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Chimneyrock B W Jpg

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Housing approximately 2,000 ancient Pueblo Indians between AD 925 and 1125, the settlement included a Great House Pueblo with round ceremonial rooms, known as kivas, and 36 ground-floor rooms. A grizzly bear jaw found in one of the rooms when excavated suggested a reverence for the animal, and modern Chaco oral history suggests that the Bear clan originated in the Chimney Rock area. Evidence suggests that Great House Pueblo was first built in AD 1076 during a lunar standstill and expanded and finished in AD 1093 during another. It consists of 36 rooms and two kivas. (Wikepedia)

Escalante Pueblo is much larger than Dominguez Pueblo. It is more than a simple family dwellin The original construction refects the architectural style of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. (The BLM)

Farview And Pipeshrine Jpg

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The Ancestral Pueblo people were living at Far View at least 200 years before they began building the more famous Mesa Verde cliff dwellings. Excavation also reveals that many people chose to remain in their mesa top community well after many of their neighbors moved into the cliff alcoves. (The NPS)

Farview Community Jpg

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Far View was one of the most densely populated parts of the mesa from A.D. 900 to about A.D. 1300. Nearly 50 villages have been identified within a half square mile area, and were home to hundreds of people. Today, several excavated and stabilized sites are linked by a trail system within a short walking distance. These surface sites include Far View House, Pipe Shrine House, Coyote Village, Far View Reservoir, Megalithic House, and Far View Tower. (The NPS)

Hatnie Jpg

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The five-acre Haynie Site in Montezuma County contains two Chaco period ancestral Pueblo great houses and numerous residential houses that comprise part of the larger Lakeview community—the densest concentration of great houses in Colorado. (The Colorado Encyclopedia.com)

An additional great house and an associated great kiva are found at the Ida Jean site (5MT4126) (Brisbin and Brisbin 1973), located 859 m west of the Haynie site. (Crow Canyon)

Jor Ben Wheat Complex Jpg

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Joe Ben Wheat Site Complex is a set of archaeological sites dated from AD 600 to 1300 that are located near Yellow Jacket in Montezuma County, Colorado. The complex is also known by its collective site ID of 5MT16722.^[2] In 2004, the Joe Ben Wheat Site Complex was added to the National Register of Historic Places. (Wikipedia)

Lowery Pueblo Jpg

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The Lowry Pueblo is an Ancestral Puebloan archaeological site located in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument near Pleasant View, Colorado, United States. The pueblo was constructed around 1060 AD atop abandoned pithouses from an earlier period of occupation. It was occupied by 40 to 100 people at a time for 165 years.^[3] The site is one of the northernmost to be associated with the Puebloan cultures.^[4] The site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964. (Wikipedia)

Mitchel Springs Jpg

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Two significant features include an unusually large kiva and a unique D-shaped tri-wall structure. It also played a major role in the development of the Prudden "unit pueblo" concept, a basic architectural form for these prehistoric people. Listed under theGreat Pueblo Period of the McElmo Drainage Unit, AD 1075-1300. (History Colorado)

Morris 20 Jpg

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PII building near Red Mesa, Colorado

Mummy Lake Jpg

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Probably bot a lake, mmore likely a dance plaza.

Farview And Pipeshrine Jpg

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Pipe Shrine House is an archaeological site located in the Far View area of Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado. Constructed around 1000 AD, it comprises 22 rooms, one kiva, and a tower. The site is named for the discovery of 12 ceramic pipes found within its kiva, suggesting its use for ceremonial purposes. Notably, a spiral petroglyph on the south side of the structure is believed to represent the place of emergence and the end of a journey, reflecting Ancestral Puebloan beliefs. The kiva features a unique... (mindtrip.com)

Wallace Jpg

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The Wallace site is a C-shaped, two story house mound with an estimated 73 rooms (50 ground floor) and five kivas, two of which are boxed-in, Chaco-style kivas (Bradley 1988). The 3-4-m-high house mound, including the second-story areas, has an estimated floor area of 1,080 m2. The roughly symmetrical, regular layout suggests large-scale planning; but since only a small portion of the site has been excavated, the size of the construction units is not known. (Chaco Research Archives

Yrllowjacket Pueblo Jpg

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Great House sits in middle of huge PIII village. Chronology of the site is largely unknown, but the entire village dates to between 1000-1300. (Chaco Research Archives)

Yucca House After Holmes Jpg

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The group of structures cumulatively termed Yucca House is situated on the low, eastern slopes of Ute Mountain, immediately south of Aztec Divide, near the headwaters of Navajo Wash. Cortez is to the northeast and Towaoc is to the southwest. Elevation is 1,805 m (5,920 feet) above sea level.

The two main units at Yucca House are the Lower and Upper Houses. The description here does not include the large multi-story Lower House with the tower kivas; from the surface, there is no evidence that this building was occupied during the Chaco period. Some contend that Upper House, the bulding with the enclosed plaza and great kiva in the center is a Chaco-period building, and that is described here. There is a second great kiva associated with a roomblock to the south of the multistory roomblock. Ceramics from the surface: 82% Mesa Verde and 18% McElmo. (Chaco Research Archives)

