Culture and Ecology of Chaco Canyon and the San Juan Basin

Historic Period Studies 303Chaco Project ResultsChaco Project studies that encompassed the Historicperiod consisted of surveys, excavation, andethnohistoric research. After the inventory surveyfieldwork was completed, David M. Brugge assumedmajor responsibility for the analysis of the survey data(Brugge 1981b); additional survey that covered areasoutside of the then-monument boundaries (Brugge1986); ethnohistorical research (Brugge 1980); andexcavation (Brugge 1986). Additional reports includea history of the Chaco Navajo (Brugge 1984); anevaluation of the form and function of small sites(Brugge 1978b); and a description of rock-art figurescommonly depicted in the canyon (Brugge 1976,1977, 1978a, 1981a). In addition, Williamson(1983a, 1983b) examined the relationship betweenNav~o rock art and sky symbolism. Students of Dr.Oswald Werner of Northwestern University receivedcontracts to study Navajo place names (Fransted 1979;Fransted and Werner 1974) and Navajo views ofland(Levine and Werner 1976). In 1983 and 1984, surveyof four additional areas added to the park in 1980included numerous Historic period sites (Van Dyke2006a). Three chapters of the resulting report summarizewhat is known from that database aboutNavajo, Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo-American useof the canyon; e.g., the settlement pattern (Gleichman1987), artifacts (Warburton 1988), and ethnohistoricdata (W. Powers 1989).In 1985, the NPS contracted with ThomasMerlan and Frances Levine to assess the WetherillHomestead (Figures 10.2 and 10.3). These researcherssummarized the problems that Wetherillfaced while trying to establish his homestead, anddocumented buildings that were part of the homesteadat various times, as well as the archaeological potentialof the land (Merlan and Levine 1986). Between 1953and 1958, the homestead and the School of AmericanResearch/University of New Mexico research station(Figure 10.4) located south of the Chaco Wash andjust west of Casa Rinconada, were removed by theNPS. (See Hewett 1936 for plans and the initial useof the research station.)SurveyHayes (1981:34) attributed 659 sites (53 withSpanish-style hornos) to the Historic period. He didnot assign any components to Spanish, Mexican, orAnglo-American use. However, names of people whohad passed through Chaco Canyon during the late1800s and early 1900s were recorded. When Brugge(1981b:69) analyzed this historic material, he assigned845 sites to the Historic period. Often these sites hadmore than one component. Because of the data-collectionmethod employed, these components were notseparated into discrete categories during the analysisof artifacts.During 1973 and 1974, Brugge conducted hismore extensive archaeoiogicai and ethnohistoricaisurvey in the area from Pueblo Pintado on the east toKin Bineola on the west. He recorded 95 Navajocomponents, 13 with Spanish-American components,and 16 with Anglo-American components (Brugge1986). Included are some reported by G\vinn Vivia...1J.(1960) and the NPS inventory survey.The additional land survey recorded 364 siteswith Navajo or other historic components (Gleichman1987). Many of these sites were mUlticomponent ormultiethnic; some included Anasazi components.In summary, although these three surveyscovered the entire park, some sites were recordedmore than once. Brugge's (1986) survey also includedprevious sites studied by Malcolm (1939), Corbett(1940), and Gwinn Vivian (1960). Because these datawere not integrated into a single Chaco Projectdatabase, the following discussion does not combineresults.In his analysis of the inventory survey data,Brugge (1981b) redefined structural types associatedwith Navajo site components prior to categorizing datafrom all historic components. He then described thestructural types and numbers of each type recorded bysurvey crews prior to evaluating the availablematerial-culture remains.The majority of the structural types wereNavajo; predominant were hogans of several subtypes.Also recorded were pueblitos (Figure 10.5), houses(Figure 10.6), ramadas, windbreaks, corrals, sheepbeds, Iamb pens, sweat houses, ovens, pebble caches,and play houses. There was evidence for Spanish useof tents and salt licks. Anglo-Americans and Navajobuilt dams and mined coal. All three groups built