essay
Looking beyond Chaco in the San Juan Basin and its peripheries
prehistoric pueblo world, a.d. 1150-1350 • Tucson • Published In 1996 • Pages: 114-130
By: Stein, John R., Fowler, Andrew P..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Stein and Fowler examine the settlement patterns of the San Juan Basin and the influence of Chaco on the various areas around the basin. They do not believe the big sites in Chaco Canyon were residential, instead they see these structures as regional integrative architecture that would bring together many communities. Nor do they believe Chaco Canyon was abandoned as there is good evidence for construction in the 13th century. They believe the primary functions of this regional center were moved to Totah and Aztec East when the regional facility at Chaco was retired and the new center was constructed along the Rio Animas. In other words the Chaco collapse was a planned renewal of ritual facilities. 'In our explanation of developments in Chaco Canyon, the great houses are but element of a larger planned architectural composition which functioned in the ritual, not the residential, realm. We suggest that Pueblo Bonito was not a pueblo, that Chaco Canyon was never a proto-urban center of culture and commerce, and that the canyon population, the so-called Chacoans, resided in smallish but otherwise normal communities spaced along the length of the canyon.' (page 114-a). Other Chacoan great houses are also seen as ritual facilities that integrated communities throughout the San Juan Basin.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Settlement patterns
- Religious and educational structures
- Sociocultural trends
- Miscellaneous facilities
- Community structure
- Territorial hierarchy
- Sacred objects and places
- traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Early Anasazi
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2012
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- North America
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Southwest and Basin
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Archaeologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Sarah Berry; 2011
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- not specified
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 900-700 BP (AD 1100-1300)
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- San Juan Basin: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah, United States
- NotesAdditional notes
- John R. Stein and Andrew P. Fowler
- Based on a conference held at the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center in Cortez, Colo., from Mar. 28 to Apr. 1, 1990. It was organized by William Lipe and Stephen Lekson
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 126-130)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 95032452
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Pueblo Indians--Antiquities--Congresses
- Pueblo Indians--Land tenure--Congresses
- Pueblo Indians--Social conditions--Congresses
- Land settlement patterns--Southwest, New--Congresses
- Demographic archaeology--Southwest, New--Congresses
- Southwest, New--Antiquities--Congresses