New Mexico Chaco

19 Sj 2282 Jpg

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29 Sj 142 Jpg

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29 Sj 401 Jpg

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29 Sj 529 Jpg

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29 Sj 2261 Jpg

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29 Sj 2324 Jpg

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29 Sj 2395 Jpg

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59 Sj 140 Jpg

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Alto B W Jpg

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Pueblo Alto contains about 130 masonry rooms and 18 kivas; the roomblocks appear to have been single-story throughout. Unlike most other great houses of the same time, Pueblo Alto does not appear to have a great kiva. Initial construction of this classic D-shaped great house occurred about A.D. 1020, with additions and renovations continuing into the late 1000s. The front arc of rooms enclosing the plaza likely was added in the early 1100s. A large trash mound lies 150 feet (46 m.) southeast of the pueblo. A low masonry wall connects Pueblo Alto to the nearby great house of New Alto. The site was partially excavated by the National Park Service’s Chaco Project, primarily from 1976 to 1978, by Thomas Windes, Peter McKenna, Wolky Toll, and several other Chaco Project archaeologists. The undertaking included trenching the refuse mound which also had been examined in 1927 by Frank Roberts Jr. as part of his effort to identify the sequence of pottery types used by Chacoans through time. (Chaco Research Archives)

Andrews Jpg

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This description of the Andrews Ruin (LA No. 17218)
includes the results of a reconnaissance of the nuclear
community. In addition to the Bonito Phase structure and
an associated great kiva, twenty-four sites were recorded in
an area of two square kilometers. Within this area, an
earlier component of the community was evidenced by two
great kivas (LA No. 17207 and LA No. 17217) which dated
to the PI horizon. A description of the great kivas is
included. Information pertaining to the associated community is presented in a table. Because the total area of the
Andrews Community was small, vegetation and physiographic situation are only described once.
LA NO. 17218
FIELD NO. 25
(CULTURAL AFFINITY Chacoan
TEMPORAL AFFINITY PII into early PIII ca. A. D.
(ANASAZI COMMUNITIES OFTHE SAN JUAN BASIN
by MICHAEL P. MARSHALL.JOHN R. STEIN,
RICHARD W. LOOSE;JUDITH E. NOVOTNY)

Atsee Nitsaa Jpg

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Part of the Manuelito Canyon complex. "The core of the Ats'ee Nitsaa complex is the walled compound containing the great house and great kiva. The great house is a massive structure constructed ofcore-veneer masonry and measuring 49 m by 9 m, with a mound relief of between 3 and 4 m" (ANASAZI REGIONAL ORGANIZATION AND THE CHACO SYSTEM
David E. Doylt editor)

Aztec Community B W Jpg

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From the late 1000s to the late 1200s, ancestral Pueblo people at Aztec planned and built a settlement that included large public buildings, smaller structures, earthworks, and ceremonial buildings. Aztec's extended community rivaled Chaco Canyon, 55 miles south, where a network of structures flourished between 850 and 1130. (the NPS)

Aztec East B W Jpg

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From the late 1000s to the late 1200s, ancestral Pueblo people at Aztec planned and built a settlement that included large public buildings, smaller structures, earthworks, and ceremonial buildings. Aztec's extended community rivaled Chaco Canyon, 55 miles south, where a network of structures flourished between 850 and 1130. (SAH)

Aztec West B W Jpg

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Built between circa 1100 and circa 1130, West Ruin measures 359 x 280 feet. It contains 221 ground floor rooms and is estimated to have had as many as 353 rooms in a structure that once stood three stories. The great house is laid out in a U-shape plan that faces southeast across a large plaza, with rectangular blocks on the north, east, and west sides, and a curved wall of single rooms enclosing the plaza on the south side. A great kiva, 48 feet in diameter, dominated the plaza; 28 other probable kivas are located both around the plaza and inside the room blocks. Morris found evidence that construction of the West Ruin began with a large earth platform, and he concluded that the entire building must have been planned from the outset. (SAH)

B W Holmes Jpg

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The Holmes Group is considered one of the largest and most complex of all the Chaco-period occupation sites. In 1984, archaeologists Richard Watson and Margaret Powers identified and mapped 127 surface features at the site. Rubble mounds are all that remain of a series of structures and features built from dressed sandstone and river cobbles that include two Great Houses, two Great Kivas, and two cobble masonry structures. The Chacoan Great Houses two or more stories high and made of finely trimmed and fitted stone with unusually large, often over–built rooms. The Great Kivas are 60 feet or more in diameter and remnants of Chaco style pottery is abundant across the site. (The Archaeological Conservancy)

Bc 50 Jpg

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A small residential structure located just east of Casa Rinconada and a ½ mile south of Pueblo Bonito. This rectangular building, also known as “Tseh So,” had twenty-six ground-floor masonry rooms with four kivas along the east side. The excavators also identified substructure and superstructure components of the building indicating multi-story architecture

Ceramic evidence at Bc 50 suggests a long period of occupation primarily centered during the A.D. 900s to 1000s. Opinions differ on whether this occupation was continuous or periodic. Excavations below the building revealed traces of an earlier Basketmaker occupation. (The Chaco Research Archives)

Bc 51 Jpg

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With about 45 ground-floor rooms and seven kivas, Bc 51 is very large for this building type. The three tree-ring dates for the site, all from Room 7, are from trees harvested in A.D. 967 and A.D. 1043. Alternative designations for the site are 29SJ395 and LA 40395. (The Chaco Research Archives)

Bc 53 Jpg

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The site includes approximately 21 rooms and four kivas. Rather than being constructed in a single episode, wall bonding and abutting suggests rooms were gradually added to the pueblo. Ceramic frequencies from the site are dominated by Exuberant Corrugated, and Chaco and Escavada Black-on-white, suggesting an occupation primarily during the last half of the 11th century.

