Culture and Ecology of Chaco Canyon and the San Juan Basin

94 Chaco Project Synthesispression that cultural complexity decreasedfrom east to west, based on evidence forlarger and more permanent seasonal habitationsites in the Arroyo Cuervo region,may be incorrect. The problem iscompounded, as Judge (1982) and othershave noted, by the lack of detailed empiricaldata from the Arroyo Cuervo region.Until Archaic sites are sought morediligently in Chaco Canyon, on the ChacraMesa, and along the eastern flanks of theChuska and Lukachukai ranges, the extentof regional variation cannot be firmlyestablished. (Gwinn Vivian 1990: 90)Gwinn Vivian (1990:90-91) acknowledged theproblems that existed in defining a Basketmaker IIoccupation in the San Juan Basin. Yet he alsoevaluated the data from numerous sites that indicatedreliance on wild plant foods, the presence of maizepollen, some procurement of small animals, and thelong-distance procurement of some lithic materials.With caution, he was able to infer a regionaldifference between the En Medio and the Los Pinosvariants around 100 B.C. to A.D. 400. In summary,Though the processes of culture changeoperating in the San Juan Basin during theArchaic and Basketmaker II periods areonly broadly defined, the available dataand interpretations of that data provideseveral useful guides for analyzing theevolution of Chacoan culture after A.D.400. First, the evidence for linking culturechange to climatic shifts during theArchaic and Basketmaker II, though weak,strengthens the argument that similarprocesses probably characterized thePuebloan period. Second, though Berry's(1982) model for culture change may beextreme, it has refocused attention on theimportance of considering social as well asenvironmental elements in explaining culturegrowth. Finally, cultural variabilityin the Puebloan period may have considerableantiquity if the contrasts betweenthe Late En Medio and Los Pinos variantsdo represent expressions of contemporaneousbut basically different culturalsystems. (Gwinn Vivian 1990: 109)Contributions of Chaco ProjectPre ceramic ResearchStudies of pack rat midden debris (Betancourtand Van Devender 1980, 1981) and pollen (Hall 1975,1977 , 1990) contributed to environmental reconstructionfor this early period. Faunal analysis alsoindicated differences in the Archaic environment(Gillespie 1985), but research leading to more detailedenvironmental reconstruction is needed.Survey and excavation carried out by the ChacoProject contributed to our knowledge about preceramicadaptations in the Chaco Canyon area. We have acomprehensive inventory of all sites located within theboundaries of Chaco Culture National Historical Park.We do know there was little use of the area during thePaleoindian period, that use increased during the Earlyand Middle Archaic, and that use was probably greatestduring the Middle and Late Archaic. The criteriadeveloped by Young (Cameron and Young 1986) todiscern whether lithic scatters belonged to the Preceramic,Pueblo, or Navajo adaptations can be integratedwith similar studies by others to improve theassignment of such site types to chronological orcultural periods. Although there are still numerousquestions about the chronological placement of manysites, Chaco site data can be assigned to the chronologyestablished by Irwin-Williams (1979) for theArroyo Cuervo area to the southeast of the San JuanBasin.Atlatl Cave (29SJ1156) and two dune sites,Sleeping Dune and Ant Hill Dune (29SJ1157), aresimilar to other Late Archaic-Basketmaker II settlementsthroughout the San Juan Basin. The presence ofcom and squash at AtIatl Cave and neighboring SheepCamp Shelter and Ashlislepah Shelter correlates wellwith the known presence of cultigens in the basin.These sites probably represent regional springthrough-fallencampments, with possible winterencampments on Chacra Mesa. The timing of increaseddependence on maize, however, may notcorrelate with events in other areas of the San JuanBasin; e.g., the Chuska valley. Gwinn Vivian (1990)thought that there were subregions within the largerOshara tradition, and that differences can beattributed, in part, to environmental variables.