Culture and Ecology of Chaco Canyon and the San Juan Basin

The Florescence 165Ceramics dating to the A. D. ll00s were foundin several transects across the site, including the OldHouse. These late sherds, plus subdivisions of thevaults in Great Kiva 2 and crude masonry modificationsto the firepit, indicate late use of this site.Viewed within a community context, KinNahasbas is thought to have been part of an earlycluster of sites near Una Vida (Windes 1993d). Bothgreat houses were built using similar masonry stylesthat indicate construction by the A.D. 900s; both hadsimilar ceramic types. Una Vida, however, tended tobe approximately eight times larger during this earlyperiod (2,330 vs. 283 m 2 ). Four small sites foundnearby (Mathien and Windes 1988:Figure 3) representthe entire span of occupation of the great houses.Within a 2-km radius, there are 65 contemporaneousPueblo II and Puebio III smaii houses; these greathouses are considered part of the Fajada Butte community(Windes 1993).The function of two nearby and contemporaneousgreat houses merits discussion. Althoughfactionalism and proximity toa water source or waterand field system were considered, Windes (Mathienand Windes 1988:100-101) suggested visibility as thereason for the location of Kin Nahasbas. During theA.D. 900s, the earliest great houses in the canyon(Pueblo Bonito, Penasco Blanco, and Una Vida) wereall visible from Kin Nahasbas. In contrast to UnaVida, during the A.D. lO00s this site also could beenpart of the signaling system and shrine network. Thenumber of rooms in the Old House did not suggest aneed for a great kiva at this site; if this great kiva wereused by other inhabitants of the community, KinNahasbas may have served more than one specialfunction within this community.Chaco East Community. Another great housewith early masonry that suggests construction duringthe A.D. 900s is located up canyon and outside of thepark boundaries where a major drainage empties intothe Chaco Wash (Windes et al. 2000). Although astraight line of visibility between this site and those inthe main section of the canyon did not exist, Windeset al. (2000:39, Figure 4.1 and Figure 4.2) suggestedthat this community was linked with four othersthrough a system of communication shrines describedin Hayes and Windes (1975). No excavations havebeen conducted; survey at local small sites andanalysis of sherds and lithics indicate mobility amongthe inhabitants who abandoned the early community.Closer ties to the Pueblo Pintado community than themain canyon are suggested (Windes et al. 2000).Shrines, Signaling Stations, and a CommunicationSystemDuring excavation of the Basketmaker III pitstructures and great kiva at 29SJ423, an unusualarcuate wall (Figure 5.23), 15 m long and 30 em high(possibly rising to 52 em), constructed of coursedcompound masonry set in mortar, was discovered(Hayes and Windes 1975). The crudely scrabbledstones and irregular width, plus the presence of somemetate fragments in its construction suggested a latedate, but there were no sherds from the Pueblo II toIII periods to further refine its chronological placement.Approximately 6.5 m south of the middle ofthe gentler arc was a pile of shallow mounded trash.In this pile was a pecked sandstone bowl with a flatbottom. It was surrounded by tabular dry-laid sandstoneslabs rising as high as the rim, and it wascovered by a rectangular sandstone slab that had arectangular hole in its center (Figure 5.24). When theshaped cover for this hole was removed, 146 turquoisebeads and three turquoise chips were found in a bowl.Also recovered in the area adjacent to the mound andwall were 184 turquoise beads, two black shale beads,one shell bead, 148 turquoise chips, and a smallMcElmo Black-on-white bowl that contained oneturquoise bead. Because this arc arrangement iscommon in Historic Pueblo shrines, a ritual activity(possibly a sun-watcher's station or signaling station)was inferred.Clear visibility from 29SJ423 extends 90 milesto the north, past Huerfano Butte to the La PlataMountains, as well as to the Chuska Mountains in thewest. Within Chaco Canyon, only three of the largepueblos or great houses could not be seen (Una Vida,Chetro Ketl, and Hungo Pavi). However, two featuressimilar to the one at 29SJ423 (29SJ1207, locatedon top of South Mesa due south of Pueblo Bonito, and29S1706, at the east end of South Mesa) provide sucha line of sight for all but Una Vida. As a result,Hayes and Windes (1975: 152) suspected that KinNahasbas was part of the larger Una Vida settlementor that the raised kiva in the west wing of Una Vidamight have been a possible linking station. All of the