Alternate site designations include Ignorance Hollow, 29SJ396, and LA 4039. (The Chaco Research Archives)

Bc 57 Jpg

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Site Description

A small house site on the south side of the canyon along a natural hillside. Bc 57 is adjacent to Bc 58 and approximately 400 feet (122 m.) northeast of Casa Rinconada. The site was excavated by the University of New Mexico and School of American Research field school under the direction of Paul Reiter and includes approximately nine masonry rooms, three enclosed kivas, one exterior kiva, and one pithouse. Ceramic assemblages from the site’s refuse-filled rooms suggest that activity at and around the site likely spanned the 9th, 10th, and 11th centuries, but was not continuous throughout that period. (The Chaco Research Archives)

Bc 58 Jpg

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A small-house site located on the south side of the canyon between Bc 57 and Casa Rinconada, approximately 290 feet (85 m.) northeast of the latter and along the same natural hillside. Bc 58 was excavated during the 1947 season of the University of New Mexico and School of American Research field school under the direction of Paul Reiter and includes roughly 14 masonry rooms and three kivas (two of which are subsurface). Rather than the simple rectangular footprint of Bc 57, the roomblock of Bc 58 is amorphous, suggesting rooms may have gradually been added as necessary. No formal excavation report was completed for the site, but photographs, field notes, ceramic tallies, and student papers are archived at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology and the Chaco Culture National Historical Park Museum Collection at the University of New Mexico. Analysis of the faunal remains has shown that birds are not as common at Bc 58 as at Bc 57, but artiodactyls are roughly twice as common (proportionally) as at other small house sites in the canyon. Although the site has now been backfilled, it is adjacent to the Casa Rinconda trail.

Alternative site numbers are 29SJ398 and LA 40398. (The Chaco Research Archives)

Bc 59 Jpg

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Initial excavations revealed two-thirds of the site – including 13 rooms and three kivas. Continued excavations ultimately revealed around 30 rooms and five kivas. Many of the rooms at Bc 59 were irregularly shaped compared to the other small house sites in the immediate vicinity. This site is visible along the Casa Rinconada trail.

Four tree-ring dates from a handful of beams recovered in Kiva 2 indicate harvest dates from A.D. 1050-1110. The dominant ceramic types are consistent with construction in the last half of the 11th century and the first half of the 12th century. Frequencies of other ceramic types also suggest the possibility of an earlier, 10th century occupation.

Alternate designations for this site are 29SJ399, LA 40399, and Tom Matthew’s Dig. (The Chaco Research Archives)

Bee Burrow Jpg

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The Bee Burrow ruin is a rectangular structure with at least
eleven rooms and two kivas. The long axis of the building is
oriented approximately 20 degrees north of east, and therefore the front of the structure faces 20 degrees east of south.
The outside dimensions of the structure are approximately
25 m E-W x 18 m N-S. The outside wall varies in thickness
from 60 to 70 cm, and the interior walls range from 50 to
60 cm in thickness. (ANASAZI REGIONAL ORGANIZATION AND THE CHACO SYSTEM
David E. Doylt editor)

Big House Jpg

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After a period of use of approximately one century, Ats'ee
Nitsaa was abandoned and the focus of the Manuelito community shifted still farther upstream and into a narrow side
canyon that is a natural access or "back door" into Manuelito Canyon. Here, Big House and Naat'a'anii Bikin were
constructed. Big House is an apt name for one of the largest
and most massive buildings ever built by the Anasazi. lt
measures 100 m by ll0 m and is consaucted on such a
slope as to create relief in excess of 20 m (Figure 9-4). Big
House was called the "Great Ruin" by Reed (1938). (The Anasazi Great House in Space, Time, and Paradigm
Andrew P. Fowler and John R. Stein)

Bis Sani B W Jpg

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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. (Wikipedia)

Blancett Jpg

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Bluff Greathouse Jpg

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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. (Wiikipedia)

Candelaria Ruin B W Jpg

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Candelaria Pueblo, also known as Las Ventanas, is a Chacoan-style site located within the El Malpais National Monument. The site consists of a two-story great house with approximately 75-90 rooms. Built circa 1050-1100 A.D., the pueblo served as a house of worship and was surrounded by a community of smaller pueblos. A lava flow to the west of the great house preserved many of the ritual sites and artifacts associated with the pueblo. (Wikipedia)

Casa Abajo Jpg

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Part of the Indian Creek community. "Casa Abajo is a relatively large "L" shaped pueblo which contains nine rooms and has an enclosed plaza. The quantity of masonry rubble gives the house a massive appearance. The
maximum structural dimensions of the house and plaza
structure are 16.5 m E-W x 16.0 m N-S. The house itself has a
maximum E-W dimension of 14 m and a maximum N-S
dimension of 13 m. The orientation of the block is approximately 20 degrees east of true north. The structural exposure of the house is to the southeast. (ANASAZI COMMUNITIES OFTHE SAN JUAN BASIN
by MICHAEL P. MARSHALL.JOHN R. STEIN, RICHARD W. LOOSE;JUDITH E. NOVOTNY)

Casa Chiquito B W Jpg

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The site forms a compact, square roomblock with approximately 34 ground-floor rooms surrounding a central, elevated kiva. Casa Chiquita was originally two or three stories tall. A separate roomblock of a few rooms and a kiva may have been attached to the northeast corner of the main building. This structure was built during a single construction stage. The two available tree-ring samples with harvest dates are A.D. 1063 and 1064, but the McElmo style of this structure (square footprint, enclosed kiva, large blocks of soft yellowish sandstone finished with a dimpled or pecked surface) suggests it was built in the early 12th century. The older tree-ring dates may be attributable to the re-use of beams from other structures. (The Chaco Archives)

Casa Rinconada Community B W Jpg

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The community is made up of the great kiva, Casa Rinconada, and the surrounding small house sites.

