be stranded on the canyon wall. The pueblos at Chaco Canyon are located on the canyon floor.
Another difference is the size. Chaco could accommodate thousands and rooms were large compared to rooms in other ruins. Most other ruins held at most a few families and rooms were tiny. The space in the alcove was small as well as the area to grow food to support them. Chaco ruins have not only lots of small kivas but great kivas too, which could accommocate many more people.
Many of the ruins were abandoned in the 1200s and archaelogists have been speculating about their disappearance. The Southwest had a severe drought lasting many years. That could have driven people away or they could have died of starvation. Some ruins, though, have been found centuries later (where pothunters could or did not find them) that look like the inhabitants went out for the day, planning to come back, but never did. Their bowls and other possessions are still there. Childs makes the case they migrated to other sites, mostly south, or were absorbed into other groups. The Hopi and Zuni claim ancestral ties to the
Anasazi.
It is a mystery still that may never be solved. Because early archaeologists often decimated the ruins they were excavating, today's archaeologists are much more careful. They do much less excavating and usually fill them back up when finished. Now the government obtains permission from the related native tribes, which can be hard to get, plus money for that work is not plentiful. Knowing how techniques advance, they also want to leave sites intact for future generations who may be able to get more answers with advancing technology.
As visitors to Chaco Canyon and other Anasazi sites, we can try to imagine what life was like, living in this land of little rain. What would it be like to have to spend most of your time ensuring your survival? What about those years when your corn, beans or squash did not produce enough to survive the winter? There were no grocery stores or places to buy more food. At sites I have hiked to in remote areas, tiny corn cobs still in evidence show that their corn was much different than the plump, hybrid ears of corn we have today.
Sit at places like this and listen to the silence. Imagine what it was like, it you can. If nothing else, slow down inside and enjoy the solitude.
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We did enjoy a ranger tour of Pueblo Bonito. A film and ranger-led tours are offered each day. Three nights a week the park offers an astronomy program. It begins with a talk on how the Chacoans used the night sky. There is evidence of deliberately lining up openings with solstices, for example, and their pueblos were oriented on exact north/south and east/west lines. Later you have a chance to observe the night sky through telescopes- both the park's and those set up by amateur astronomers. It was cloudy so we did not stay. Bring your own lunch and dinner- it's about 30 miles back out to a convenience store. No food is sold inthe park.
The park also has a campground. They advise a 30 foot limit but a 39 foot 5th wheel had gotten into one of the spaces. Ony a few spaces accommodate larger rigs and several of those are closed while they upgrade the sewage system. The road to the park is p
retty rough - read washboard - for about 13 miles with no guarantee of a site since it is first-come, first-served. There is a restroom but no showers and no hookups. Unsure of the road or availability of camping sites for our 33 foot 5th wheel, we opted to stay in Bloomfield at a park and drove down for our visit. It's about 60 miles from town to park headquarters.
After reading Child's books and others about the Anasazi, it was enlightening to actually see the differences between Chaco and other sites I've visited and to experience being in the center of their culture rather than on the periphery. The multi-storied pueblos, the great kivas, and the location of several of these pueblos in one location tell a dfferent story than a small ruin located in an alcove. It helps me see more of the overall picture and how the sites scattered through four states might be interconnected. Jaimie Hall-Bruzenak Photos by George Bruzenak
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