As we are driving on the road that would take us there we come upon these goats and sheep. The cute dog that was herding and guarding them made sure to stay between us and them.
Finally we arrive at our destination. Chaco Canyon is one of the great mysteries of the southwest. There is evidence that Chaco Canyon has been occupied for 10,000 years. The remains of the buildings that we would see today were inhabited from 850 CE to 1150 CE. by the Chacoans, who are the ancient ancestors (Anasazi) of today's Pueblo nations. I work for the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo located at the confluence of the Chama and Rio Grande rivers. Not much is known about the Chaco culture except that much of their architecture and ceremonies were related to astronomy. It was also the center of a large trade network that extended all the way to southern Mexico and the Pacific ocean. In fact cacao, conch shells and the remains of Macaws were found among the ruins. The first place we stop at in Chaco Canyon is a great house, or settlement, called Chetro Ketl.
One of the most striking features in all of the different Chaco Canyon settlements are the Great Kivas or ceremonial chambers. This one at Chetro Ketl is very large and you can see the sitting bench at the inside bottom of the circular wall.
Some of the smaller Kivas have very different shapes.
A look inside one corner of the outer wall shows some of the architecture used at Chetro Ketl.
This picture of Jamie at the back wall shows just how long and straight it was. It's amazing how perfect the construction was since they had no modern tools to work with.
As we leave Chetro Ketl to walk the trail to Pueblo Bonito we pass some petroglyphs etched into the cliff walls that both of these settlements were built up against. This one is a weird looking person, maybe an alien.
Pueblo Bonito, Spanish for "Beautiful Town", is the largest of the great houses in Chaco Canyon. In places it was four stories high. This picture only shows a small part of it.
This picture shows some of the many rooms on the interior.
The Great Kiva at Pueblo Bonito.
There were many smaller Kivas which might have been for a particular clan or family.
Nic and Jamie inspect the inside of a room. The logs and sticks that you can see in the tops of the window and door were for support and the ones protruding from the walls were the ceiling of one story and the floor of a higher one. They are approximately 1,000 years old. The Chacoans cut about 225,000 trees to use in building the Great Houses in Chaco Canyon and had to haul them 40 - 60 miles from the closest forests.
This window built into a corner is actually an astronomical marker. When the sun rises on the morning of the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, it's rays enter through the window and strike the wall behind.
Finally, on the back side of Pueblo Bonito, looking up at the outside wall you can see a straight groove cut into the stone with large logs beneath. This was where there was a balcony, maybe for sitting on to watch the sunset or to enjoy some fresh air.
The Great Houses of Chaco Canyon show that the Chacoans were capable of difficult engineering accomplishments and had an extensive knowledge of astronomical events. They were a mysterious but highly advanced people.
WOWZA wish we had been there too.
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