Casa Rinconada Jpg

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Casa Rinconada has an average interior diameter of 63 feet (19.2 m.). It contains all features generally associated with great kivas including a firebox, an inner bench, four large seating pits that served as roof supports, two masonry vaults/foot drums, and 34 niches encircling the great kiva. In addition, the kiva includes a 39-foot-long (12 m.) underground passage, three feet deep and almost three feet wide, entering the room from the northern antechamber. The underground passage would have allowed Chacoans, perhaps ritual specialists, to enter the great kiva unseen and then suddenly emerge. (The Chaco Research Aechives)

Casamera B W Jpg

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Most of the research in Casamero has focused on the great house after which the community is named. This structure, consisting of 21 ground-floor and six second-story rooms, includes a plaza area in front as well as a blocked-in kiva. A road appears to approach the great house from the southeast. Mean ceramic dates from this (Chaco Research Archive)

Cero Pomo B W Jpg

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This appears to be a great house of approximately 40 rooms with 3 blocked-in kivas, 2 plaza kivas, and 2 nearby great kivas. Possibly 2 prehistoric roads approach the great kivas and great house. (Chaco Research Archive)

Cero Prieta B W Jpg

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Also known as LA 48056. Cerro Prieto was mapped in part by John Stein and Dabney Ford as Site 472. Cerro Prieto is an extensive complex of at least 17 roomblocks, only 10 of which have been documented in any detail. The central core of the complex is on the ridge top and consists of Units 1 to 3. (Chaco Research Archive)

The Chaco core area refers to Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and National Historical Park. It served as the center of a vast pre-Columbian cultural complex, known as Chaco Culture, that flourished from the mid-9th to early 13th centuries. This area contains the largest excavated ruins in the Southwest, including major structures like Pueblo Bonito, Pueblo Alto, Chetro Ketl, and the Great Kiva at Casa Rinconada, according to the National Park Service. (Google)

Chetro Ketl B W Jpg

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Chetro Ketl is the second largest great house in the canyon in number of rooms (approximately 400 ground and upper-story) and the largest in surface area (more than 5.7 acres or 2.3 hectares). The great house may have risen to four stories along areas of the north side. Talus Unit is a small structure composed of an east and west building located against the cliff behind the back wall of Chetro Ketl. (Chaco Research Archive)

Shiprock Community Jpg

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Cordel B W Jpg

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Cox Ranch B W Jpg

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This community is also known as Mogollon Pueblo due the obvious influence from the south; the site form states “it would appear that this site is a Reserve Mogollon settlement which is receiving considerable influence from the Cibola Anasazi populace.” The community consists of two clusters: 13 buildings and a possible great kiva depression in a northern cluster and two buildings in the southern cluster. The northern cluster includes one great house. (Chaco Research Archive)

Coyote Sings Here B W Jpg

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This two-story structure includes 20 rooms and two kivas in a 550 m2 area (Wilcox estimates a total interior floor area of 500 m2). An unusual number of low exterior walls also surround the great house, suggesting the presence of at least one enclosed plaza. Mean ceramic dating suggests that use of the structure spanned from A.D. 990–1081. (Chaco Research Archive)

Crumbled House B W Jpg

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Crumbled House is a ruined great house of the Ancestral Puebloans, just east of the Chuska Mountains, in New Mexico. Based on ceramic dating, the buildings were built and occupied between 1100 and 1250 AD.^[1] Crumbled House is a Chaco Protection Site, or special management area.^[2] (Wikepedia)

Dalton Pass Jpg

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The great house, about which little is known (Powers et al. 1983:205–207), is a two-story structure featuring approximately 20 rooms, four small kivas, two of which are in an enclosed plaza. The larger kiva in the plaza of the Great House may be a Great Kiva too, but it is only 9m. A second great kiva is reported to be about 20 m southwest of the great house. Based on maps of the site, and considering the second story, the interior space of the great house measures 675m2 (Kantner 1999), although Wilcox suggests that its 825m2. Mean ceramic dates for the structure suggest an occupation range from A.D. 880-1132. (Chaco Research Archive)

Dittert Site B W Jpg

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The site consists of an L-shaped masonry building, containing about 30 ground-floor rooms, 8 of which were excavated by Dittert. There may be two stories of construction along the north side. Near the southwest corner is a circular kiva about 6 meters in diameter, which was also excavated by Dittert. The kiva appears to have been partially housed in the roomblock. (Chaco Research Archive)

Dune Ruin B W Jpg

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Probably the north terminus of the Chaco North road.

Eal Morris B W Jpg

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The Earl Morris Ruin is a rectangular roomblock located 65 to 70 m north of the East Roomblock of Aztec East. It is roughly 64-by-34 m in size and stands 2.8 m above the modern ground surface. Seven kiva depressions corresponding to Stein and McKenna’s 1989 map (Kivas A-G) were identified during the AERLMP project. (The NPS)

East Ruin B W Jpg

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East Community is an Ancestral Puebloan great house community and archeological site located 12 miles (19 km) east of Pueblo Bonito, at the eastern end of Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico, United States. Archeological evidence uncovered during the 1980s suggests the site was occupied by both Chacoans and Mesa Verdeans. Eighty-two structures have been identified in the area, including a great house that contains twenty-five rooms and several small house sites. At least one kiva has been uncovered there, but no great kivas. (Wikepedia)

Edgd Of The Cedars Jpg

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Several small roomblocks flank either side of the great house. Much of the surrounding community area is coverd by the town of Blanding and adjacent cultivated fields. No block survey has been done. (Chaco Research Archive)

