Culture and Ecology of Chaco Canyon and the San Juan Basin

Appendix CThe Chaco Synthesis ProjectAs completion of the publications of the NPSChaco Project drew to a close, the importance of reevaluatingthe results and interpretations of the datafrom the Pueblo adaptation, along with continuingresearch by younger scholars and experts from otherareas, became evident. The Chaco Synthesis Project,under the direction of Stephen H. Lekson, \1Iasdesigned to address specific topics during a series ofsmall conferences, and to bring these discussionstogether in a capstone conference that would presentthe latest interpretations. It was important todisseminate information on these conferences asquickly as possible and to make the results available tothe Native American community and the generalpublic as well.Throughout the project, there have been manyopportunities for scholars and laymen to trackprogress. Interim reports were provided. Lekson andBurd prepared a brief review entitled "A NewSynthesis of Chaco Canyon Archaeology, " which waspublished in Anthropology News 41(9),2000. Leksonand Burd (2001; foreword in Society and Polity-TableC.2) wrote a mid-project overview. Summaries of themini-conferences also appeared in ArchaeologySouthwest 14(1), Winter 2000. Included in the latterwere:"Ancient Chaco's New History," by Stephen H.Lekson, pp. 1-4;"Economy and Ecology, " by R. Gwinn Vivian, pp. 5-7· ,"Organization of Production," by Catherine M.Cameron and H. Wolcott Toll, pp. 8-9;"Architecture," by Stephen H. Lekson, pp. 12-14;"Chaco World," by Nancy Mahoney, pp. 15-17; and"Society and Polity," by Linda S. Cordell and W.James Judge, pp. 18-19.These summaries alerted interested researchers to thedire~tions in which the mini-conferences were headingand that they should expect more extensive reports ofthe results.The professional publications, summarized inTables C.l through C.7, indicate where these resultsappear, either as published papers or books, or in awebsite database.Several popular volumes are also based, in part,on the Chaco Synthesis Project. Brian Fagan (ChacoCanyon. Archaeologists Explore the Lives of anAncient Society, Oxford University Press, New York,2005) graciously took on the job of presenting apersonal view that incorporated lessons learned fromhis work in Africa. At the same time, David GrantNoble (2004) had been planning to update an earlieredited collection of papers; he was able to expand thecoverage and obtain many additional viewpoints(Table C.8). Additionally, Kendrick Frazier (2005)revised his volume entitled People of Chaco: ACanyon and Its Culture.Two websites contain information about thesynthesis project at its inception and its end (http://www.colorado.edu/Conferences/Chaco.cdarc.org; andhttp://www.srifoundation. org/Chaco/Chaco.htrnl).John Kantner designed and maintains the Chaco W orIdwebsite at http://sipapu.gsu.edu/Chacoworld.htrnl,which he updates as new information becomesavailable.