Culture and Ecology of Chaco Canyon and the San Juan Basin

Historic Period Studies 309lived in the canyon, there was far less trade fordurable goods. Although Navajo returned to ChacoCanyon after their release from Fort Sumner in 1868,there are no well-dated sites prior to the 1890s.Spaniards most certainly penetrated ChacoCanyon, but the earliest dated inscriptions areattributed to Anglo-American troops in 1858, nineyears after the first Anglo expedition and 35 yearsafter the first recorded Mexican entry. Evidence forSpanish-American sheep camps and settlers' cabins aresparse, but the inscriptions indicate their constantlyincreasing presence. By the end of the century,archaeological expeditions and trading posts had beenestablished in the area. Although farming and herdingwere important, wage work became more importantthrough time. Navajo presence is documented in thepark untii it was fenced.An integration of more detailed archeologicaldata with a chronicle of recordedevents within the Monument and theneighboring region will allow betterunderstanding of the historical and culturalchanges and processes. This initial surveysuggests some of the problems that must besolved if we are to have a clearerunderstanding of the historic period, andparticularly of Navajo history in the Chacocountry. The course of Navajo culturaldevelopment must be outlined more fully,and the effects of climate, erosion, interculturalrelations in trade, war andcompetition for resources, and acculturationaland adaptive responses need tobe determined. The great wealth of dataavailable with regard to archeology,climatic history, geological and ecologicalchanges, tradition, oral history, anddocumented history make this project onethat can carry our knowledge far beyondthe results of this beginning effort.(Brugge 1981b: 100-101)To remedy some of the problems noted above,an extensive survey of historic sites in a larger areawas carried out to obtain a sample of the range of sitetypes (Brugge 1986). One major contribution was anincreased number of tree-ring dates, which Bruggeused to place different sites and site types into broadtemporal groups. The earliest datable occupationsoccurred around the 1720s, when Pueblito-stylearchitectural sites suggest that immigrants of mixeddescent (Pueblo and Nav~o) entered the area.Population increases and decreases and constructionspurts correlated well with Ute and Comanche warfarein the 1740s and 1750s, a smallpox epidemic in 1781,and the construction of the railroad during the 1870s.Another contribution was the identification of specificstructures with an individual or individuals who mayhave used them, not necessarily contemporaneouslybut often consecutively over time. Navajo, Spanish,and English cognates for personal names and placenames were specified. Locations of winter campswere identified, as were summer agricultural fieldsand nearby settlements. The development of potteryand lithic trade and changes in trade contacts werepresented.For the additional lands survey analyses, sitedating was critical. Of the 364 sites, 187 componentscould be dated through the analysis of tree-rings,ceramic cross-dating, artifacts, or rock art. Sites wereassigned to three periods: the Pre-Bosque Redondoperiod, from 1700 to 1863 (50 components); the Post­Bosque Redondo period, from 1868 to 1930 (54components); and the Modem period, from 1930 to1980 (84 components) (Gleichman 1987:Table 6.1).Ethnohistoric information on 17 sites also helped placethem in time C\'V. Powers 1989). The majority of the221 inscriptions at 68 sites included Spanish surnames(91 percent of the 103 names). The presence ofHawikuh Polychrome sherds at two campsites onChacra Mesa (29MC476 and 29MC479) suggested anearly Navajo presence, probably between 1600 and1680, which Gleichman considered questionable. Theearliest tree-ring dates, taken from six samples fromthree hogans at 29SJ2606 on Chacra Mesa, clusteredbetween 1771 and 1793 and complemented datagathered by Brugge (1986) and Gwinn Vivian (1960).There were no sites in either the Kin Klizhin or KinBineola areas that predated the late nineteenth century;one site, 29SJ2782, from the South addition, wasearlier. All remaining early sites were found onChacra Mesa, confirming Brugge's observations of theearliest settlements on the eastern end of ChacoCanyon and slow movement toward the west. Basedon two tree-ring dates and informant data, the latestuse was a corral at 29MC391 on Chacra Mesa duringthe mid-1950s.