El Faro Jpg

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The El Faro great house is irregular in form; it has small, rectangular rooms on the east, two kivas in the center, and four large rooms wrapping around the north and west sides of the kivas. The eastern portion of the El Faro great house may have been two stories, but the rest was probably one-story. Tree-ring dates from El Faro indicate that it was built in the early 1100s A.D. (Powers et al. 1983). (The University of Idaho)

El Rito Jpg

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The El Rito great house is a rectangular mound, two-and possibly three-stories high in portions. It has an estimated 55 rooms, four kivas, and an associated great kiva (Allan and Gauthier 1976). Two of the kivas and the great kiva are located in an open plaza area to the south of the ruin, while two others are present within the roomblock. This great house community is located on the hill slopes and flats around El Rito Creek, southwest of San Mateo and northwest of the summit of Mt. Taylor. (Chaco Research Archive)

Escavada Community Jpg

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The Escalante Chacoan structure is located on a low gravel hill that directly overlooks the south rim of the Dolores River Canyon west of the Dolores and northeast of Lebanon, Colorado. Escalante is a roughly squared one-story house of approximately 25 ground-floor rooms and one intramural kiva. The mound rises 2.5–3 m, and the total floor area is estimated at 455 m2. (Chaco Research Archive)

Fajada Butte Jpg

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Fajada Butte (Banded Butte) rises 135 meters above the canyon floor. Although there is no water source on the butte, there are ruins of small cliff dwellings in the higher regions of the butte. Analysis of fragments of pottery found on Fajada show that these structures were used between the 10th to 13th centuries.^[3] The remains of a 95-meter-high, 230-meter-long ramp are evident on the southwestern face of the butte (Ford 1993, p. 478). The magnitude of this building project, without an apparent utilitarian purpose, indicates that Fajada Butte may have had considerable ceremonial importance for the Chacoan people. (Wikepedia)

Farmers B W Jpg

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Approximately 1.6 km northeast of the Aztec complex and just above tle confluence of the Rio de Los Animas and Farmer Arroyo, the river swings into the northern gravel bench. Here the ascent to the upper surface of the terra: is very precipitous. Located atop the bench are three massive buildings of Bonito style construction, segments of apparent roadways, a great kiva, an isolated large kiva, and three other possible great kivas. (The NPS)

Farview Community Jpg

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Far View was one of the most densely populated parts of the mesa from A.D. 900 to about A.D. 1300. Nearly 50 villages have been identified within a half square mile area, and were home to hundreds of people. (The NPS)

Flora Vista Jpg

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Kin Cheops Bw Jpg

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Halfway House B W Jpg

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Halfway House, also known as LA 15191, lies on a slight knoll on the western slope of an unnamed tributary drainage of Gallegos Wash. The site is south-southwest of Huerfano Trading Post and southeast of Carson Trading Post, New Mexico Halfway House is a barely visible rectangular house mound, one story in height, with an estimated 12 rooms. Because aeolian deposits enshroud the mound, its height is difficult to estimate, but a height of about 2 m is probable. (Chaco Research Archive)

Haystack Great Kiva Jpg

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Haystack is located in the Red Mesa Valley. Three great houses and five great kivas are found scattered throughout this community. (Chaco Research Archive)

Hogback B W Jpg

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Haystack is located in the Red Mesa Valley. Three great houses and five great kivas are found scattered throughout this community. (Chaco Research Archive)

Hogback B W Jpg

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Also known as LA 11594 Component A. This site, located along the Chaco River a mere 11 km south of the San Juan River, consists of an “L”-shaped masonry house with a semicircular enclosed plaza area containing a kiva and three associated midden areas. (Chaco Research Archive)

Hogbback Community Jpg

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Numerous other unit house complexes occur nearby, comprising the nuclear community of which this site is the center. There is an extensive view reaching to the Chuska and La Plata mountains. (Chaco Research Archive)

Hubbard Tri Wall B W Jpg

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Hubbard Tri-Wall Site One of a few tri-wall structures in the Southwest, it was built of three concentric walls divided into 22 rooms encircling a kiva. This complex stood atop two earlier structures; one was adobe. Construction may date from the early 1100s. (The NPS)

Hungo Pavi B W Jpg

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Hungo Pavi is an unexcavated great house located about 1.8 miles (2.9 km.) southeast of Pueblo Bonito at the mouth of Mockingbird Canyon. he site contains approximately 140 rooms. The north roomblock includes three rows of rooms and stood at least three-stories tall along the rear wall, dropping to a single story along the plaza. (Chaco Research Archive)

Jaquez B W Jpg

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No data found. Site is at the mouth of Gallgos Wash.

Village Of The Great Kivas Jpg

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illage of the Great Kivas is considered a Chacoan Outlier and features two great kivas and two separate room blocks to house around 100 inhabitants. It is also noted for its impressive array of petroglyphs and pictographs and is one of the main archeological sites illustrating the development of Zuni culture. The village was occupied around 1000AD for approximately 50 years and interestingly, also included an additional housing block of a different people from the Gila River region to the south. This site was extensively excavated in in 1930 by Frank H. H. Roberts, Jr.and is listed on the State Register of Cultural Properties and the National Register of Historic Places. (Four Corners Region Geotourism Stewardship Council)

Kin Hochoi Jpg

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Kin Hocho’i is in Manuelito Canyon, New Mexico, approximately 130 kilometers southwest of Chaco Canyon. Kin Hocho’i is on the elevated south edge of Lupton Gap and has an expansive view overlooking the gap.

