Ruins in Chaco Canyon #1

by Jeff Swan

Title

Ruins in Chaco Canyon #1

Artist

Jeff Swan

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Photograph - Photography

Description

Deep in the remote deserts of northwestern New Mexico lie the extensive ruins of the greatest architectural achievement of the northern American Indians. Known as the Chaco Canyon complex, the site was the main social and ceremonial center of the Anasazi culture. We do not actually know what these people called themselves; the word Anasazi is a Navaho word meaning variously "the ancient ones" or "the enemies of our ancient fathers." The early Anasazi (100 BC.) were nomadic hunter-gatherers ranging over great expanses of territory; by AD 700 they had begun to live in settled communities, of which Chaco Canyon is the finest example. Intensive construction occurred throughout Chaco Canyon from AD 900 to 1100, resulting in the development of several sophisticated dwelling complexes. Pueblo Bonito (meaning "pretty village" in Spanish; the original Anasazi name being unknown) had more than six hundred rooms, numerous two- and three-storey buildings, several ceremonial structures called kivas, and a population between 800 and 1200 persons. From tree-ring dating, it is known that a period of great drought came upon the Chaco area in AD 1150, causing the abandonment of the site. Rediscovered in 1849 by U.S. Army soldiers, the site was severely vandalized for seventy years until it was made a national monument in 1907. In 1920, National Geographic Society began a thorough reconstruction of the site.

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February 5th, 2016

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