Culture and Ecology of Chaco Canyon and the San Juan Basin

152 Chaco Project SynthesisStage III, the East Wing (Figure 5.13), builtbetween A.D. 1050 and 1060, exhibits a change inmasonry style from Judd's (1964) type II to Hawley's(1934) combined types III and IV (Windes 1987[1]:148). This unit parallels the West Wing, but unlikethe rooms in the latter unit, three toward the southhave doorways that link Plaza 2 (on the east) with thePlaza 1. Four road-related rooms (194 through 197)appear along what is later the southeastern section ofthe room block. They are located east of a road spurthat enters Plaza 1; the main route runs north fromChetro Ked, proceeds northward along the east side ofPueblo Alto, and becomes part of the Great NorthRoad. The East ruin and the Parking Lot ruin, bothadjacent to roads, were probably built at this time(Windes 1987[1]:94). During this period there is aceramic shift from the dominance of Red Mesa Blackon-whiteware to Gallup Black-on-white ware.Events during stage IV, from A.D. 1080 to1100, include the construction of the south arc.Rooms 225 and 226 are remodeled. Major wallsextend in several directions to form boundaries forplaza areas outside of the pueblo and major walls thatrestrict access to areas around Pueblo Alto (Figures5.8 and 5.14). Kivas were built in older rooms of theexisting room blocks.During stage V, from A.D. 1100 to 1140, thereis evidence for a ceramic shift to what has been namedthe "Late Mix," in which several ceramic types arepresent but none are dominant (Appendix B, TableB.2). A number of irregular features and roomsappear in the plaza (Figure 5.15). Plaza Feature I, afive-room structure, provided one tree-ring date atA.D. 1132 on firewood in Firepit 2 (CNM-562;1031p-1132rBc). New Alto, Rabbit ruin, and29S12401 were built; Windes (1987[1]:415-416) suggestedthat Rabbit ruin and New Alto replace theearlier Parking Lot ruin and the East ruin. New Altomay represent a large storage facility (Lekson 1984a);Rabbit ruin is a habitation site rather than a roadrelatedsite. At this time, while there is continuity forthe overall system, there is a shift in the importance ofroads to the west side of Pueblo Alto. An examinationof Figure 5.16 indicates that several of thesewestern roads lead to seeps in Cly's Canyon duringthis period, which represents the greatest expanse ofthis community.Several issues arose as a result of theseexcavations. First, the "big-room suites" identified inthe central area are similar to suites found at PuebloBonito, Penasco Blanco, Kin Bineola, and Una Vida(Windes 1987[1]:355, Figure 10.2). AIl were builtbetween A.D. 919 and 1050. (More recent datingplaces initial construction at several of these sites intothe late A.D. 800s [Windes and D. Ford 1992,1996].) Windes (unlike Judge et al. 1981, and Lekson1984a) does not consider these large room suites to besimply scaled-up habitation units. Differences werenoted in big-room suites in the Central Wing and WestWing at Pueblo Alto, with the West Wing roomsexhibiting classic living room or habitation featureswhile the north or central room blocks had fewer floorfeatures, less diversity in pits, and heating pits ratherthan firepits, all of which suggested more storagefunctions. Yet big-room suites in the central sectioncoexisted with the smaller habitation suites in the WestWing and are clearly associated with "court" kivas,which are intermediate in size compared to "clan"kivas and "great" kivas (Lekson 1984a:50-61).Second, because so few living rooms wereidentified at Pueblo Alto, Windes (1987[1]:383,-406)questioned the size of the popUlation living there, aswell as year-round use. If there were cyclical groupsentering the area for short periods of time forceremonial or other reasons, the smaller popUlationestimate of approximately 100 people at Pueblo Altowould be more in line with other data. To furtherexamine this hypothesis, Windes re-examined severalof the Pueblo II and Pueblo III sites located along thecanyon bottom to suggest that there was not a continuousincrease in population in the canyon; instead,he inferred that data for the period between A.D. 1050and 1100 suggest a decrease, with a later increaseduring the early A.D. 1100s. To explain thesechanges, he cited a correlation with dendroclimaticpatterns that indicate drought conditions during thelate A.D. WOOs but an increase in moisture betweenA.D. 1100 and 1130.Windes (1987[1]:49) concluded that the PuebloAlto area had insufficient resources to support morethan 100 individuals. There was litde evidence forfarming on the mesa top, but several terraces withmasonry walls to retain soi I and water were presentalong the southern slopes toward the canyon. Water