The L-shaped great house defines a plaza on the east side that is enclosed by a curved wall. Surrounding the great house is a sunken avenue 15 meters wide. Around the avenue is an aureola, an encircling earth dike. The aureola is perforated by gateways through which roads enter Kin Hocho’i. At least four kivas are within the roomblock; to the north is an early great kiva and to the northeast is a Chaco era great kiva. (University of Idaho)

Kin Indian Ruin B W Jpg

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Kin Indian Ruin represents the first Bonito Style outpost to be encountered north of Chaco Canyon. Just as Pueblo Alto rests on the crest of the southern margin of the Escavada Valley so Kin Indian Ruin rests on the crest of the northern margin. A distance of 5km separates the two ruins. (Chaco Research Archive)

Tsin Kletsin is a small great house located on South Mesa two miles (3.2 km.) south of Pueblo Bonito. The site consisted of approximately 80 rooms and three kivas (two of which were elevated). (Chaco Research Archive)

Kin Kletso B W Jpg

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Kin Kletso (Navajo for “yellow house”), is a McElmo-style great house with approximately 65 rooms and 5 kivas. The kiva at the western end of the building has been identified as a tower kiva. The ground plan is rectangular and, unlike many earlier great houses, there is no associated great kiva and no plaza. The pueblo was three stories on the north side, dropping to two stories over the remainder of the building. Kin Kletso is located roughly 0.5 miles (0.8 km.) northwest of Pueblo Bonito and is accessible at the beginning of the National Park Service Pueblo Alto trail. Construction has been dated to A.D. 1125-1130 based on a strong cluster of tree-ring dates. (Chaco Research Archive)

Kin Klizhin Jpg

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Kin Klizhin is a small, unexcavated, great house located roughly 10 miles (16.1 km.) southwest of Pueblo Bonito. Tree rings date the construction of this site to the late A.D. 1080s. The structure includes 16 rooms, two kivas, a tower kiva, and an enclosed plaza. It has not been excavated. Due to its high visibility, the three-story tower kiva may have been a signaling station within a broader regional communication system. The structure can be seen from Tsin Kletsin, a great house just south of Chaco Canyon and a Chacoan road that leaves Chaco Canyon through South Gap. (Chaco Research Archive)

Kin Nahasbas B W Jpg

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A great kiva and associated roomblock located about 550 feet (168 m.) north-northwest of the Una Vida great house and about three miles (4.8 km) southeast of Pueblo Bonito. Like Casa Rinconada, the great kiva is elevated above the canyon floor on a sandstone ridge. (Chaco Research Archive)

Kin Niiyahkeed Jpg

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Kin Niiyahk’eed has 9 rooms and two kivas in a one-story, 300 m2 area. A short road segment and associated steps ascend a small mesa to provide access to Kin Niiyahk’eed. No great kivas have reportedly been identified in this community. (Chaco Research Archive)

Kin Nizhoni Jpg

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Kin Niiyahk’eed has 9 rooms and two kivas in a one-story, 300 m2 area. A short road segment and associated steps ascend a small mesa to provide access to Kin Niiyahk’eed. No great kivas have reportedly been identified in this community. (Chaco Research Archive)

Kin Something Jpg

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Between the residence area and campground.

29SJ529–on east side of road between Visitors Center and Campground “Warnock ‘s ..Little Site..; 20 + rooms, 1-2 kivas, 1 tower; Pl – late PIII.” (“Small Site Architecture of Chaco Canyon”)

Kin Yaa B W Jpg

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The great house at Kin Ya’a contains 44 rooms and four kivas in four stories, including the tower kiva, from which a burial of an adult male was recovered (Akins 1986:160). With a floor area of 1782m2, this structure is the largest in the study area. A total of 18 tree-ring dates were recovered from the tower and a nearby room; the results indicate an early date of A.D. 1087, a late date of A.D. 1106, and date clusters of A.D. 1087–1088 and A.D. 1106 (Marshall et al. 1979:201–206). However, mean ceramic dating indicates that the structure as a whole was occupied between A.D. 1018-1111. The great kiva is situated 200 m northwest of the great house. (Chaco Research Archive)

Los Rayos Great Kiva Jpg

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No data found

Lower Greenlee B W Jpg

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Also known as LA 35419. The apparent construction of this structure upon a platform is not a common aspect of Bonito Style architecture. Presence of the platform-tower kiva combination makes Lower Greenlee a very significant location. (Chaco Research Archive)

Lower Nizhoni Jpg

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This pueblo is a staggered “L” shaped house containing 3 rooms and an enclosed kiva with a plaza area on the south. Mound elevations of 1.0 to 2.0 m suggest that the entire house was a single story in elevation, but of massive construction. Interior rooms sizes are estimated to be; Room 1, 4 m x 8 m, Room 2, 4 m x 4 m, and Room 3, 3.5 m x 5.5 m. The kiva is 6.0 m in diameter and appears within a rectangular enclosure 9 m x 12 m. The kiva is situated toward the east side of the enclosure, and an additional room may exist to the west (Chaco Research Archive).

Morris Site 39 Jpg

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This Chacoan structure and surrounding sites, also known as LA 37601, are located near the confluence of Barker Arroyo and the La Plata River, north-northwest of Farmington and south-southwest of La Plata, New Mexico. (Chaco Research Archive).

Morris 41 North Jpg

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A huge site rannging from Bsketmker through PIII, with the biggest great house in the District. On a bench above the La Plata River.

