The Anasazi of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico

Major Achievements of The Chacoan Anasazi People
By C. D. Allen, Geographer

In a desert region of the American Southwest, lies a place surrounded by some of the most glorious and wild beauty of North America. In this region, known as Chaco Canyon, the Anasazi Indians, or “Ancient Ones”, thrived on an agricultural base of maize, seeds which they gathered from the surrounding areas and trade from nearby settlements (Ballantine, 1993). With weather comprised of short growing seasons, long and dry winters, and marginal rainfall, the Anasazi culture took hold and embraced the land as no other people had before, producing a civilization that is regarded as “one of the most beautiful desert flowers of the Southwest” (Vivian, 1990).

Their elaborately built architecture, complexly designed economic social culture and small out-lying villages, which were connected to each other by an ingenious road system, are still marveled by archeologists, anthropologists and many historians to this day. Although an extremely prosperous people, the Chacoan Anasazi, like many of their contemporaries, experienced a period of rapid depopulation (Vivian).

At the start of the 10th century (900 AD), what is today known as the Chaco Canyon region, started to flourish as a bustling center of the Anasazi people. Architecture becomes more and more impressive through the years, and larger edifices are built using the same techniques as they had before, only on a much, much more immense scale. These Chacoan Anasazi People had no metal tools or Greek mathematics to help them, but yet they constructed some of the most grand structures of the Classic period in the Southwestern part of what is now the United States.

Through evolution over centuries of habitation, the Chacoan Anasazi People gradually fashioned new and better ways of construction. From the one stone-thick walls used to construct the inspiring Pueblo Bonito, to the height of their Classic building period (cir. 1100 AD) where they built spacious and beautiful two-to-four-story (and sometimes more!) structures. There is much evidence that many of these buildings have been planned from the start, which is anomalous to many of the typical dwellings of the Anasazi, who simply built rooms as they were needed (Frazier, 1986).

Progressing through time, the Chacoan Anasazi developed a unique building style. Originally applying generous amounts of mud-mortar over their earlier (and much smaller) dwellings, the Chacoan Anasazi moved on to the more sophisticated method of making their walls consist of a thick inner core of rubble surrounded by fairly thin veneers of facing stone. Very intense planning is evident when one observes that these walls were tapered as they rose. Many of the structures in the Classic period of the Southwest have this feature.

Not to be over-looked, is the McElmo style of building. Although not used as extensively as other techniques, it is still a form unique to the Chacoan Anasazi People. In many ways different than that of various other dwellings of the Classic period, the McElmo style consisted of a thin inner core of rubble and thick outer veneers of shaped sandstone, which are reminiscent of a few of the structures in the Mesa Verde area of Colorado (Strutin, M. and Huey, G. H. H., 1994).

As the Classic period is flourishing, Chaco Canyon was established as the political and economic center for the region. Having a surrounding population of as many as 5,000 people, it is easy to see why it was so. During this period, Chaco Canyon was the heart of trading and commodities exchange for the immediate, as well as much of the surrounding areas, such as regions of northern Mexico (Frazier, 1986).

The pottery that is found in the proximity of Chaco Canyon has a distinctive black-on-white pattern, known to many as Cibola. It has been stated that perhaps only 20 percent of the pottery found in this region, was actually made there. Quite possibly due to the fact that the clay that was found at Chaco Canyon, most likely, was not as good as quality as could be found elsewhere. Firewood, which fueled the ovens, was more readily available at other locations also.

Even though Cibola pottery may not have been made in the Chaco Canyon area, the Chacoan Anasazi People had another claim to fame: turquoise. Ornaments, bracelets, necklaces and pendants fashioned of turquoise, or sometimes figurines in-laid with turquoise, have been found more so in the Chaco Canyon region than in any other Southwestern site. Remains of copper bells, macaw birds and parrots, as well as many seashell necklaces, lead many archeologists to believe the Chacoan Anasazi People indeed were in contact with the ancients of Mexico, maybe even the Toltecs (Thybony, 1993)!

Utilizing aerial photos, one is able to see the complex and extensive road system of the Chacoan Anasazi People (Thybony, 1993). Containing more than four-hundred (400) miles of roads that extended to more than seventy-five (75) smaller communities, the road system marvels even the most skeptic observers, who think the Native Americans were uncivilized or savage. The longest of such roads extends forty-two (42) miles from Chaco Canyon northward to a site that is now called Aztec Ruins. Out-lying settlements were built approximately one days travel from each other, making travel very practical for many people.

To think that the Chacoan Anasazi People were able to plan, construct, and maintain these long expanses of roads is incredible. With no regard for topographic features, they went in straight lines from one settlement to another. Building these 30 foot wide roads required leveling the ground and using a rock ledge to be sure that the fill rock would not be lost. Where there were expanses of bare rock, walls were often built with large boulders to show the weary traveler their way to the next settlement (Noble, 1984).

Dating from the 11th and 12th centuries, the roads seem to denote a time of rapid population growth, where it would be practical to say that these roads eased the transportation of goods, it is also viable to say, that perhaps it would help with a type of communication that could very well bind a society together (Vivian, 1990).

As with most desert cultures, the significant decreasing of population, coincided with the great drought in the San Juan Basin during the years 1130-1180. Depletion of the elements, as well as the lack of rainfall, possibly led to food shortages. In spite of the fact that the Chacoan Anasazi People had a very advanced irrigation system, it was not enough to sustain the entire population, so people gradually began to disperse. Likewise, the out-lying settlements were promptly cut-off from their trade arrangements with the Chacoan Anasazi People, and their population began to decline as more and more people were dispersing to better agricultural regions. The influence of the Chacoan Anasazi People can still be seen and studied eagerly today by anyone who cares to visit the site.

References

Ballantine, B. and Ballantine, I., editors. "The Native Americans: An Illustrated History", Turner Publishing, Inc., Atlanta, GA., 1993.

Frazier, Kendrick. "People of Chaco: A Canyon and Its Culture", W.W. Norton, New York, NY, 1986.

Noble, David Grant, editor. "New Light on Chaco Canyon", School of American Research Press, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1984.

Strutin, Michele and Huey, George. "Chaco: A Cultural Legacy", Southwest Parks and Monuments Association, Tucson, Arizona, 1994.

Thybony, S. "Canyon Country Parklands: Treasures of the Great Plateau", National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C., 1993.

Vivian, Gwinn, R. "The Chacaon Prehistory of the San Juan Basin", Academic Press, Inc., San Diego, California, 1990.