Culture and Ecology of Chaco Canyon and the San Juan Basin

The Final Years 2311964) included carbon-painted ceramics. Maxon suggestedconstruction of Lizard House (Figure 7.6)shortly prior to A.D. 1100, when Chaco Black-onwhitewas predominant and when carbon-paintedwares were beginning to appear. Around A.D. 1130,when McElmo Black-on-white pottery was becomingpredominant, the house was remodeled and used for15 to 20 more years. Maxon suggested an orderlyprogression and not replacement of popUlations duringthis period. At Bc 362 (Figure 7.7), Voll suggestedconstruction around A.D. 1088 and remodelingaround A.D. 1109. AgaLll, the mingling of potterytypes (McElmo and Chaco) did not suggest massmigrations, even though a Mesa Verde-style kiva andsimilar ceramic designs had been interpreted as aninflux of people from the north by earlier investigators.Carbon-painted ceramics had been documentedat Leyit Kin (Figure 7.8) where, in Unit III, Kiva Bconstruction incorporated the "Mesa Verde style"(keyhole type with four pilasters and a deep recess onthe southern end). Reuse of a number of rooms, someof which had considerable fill above previously usedfloors (Dutton 1938), also suggested late occupation.Partitions in some rooms, new bins and fireplaces, a40 percent use of carbon-painted pottery, and oneextended burial under the floor of Room 16 (an infantwith two Mesa Verde Black-on-white bowl sherds,pumpkin seeds, and a turkey carcass) indicated adifferent population from previous inhabitants at thissite. No good dates were available.The lack of tree-ring dates after ca. A. D. 1130suggested that little new construction took placeduring the later periods. Gordon Vivian and Mathews(1965) thought that people either made do withexisting structures or remodeled older ones by usingsalvaged beams. Based on masonry and pottery types,they presented the following chronological and usescheme for the canyon:• Post-A.D. 1130 to early A.D. 1200s: Therewas a small remaining popUlation that usedcrude masonry consisting of poorly shapedblocks to reline benches in the great kivas atPueblo Bonito and Chetro Ketl. One date ofA.D. 1178.±. from burned firewood suggestedthat Kin Kletso was also in use in the late twelfthcentury. At Bc 236, people using a carbon-••painted McElmo Black on-white pottery with aMesa Verde design style provided the onlyevidence for new construction; remodeling of thekiva into a Mesa Verdean style suggestedcontinuity during the late Chacoan period(Vivian and Mathews 1965: 112). This population,however, abandoned the canyon aroundA.D. 1200.Between A.D. 1250 and 1275, there wasreoccupation of parts of Pueblo Bonito, use ofUna Vida, remodeling at Pueblo del Arroyo, andconstruction of a small site (the Headquarterssite) and dumping of refuse in a nearby earlierpueblo. Bc 236 also has evidence of reuse.A.D. 1275 to 1300 saw use of mesa top locationsto the east of the canyon; some on ChaeraMesa were considered defensive locations. Thelargest site was known as CM-lOO (Vivian andMathews 1965: 113).• From A.D. 1300 to 1350, there were a fewGalisteo Black-on-white and Zuni glazewares atone site in the main canyon; thus, it was thoughtthat perhaps some of these people may haveremained in the area through the A.D. 1350s.Vivian and Mathews suggested that these peoplewere part of a movement toward the Rio Grandepopulation centers. The limited occupation inChaco Canyon was thought to represent eithercontinual movement of small groups orsuccessive small group use.At the inception of the Chaco Project, therefore,there was an outline, but only a tentative picture, ofthe twelfth- and thirteenth-century use of ChacoCanyon. Research issues included the composition oflate populations, especially during the A.D. 12oos.Was there an influx of new people from the north intoan abandoned area? How were these people related toearlier inhabitants of Chaco who used Mesa Verde-likepottery and architecture-especially keyhole kivas?What were the numbers of people involved? Why didthey leave? Where did they go?Chaco Project ResearchThree types of research shed additional light onthe late occupations in Chaco Canyon. A search for