Morris 41 South Jpg

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Morris 41 Greathouse Jpg

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... communities at Morris 39 and 41 also contain multiple great houses. Morris 41 has the largest great house (perhaps 100 rooms) in the La Plata Valley (described by Earl Morris [1939] as the largest sandstone ruin in the valley; Fig- ure 5). As discussed above, the northern great house at Morris 41 is a good can- didate for Chacoan construction in the late 1000s or early 1100s (see Table 3). ... (MIDDLE SAN JUAN SETTLEMENT PATTERNS: SEARCHING FOR CHACOAN IMMIGRANTS AND EVIDENCE OF LOCAL EMULATION ON THE LANDSCAPE)

Muddy Water Jpg

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There are three Bonito Phase pueblos and a single great kiva
within the Muddy Water nuclear community area which are
DRAINAGE Indian Creek, to the Chaco Wash, to the recognized as examples of public architecture. The largest pueblo and associated great kiva, LA No. 10959, appear to have served the community throughout the P-ll period. (Chaco Research Archive).

Naatanii Bikin Jpg

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New Alto Bw Jpg

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New Alto is connected to nearby and larger Pueblo Alto by a low masonry wall. New Alto is a small McElmo-style great house similar to Casa Chiquita and Kin Sabe. In Chaco Canyon, McElmo-phase structures (A.D. 1110-1140) are defined by a square ground plan with an enclosed kiva, multi-story architecture, a new style of pecked stone facings. (Chaco Research Archive).

Penasco Blanco B W Jpg

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It is an arch-shaped complex built into the top of a canyon cliff; it was constructed in five different stages between 900 AD and 1125 AD. A painting on a nearby boulder (the "Supernova Plate") may have recorded the observation of a supernova on July 5, 1054 AD

According to the National Park Service, "Pueblo Bonito is the most thoroughly investigated and celebrated cultural site in Chaco Canyon. Planned and constructed in stages between AD 850 to AD 1150 by ancestral Puebloan peoples, this was the center of the Chacoan world."^[1] Anthropologist Brian Fagan has said that "Pueblo Bonito is an archeological icon, as famous as England's Stonehenge, Mexico's Teotihuacan, or Peru's Machu Picchu." (Wikipedia) Oscar Walsh was a USGLO surveyor working with Neil Judd.

Pueblo Del Arroyo B W Jpg

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The westernmost great house in Chaco Canyon, Peñasco Blanco sits about 2.7 miles (4.4 km.) northwest of Pueblo Bonito on the northwest tip of West Mesa where it overlooks the confluence of the Chaco and Escavada washes. Peñasco Blanco is the third largest great house in Chaco Canyon and, along with Tsin Kletsin, is one of the only two canyon great houses located on the south side of Chaco Canyon. The oval ground plan is unlike any other great house and contrasts with the classic D-shape of many other canyon great houses. (Chaco Research Archive).

Pueblo Pintado B W Jpg

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1849, the Washington Expedition, a military reconnaissance under the direction of Lt. James Simpson, surveyed Navajo lands. As the party traveled west from Santa Fe, Pueblo Pintado (Spanish for "painted village") was the first Chacoan site they encountered. This Chacoan site was also known as Pueblo de los Ratones, or "village of the mice," Pueblo Colorado or "red village," and Pueblo Grande, or "large village." Its Navajo name is Kin teel, or "wide house." Pueblo Pintado is located 16 miles southeast of Pueblo Bonito and is the easternmost of the Chacoan great houses in the immediate Chaco Canyon area.

The great house is a massive L-shaped building, open to the southeast. The building is terraced, from 3 stories on the outside corner to the single-story enclosed kivas on the interior corner. About 20 single-story rooms enclose the plaza and a large enclosed kiva. The entire great house contained 90 ground-floor rooms, 40 second-story rooms, and 5 third-story rooms. A hundred feet southeast of the building is a subterranean great kiva 58 feet in diameter. (Aztec NM)

Cuatros Payasos Jpg

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Shiprock Community Jpg

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No dats found.

Skunk Springs Community (LA 7000) is situated approximately five miles southwest of Newcomb, New Mexico. It is located on a prominence called Grey Mesa and in the Black House Valley that unfolds to the south. Elevations in the area range from 5,500 ft to 5,900 ft. The great house, known as Black House, and several large villages occupy the southern edge of the mesa, but the remainder of the community extends outward into the valley below. Black House Valley may be characterized as a broad plain that slopes gently to the northeast. Aeolian and alluvial sediments are mixed on this plain, thus providing arable land that is still cultivated today by local Navajo farmers. Run-off from the eastern slopes of the Chuska Mountains is funneled into Tuntsa and Skunk Springs washes, which provide the valley with water. (Chaco Reserch Archives)

Also known as Morris 40, while the great house is LA 1988. In 1935, Deric Nusbaum representing the Carnegie Institution, conducted a brief reconnaissance of the Squaw Springs nuclear community area. Nusbaum recognized the presence of 43 ruins in proximity to the springs and the importance of the large pueblo central to the complex, which is defined here as the Squaw Springs community center, LA 1988. The form, size, and estimated number of rooms and kivas was defined by Nusbaum for each site; however, the specific locations and temporal affinities were not recognized.

