Culture and Ecology of Chaco Canyon and the San Juan Basin

344 Chaco Project Synthesisscatters to see if there is an earlier Navajo presence, aswell as where the scatters are located? Once populationpacking was reached, horticulture would havebeen the likely option for the Navajo, but with theintroduction oflarge mammals (i.e., cattle, sheep, andhorses) after Spanish settlement in the AmericanSouthwest, there was an opportunity to use this desertscrub land in a new way. Given the options thatBinford presented, the pastoralist adaptation of theNavajo people is an expected subsistence practice.The key is understanding how and when populationpacking is reached, not just in Chaco Canyon, but alsothroughout the San Juan Basin.Using Binford's results in this manner does notcontribute to theory-building, but it would assist parkmanagers and interpreters in further refining theculture history of this area. As an organizationresponsible for a major cultural park and a WorldHeritage Site, the NPS needs the most accurateinformation available for interpretive purposes. Manyopportunities remain to study the Chaco Canyondatabase in ways that benefit both the public and thescientific community.