The historic civilizations of the Americas have left many of their structures to tell their stories. Chaco Canyon has been well excavated and preserved in what is now called Chaco Culture National Historic Park in New Mexico, situated in Navajo country. Created in 1907, the park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. This area was a hub for commerce, spirituality, and a sprawling social community of Puebloan culture, also known as Anasazi, between 850 and 1250 CE (AD). Walking among the walls, rooms, and kivas, constructed of sandstone blocks, where they lived and thrived, brings to mind the busy life that once inhabited these spaces, with people in colorful dress adorned by animal hides, feathers, and creative artifacts.
There are no lodging or restaurants close to the park, just camping sites, so I drove from Farmington, New Mexico, an hour and a half drive. The last few miles to the park are on sandy dirt roads with evidence that they are washed out periodically by flooding.
The many Great Houses of Chaco Canyon are accessible by trails, once connected by early roads, throughout the region. Some are shown below, but there are many other outlying areas on longer trails. The placement of the structures and markers on those houses appear to have optimized the light of the sun and moon at certain times of the year. The most well known is the Fajada Butte, visible from the Visitor Center. A spiral petroglyph is illuminated through a crevice to create a “sun dagger”, a shaft of light, that bisects it during the summer solstice.
Pueblo Bonita
Occupied 850-1250s. The largest Great House and the central core of the Chaco complex. The Pueblo reached four stories high with over 600 rooms and 40 kivas, the round structures used for spiritual practices. Visitors can walk through parts of the city ruins, getting more of a feel of its complexity. Areas have been identified that line up with solar and lunar movements.
In 1921, fourteen burials were discovered in one room of Pueblo Bonita. They are believed to be bodies of the ruling elite over generations, buried with turquoise, shells, flutes, ceremonial staffs – 30,000 artifacts in all. Recent DNA testing found that they are all descended from a matrimonial line, leading archaeologists to speculate that the Pueblo, and perhaps multiple cities in the area, were ruled by a maternal dynasty. Another room nearby held over one hundred jars containing traces of cacao.
Chetro Ketl
Occupied 950-1250 CE. It once held over 400 rooms, multiple kivas, and an elevated plaza. The outer walls show that it’s configured in a D-shape, or half-circle, like many of the Great Houses.
Hungo Pavi
Occupied 1000 to 1250s CE. Located by natural drainage and springs, it encompassed 150 rooms, an enclosed plaza, and kiva.
Pueblo del Arroyo
Occupied 1075-1250s. Named in Spanish for “Village by the Wash.”
Casa Rinconada
Occupied 1075-1250s. This casa is the largest excavated great kiva in the park. This circular space was most likely used for ceremonial purposes, since it aligns with both the summer solstice and fall equinox.
Petroglyph Trail
Between Pueblo Bonita and Chetro Ketl, some petroglyphs can be seen along a trail up against the rock wall and in a few other places by the Great Houses. The flowery looking image below is believed to represent an eclipse of the sun.
Southwest road trip: Road trip, Arches, Monument Valley, Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon, Chaco Canyon, Albuquerque, Petroglyphs National Monument
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Ruth Rosenfeld 
Wow, so many fascinating Pueblo ruin in such close proximity. Looks like a great canyon. Maggie
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Such unforgiving terrain. It’s amazing to me that people thrived in places such as this.
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The details about Pueblo Bonita were fascinating—over 600 rooms and 40 kivas is staggering. But the idea of a possible maternal dynasty emerging from the DNA evidence makes it feel even more complex and intriguing. And those jars with traces of cacao! It’s such a small detail, but it opens up a whole network of connections far beyond the canyon. I loved the way you imagined the “busy life” of the Puebloan community among the sandstone walls.
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