Puebloan Mysteries: Chaco Canyon

After leaving Mesa Verde, our Off the Beaten Path group drove to Farmington, New Mexico. We checked into the Casa Blanca Inn & Suites. That evening (May 5th, 2024) our guide, John Ninneman, gave us a presentation on archaeoastronomy -- the ways people in the past understood phenomena in the sky, their uses, and their significance and role in culture -- at Chaco Canyon. It prepared us for a long day today (May 6th) at Chaco, a National Historical Park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which holds more than one can absorb in a single day. Serious students of Chaco will take advantage of the camping facilities.

 

Theoretically, it's an hour and a half drive to Chaco, but the road that begins as a four-lane highway becomes a two-lane road, then a maintained dirt road, and finally an unmaintained dirt track. It's a notorious route, especially when wet, but John was experienced at negotiating the trek, and we arrived safely at the visitor center. (Click on any image to enlarge.)

To quote from the National Park Service, "From AD 850 to 1250, Chaco was a hub of ceremony, trade, and administration for the prehistoric Four Corners area--unlike anything before or since. Chaco is remarkable for its multi-storied public buildings, ceremonial buildings, and distinctive architecture. These structures required considerable planning, designing, and organizing of labor, as well as engineering to construct. The Chacoan people combined many elements: pre-planned architectural designs, astronomical alignments, geometry, landscaping, and engineering to create an ancient urban center of spectacular public architecture."

 

Our first site was Una Vida, a one-mile round trip from the visitor center.

The quality of the dry-wall stonework is amazing.

The trail began to climb.

Approaching the cliff face that hosts petroglyphs.

We began to encounter petroglyphs near the top. Click on the image to enlarge!

Rest your eyes on this section.

From here, the famous Fajada Butte stands out, the site of a three-part ramp, the remains of small cliff dwellings (10th to 13th centuries), and the Sun Dagger site. It's not open to the public.

After we descended, a boardwalk led us to the next viewpoint.

The curly blob petroglyph in the lower right quadrant of my photo below has been identified as a coronal mass ejection visible during the total solar eclipse of July 11th, 1097. This source has a better photo than mine, and here's a detailed explanation. My snapshot:

Click on the image to enlarge.

Our next stop, at the far end of the paved road, was the Pueblo del Arroyo great house, one of many "neighborhoods" at Chaco. It was constructed between 1025 and 1125 CE.

There is always conservation work in progress.

So many interconnected structures ...

Another angle ...

Another panoramic view. The tall wall fragments reminded us that these pueblos were originally up to three stories tall.

A sample of the wall construction. No concrete here in Chaco!

Circular structures, multiple stories. So much to see ...

Including a hardy flower!

Now it was time for lunch. We drove to where a bench table with welcome ramada-style shade was available and refreshed ourselves before moving on to Pueblo Bonito. The Park Service calls it the most important site in the canyon, and a must for all visitors. Note how many rooms and structures are in the complex!

Approaching the site.

A great rock fall in 1941 destroyed some of the previously excavated ruins.

Google Maps gives an aerial view:

A trail took us up and behind the great house.

An early look at the extent of the great house.

Fragile parts are reinforced.

One of the kivas at the complex.

Walking back up from the front reveals Bonito's extent.

In this section we were allowed to explore some rooms!

A window in a corner?

There are also mysteries -- some rooms were windowless. Lit by fire? For sleeping?

We wrapped up our visit to Chaco Canyon at the Casa Rinconada Community.

Here is the largest great kiva in Chaco Canyon. The interior is about 64 feet across, and the walls, partially subterranean, are up to 13 feet tall. Hidden from view is a 39 foot underground passage!

By now it was mid-afternoon, and ahead of us was the drive back to Farmington. Still, we'd had six hours to scratch the surface and pique our curiosity about Chaco. It begs for further investigation.

Back at the Casa Blanca, Joan and I discovered this hummingbird building a nest above a second-story balcony.

We'd had a full and fulfilling day. Tomorrow, our Off the Beaten Path group will travel to Canyon de Chelly (pronounced "de-SHAY"), outside Chinle, Arizona.