The ruins which represent the Squaw Springs nuclear community complex are clustered in an area approximately 2.0 km NE-SW x 1.0 km NW-SE, situated at the base of a massive slick rock uplift about Navajo, Cottonwood, and Squaw Springs. (Chaco Research Archives)

Standingrock Jpg

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The house is a linear “U” shaped structure with a contiguous subrectangular plaza on the south which gives the entire structure a “D” shaped form. The maximum E-W dimension of the house is approximately 30 m and the maximum N-S dimension including the plaza area is 28 m. The long E-W stem and the N-S stem on the east are tier two-rooms wide, while the N-S stem of the west is a single-room wide. “At least the back (north) tier of the house is two stories and portions of the front and sides may also have been of similar height” (Powers et al. 1977). Mound elevations extend to 3.0 m. There is an estimated twenty-four floor rooms within the house and an additional estimated twelve second-story rooms. A maximum of forty rooms is possible. Indistinct outlines of a few walls are visible. Elements consist of tabular sandstone many of which appear shaped. One exposed wall shows sandstone slabs with spall chinking. The walls are core-veneer structures (Powers et al. 1977). (Chaco Research Archives)

The Accropolis Jpg

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Called Pierre's house A, B, & C in the Chaco Research Archives

Three Kiva Jpg

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Three Kiva is a stabilized pueblo located in Montezuma Canyon along County Road B146 about seven miles upcanyon from the Perkins Road (County Road B206). It features a reconstructed kiva with a roof and ladder access, accessed by a short foot path. The remainder of the pueblo is visible as stabilized wall bases, with the upper parts having collapsed prehistorically. About 1,000 years ago, Three Kiva Ruin was part of a large and thriving community that took advantage of the resources that the canyon had to offer. Extensive excavations by a team of archeologists from Brigham Young University revealed 14 rooms and three kivas, a ramada working area, a trash mound, and a possible turkey run. Large portions of this complex have been stabilized, but only one of the kivas is reconstructed. (The BLM)

Tolokai Jpg

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The Toh La Kai house is an “L” shaped structure which incorporates a great kiva on the northeast and a rectangular plaza on the northwest. The overall dimensions of the complex are 40 m x 43 m, while the maximum structural dimensions of the house alone are 39 m x 20 m. Wilcox estimates total interior floor area of 800 m2. The house is estimated to contain seventeen ground-floor rooms, a single blocked-in kiva, and an enclosed plaza or court on the east which may contain a subterranean kiva. Given the possibility of multiple stories, up to thirty-one rooms may be contained in the block. The elevation of the rubble mound slopes from north to south and ranges from 1 m to over 3 m. The structure appears to be a multiple terrace, with perhaps three stories on the back or south tier. The house was exposed to the north. This is a very unusual situation since, most Anasazi pueblos are oriented to face south or southeast. The reduction of the mound to rounded contours, without walls standing above the rubble, and the presence of only partially visible wall alignments allow for only tentative room size and location estimates. The nature of the rubble and mound contour in the upper back tier does not suggest the presence of elevated kivas but more likely that of rectangular cells. (Chaco Research Archives)

Tse Bee Kintsoh Jpg

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Tse Bee Kintsoh is one of the larger communities located in the Red Mesa Valley. Surveys have identified several clustered groups of habitations associated with three great houses, four great kivas, and two short prehistoric road segments. The three great houses in Tse Bee Kintsoh appear to be contemporaneous.
Our knowledge of this community derives primarily from three investigations: two pipeline surveys conducted in the mid- and late-1970s by the Office of Contract Archaeology at UNM and a more detailed study by the Navajo Nation Cultural Resource Management Program reported in 1985. Ceramics recorded at habitations in the community reveal a lengthy occupation span from A.D. 750–1143, with the earliest ceramic collections coming from pithouses. (Chaco Research Archives)

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Tsin Kletsin is a small great house located on South Mesa two miles (3.2 km.) south of Pueblo Bonito. The site consisted of approximately 80 rooms and three kivas (two of which were elevated). Architecturally, it is considered a transitional site as it juxtaposes a traditional D-shaped layout with McElmo-style veneer. The site contained both an arced plaza to the south and a rectangular enclosure to the north. Construction has been dated to the early 12th century based on the masonry style and tree-ring dates. The site has not been excavated. (Chaco Research Archives)

Twin Angels is an L-shaped, one-story structure of 17 rooms and two kivas. The mound rises to 2.5 m, with a total floor area of 270 m2 estimated (although Wilcox estimates total interior floor area of 470 m2). An examination of the regular layout of the site suggests the large roomblock may have been constructed during a single planned construction phase. But since data on wall construction sequences have not been reported and no tree-ring dates have been obtained, this is conjectural. Whether the small four-room block to the east was constructed previously, contemporaneously, or subsequently is also unknown.

Because the site was partially excavated by Morris in 1915, a number of rooms are open, revealing core and veneer masonry of Chacoan style. Rooms have a mean size of 12.5 m2, and standing walls of 1.2-1.5 m in conjunction with substantial debris suggest that the ceilings were probably high. The single excavated kiva has some Chaco-style features (Carlson 1966).

Ceramics associated with the house mound and talus trash below (Carlson 1966; McKenna 1976) clearly indicate Early Pueblo III to Late Pueblo III occupation. (Chaco Research Archives)

Una Vida B W Jpg

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Una Vida (Spanish for “one life”) is one of the earliest great houses, along with Pueblo Bonito and Peñasco Blanco, and is the fifth largest found in the canyon with about 160 rooms, including some second-story rooms in the western and northern room blocks. The site is located in the Fajada Gap area – 3.25 miles (5.2 km.) southeast of Pueblo Bonito and 2.3 miles (3.7 km.) southeast of Hungo Pavi. Tree-ring dates from the oldest portion of the building indicate that construction was initiated in the mid-800s, about the same time as Pueblo Bonito. That effort may have been limited to the small roomblock that projects to the east of the main great house. The next building stage began in the mid-10th century and added the western roomblock within the main great house. The remaining portions of the pueblo appear to have been added between the mid-11th century and about A.D. 1100. In the historic period, hogans and a corral were constructed on the mounded ruin. (Chaco Research Archives)

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